WHY DID THE DIFFUSION OF WATER BOILING FAIL?
(disenchantment discontinuance) This intensive two-year campaign by a public health worker in a Peruvian village of 200 families, aimed at persuading housewives to boil drinking water, was largely unsuccessful. Nelida was able to encourage only about 5 percent of the population, eleven families, to adopt the innovation. (attitude) The diffusion campaign in Los Molinas failed because of the cultural beliefs of the villagers. Local tradition links hot food with illness. Boiling water makes water less “cold” and hence, appropriate only for the sick. But if a person is not ill, the individual is prohibited by village norms from drinking boiled water. Only individuals who are unintegrated into local networks risk defying community norms on boiling water. An important factor regarding the adoption rate of an innovations its compatibility with the values, beliefs, and past experiences of individuals in the social system. Nelida and her superiors in the public health agency should have underst
