Exploring the Role of Individual Beliefs and Social Factors in Adopting Social Innovations

Social innovation research has largely focused on individuals' values, beliefs, and perceptions of usefulness as they relate to the acceptance of social innovations. However, this research often lacks a sociological perspective, especially when it comes to social innovations that involve new behaviors and collective interactions. Additionally, the methods employed in social innovation research are often fragmented and deductive, leading to a lack of a common understanding of the methodological framework and a tendency to reproduce established characteristics. To address these issues, we propose the use of frame theory as a sociological approach to conceptualizing individuals’ characteristics as socially conditioned and employing an inductive methodological approach. This approach is demonstrated through the case study of shared decision-making (SDM) in perioperative care, a social innovation aimed at promoting patient-centric treatment through the sharing of information and decision-making in surgical contexts. In our study, we employed frame theory to identify six frames that influence the acceptance of SDM in perioperative care. These frames pertain to issues such as role models, power asymmetry, and the scope of action that is structurally constrained. Through the use of an inductive approach, we were able to determine individuals' characteristics and examine issues that are particularly relevant for social innovations, such as role perceptions, conceptions of the innovation, trust and power relations, and organizational structures and routines. Our findings suggest that assumed role ascriptions, trust, and dependency within social relations play a significant role in shaping the acceptance of social innovations.