Heterophily and communication channels

Lazarsfeld and Merton first called attention to the principles of homophily and its opposite, heterophily.[15] Using their definition, Rogers defines homophily as "the degree to which pairs of individuals who interact are similar in certain attributes, such as beliefs, education, social status, and the like".[15] When given the choice, individuals usually choose to interact with someone similar to him or herself.[16] Furthermore, homophilous individuals engage in more effective communication because their similarities lead to greater knowledge gain as well as attitude or behavior change.[16] However, most participants in the diffusion of innovations are heterophilous, meaning they speak different languages, so to speak.[16] The problem is that diffusion requires a certain degree of heterophily; if two individuals are identical, no diffusion occurs because no new information can be exchanged.[16] Therefore, an ideal situation would involve two individuals who are homophilous in every way, except in knowledge of the innovation.[16]