The difficulties in developing and implementing innovative processes in a rural area can result from a number of obstacles impeding the diffusion of innovation among local agents whose causes, types and sizes can be of very different nature. Literature has deeply analyzed the characteristics and consequences of the resistances to innovation but innovation injection and propagation may be impeded also by peculiar inertial behaviours.The phenomenon of inertia has been at the core of many sector researches in psychology, organization science, economics and management studies; yet empirical observations can highlight the symptoms of a multifacet, pervasive and widespread inertia which affects an entire community of a given area. The presence of many feed–back chains and reciprocal influences among different social dimensions and conditions (individual, group, organization and institutional levels) thus make the description and explanation of the dynamics and mechanisms of these forms of ‘territorial inertia’ unapproachable only through sector analyses.Combining the contributions from different disciplines and studies, it has been possible to achieve a diagnosis of this phenomenon clearly differentiating inertia from resistance to innovation. The identification of the paths and causes facilitating inertia propagation (predisposition, contagious and scaleup factors) may provide relevant contributions for the understanding of the reasons why inertia, as commonly shared behavioural pattern, may become a preferable option compared to action with significant consequences for innovation introduction and the activation of processes of change.
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