Inaugural Lecture: Trickle-up vs. trickle-down diffusion: a test of rival theories

Join us at the ESCP Berlin Campus for Professor Christian Pescher’s inaugural lecture on Trickle-up vs. trickle-down diffusion: a test of rival theories, followed by a reception with coffee and cake.

What you'll learn

A new publication authored by Christian Pescher, Gerard J. Tellis, Jonah Berger.

The diffusion of innovations is a fundamental topic in marketing. One subject of research is the path of diffusion from segment to segment. Do innovations start at the top or rise from the bottom? Extensive peer-reviewed studies suggest that innovations trickle down from high to low socio- economic groups. Some non-peer-reviewed papers and books suggest that innovations sometimes trickle up from low to high socio-economic groups. Which path do innovations take and why?

The authors synthesize two integrative theories of when, why, and how innovations trickle down versus up. They also identify foundational mechanisms driving opposing paths. The authors extensively review peer-reviewed (academic) and non-peer-reviewed (lay) literature to test these theories. They analyze 223 innovations (27 functional (refrigerators, TVs, antibiotics) and 196 symbolic (music, fashion, dance)) spanning over 200 years. This is the largest historic dataset in marketing on diffusion of innovations.

Here are this study’s main findings. First, functional innovations predominantly trickle down. In contrast, symbolic innovations trickle up. Second, the authors’ disagreement from the literature arises because the peer-reviewed literature overwhelmingly focuses on functional innovations while the non-peer-reviewed literature focuses on symbolic innovations. Thus, this study unifies two diverging streams of research in the literature.

We warmly invite you to stay after the lecture to connect with Professor Christian Pescher and fellow participants over coffee and cake.