Diffusion Processes of Product Meanings in Design‐Intensive Industries: Determinants and Dynamics*

Abstract

Literature on the diffusion of innovation (DoI) is particularly rich and articulated and has been a topic of practical and academic interest since the 1960s. Empirical research in this field has focused on new technologies and managerial practices. However, given the increasingly important role played by design in today's business and academic arenas, we must verify the validity of otherwise robust results obtained largely from tech‐based industries with studies from design‐intensive industries. This paper aims to identify the factors (or determinants) that impact the diffusion dynamics of product meanings within the Italian furniture industry. In particular, we have identified three groups of determinants (innovator marketing strategy, innovator characteristics, and competitive environment), and we have conceptualized diffusion dynamics along two dimensions with their corresponding variables (Speed, Contagion). We have analyzed more than 5,600 products proposed on the market between 1995 and 2006 by 215 furniture manufacturers operating within seven compartments (kitchen, upholstery, lighting, living, chairs, tables, and night). The article discusses 82 diffusion processes of new product meanings. Our results, which were obtained using linear regression analysis, enrich a broad literature on the diffusion of innovation, focusing on design‐intensive industries. Diffusion processes that are activated by several companies are able to influence several manufacturers, and they spread very quickly (Collaboration). Companies concentrating their offerings on only a few product meanings are able to rapidly penetrate the market, proposing clear product identities (Focalization). Reputation does not impact Speed and Contagion, as new product meanings have the opportunity to significantly impact the market but only in cases where well‐known companies have participated in the diffusion process since the beginning and have done so in collaboration with small proactive companies; otherwise, the new meanings remain confined to a market niche phenomenon. Collaboration with several creative resources (System Openness) allows a company to seize dominant trends and improve its capacity to strongly influence the rest of the market. Our empirical results show that launching new product meanings in years when several proposals already exist negatively impacts the possibility of influencing other manufacturers (Ferment). From a managerial point of view, providing variables that characterize the early stages of diffusion processes (i.e., that determine their dynamics) allows our empirical results to be interpreted as forecasting suggestions. This paper provides managers with new guidelines for forecasting the evolution of a product meaning in light of the characteristics of the innovators, the marketing strategies employed, and the competitive environment associated with its launch.

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 44 citations exist upstream.

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.