Learning from the Market. Knowledge Diffusion among Trade Show Participants

Trade shows are "knowledge-rich" places, where economic agents can learn from each other and obtain crucial inputs for innovation. As a consequence, these events are central places in the globalizing knowledge economy – a fact that has so far been almost totally neglected by the academic scholarship investigating these events, which are usually considered as mere promotional tools. While learning at these events occurs spontaneously, their organizers can act as a "visible hand" that can do a lot to shape learning and interactions at trade shows, transforming them in even richer knowledge spaces. These are the main points of the paper Exploring the Knowledge Strategies of Temporary Cluster Organizers: A Longitudinal Study of the EU Fabric Industry Trade Shows (1986-2006) by Diego Rinallo and Francesca Golfetto (Department of Marketing), published in Economic Geography (2011, 87(4): 453-476 doi: 10.1111/j.1944-8287.2011.01127.x).

The paper is theoretically situated in the literature on industrial clusters, which have been recently conceptualized from a knowledge-based view of the firm. From this theoretical perspective, trade shows may be seen as relational spaces that foster forms of organized, temporary proximity between actors otherwise geographically distant. Accordingly, these spaces are now viewed as "temporary clusters", as they are characterized by knowledge exchanging and generation mechanisms similar to those found in permanent clusters, albeit in a short-lived and intensified form. Taking these developments as theoretical starting points, Rinallo and Golfetto focus on the role of trade show organizers, largely unexplored until now, as crucial actors who can facilitate learning at these events. Their research finds a parallel in studies on permanent clusters, which have started unpacking the practices through which central actors, such as entrepreneurial and professional associations, stimulate learning and interaction among locally embedded firms.

Empirically, the paper is based on an analysis of the most important international trade shows in the European clothing fabric industry in the period 1986-2006. The sample includes international trade shows from different parts of Europe, which have been analyzed longitudinally and rigorously compared in order to highlight the knowledge generation and diffusion mechanisms implemented by their organizers. From a methodological point of view, the study is based on mixed sources, including trade show statistics provided by CERMES Bocconi's Trade Fair Observatory, news articles in the trade press, interviews with trade fair organizers and leading firm in the clothing fabric industry and prolonged field observation at some events.

The study shows that not all trade shows offer the same knowledge acquisition potential to their attendance. For instance, trade shows can be oriented towards the export of certain industrial clusters or national industries; in these cases, these events can adopt protectionist practices that often limit contacts and thus reduce their learning potential for both exhibitors and visitors. These trade shows' reduced contacts are however to a certain extent compensated by more in-depth interactions between local producers and selected buyers. Similarly, other trade shows can be import-oriented, thus entailing different typologies of limits and opportunities.

Rinallo and Golfetto also found that trade show organizers can do a lot to improve knowledge release and acquisition. Some of the main practices are: the active involvement of the most innovative producers and industry leaders among the exhibitors, as these companies are the main knowledge releasers; the organization of market-sensitive exhibition layout solution, which physically influence visitors' comparison of exhibitors, and exhibitors' observation and interaction with other exhibitors; and the creation of trend areas that highlight key innovations, thus facilitating the comprehension of industry trends. Organizers also can discourage undesired knowledge spillovers by restricting access to non-buyers or buyers with reduced purchasing capacity, banning photos, and taking measures to help exhibitors protect their intellectual property rights. Finally, the authors identified some cases of organizers who use their events as platforms to generate new knowledge, by investing in research and development activities and by mobilizing exhibitors and other actors to generate new relevant knowledge. In other cases, organizers help specific group of exhibitors to reduce the risk inherent in innovation and to affirm their product or technologies against others.

Besides contributing to literature on temporary clusters, the study also has relevant policy implications. Trade show participation is usually sustained in the context of export-promotion programs, particularly in the case of small and medium-sized firms. However, these events might play an equally important role in innovation policies, as they enable small firms to develop the resources and competencies needed to support the successful commercialization and marketing of innovation, which are notoriously difficult to acquire in local industrial clusters.