Mimetic Monday: October 4, 2021

Mimetic Rollaboards, Institutional Isomorphism, Melting Differences

The good, the bad, the mimetic.

Positive Mimesis 

Roller suitcases—which are nearly ubiquitous today—did not become popular until the 1990's when a Northwest Airlines pilot named Robert Plath invented the version with a collapsible handle and two wheels. A wheeled trunk had been invented as early as 1887, and a wheeled suitcase had already been invented in 1972—but it had to be pulled along with a leather strap, and it wasn't a good look. In his book Narrative Economics, Robert J. Schiller explains how the "narrative" shaped widespread market adoption. He writes (emphasis mine to highlight the mimetic language):

"I never understood why the wheeled suitcase idea wasn't absolutely contagious. My best guess is that, with Plath's invention, glamour overcame the sense that wheels on a suitcase looked ridiculous... The epidemic was fueled when flight crews adopted the Rollaboards, and passengers saw these glamorous-looking people walking through airports, pulling their Rollaboards effortlessly…