Invention may arise anywhere in society, but its broader diffusion requires a boost of cachet. In needing exclusive goods and practices, high-status individuals are attracted to stylistic or technological innovations, precisely because they emerge, by definition, among a small number of adopters. This is where status seeking first intertwines with the diffusion of innovations. Innovativeness—the willingness to try out new things—increases as one moves up the status hierarchy from the middle tiers.
