Trickle-Down, Trickle-Out, Trickle-Up, Trickle-In, and Trickle-Around Effects: An Integrative Perspective on Indirect Social Influence Phenomena

Abstract

Research on trickle effects has proliferated in the past decade. However, the literature has grown in a largely disorganized and fragmented fashion, with the different types of trickle effects (trickle-down, trickle-out, trickle-up, trickle-in, and trickle-around) often examined as independent phenomena. To better understand and integrate this research, we provide a comprehensive review of the empirical literature of trickle effects. In particular, drawing on an indirect social influence perspective, we clarify the definition of trickle effects as a process whereby perceptions, feelings, attitudes, or behaviors of a source affect perceptions, feelings, attitudes, or behaviors of a transmitter, which in turn affect perceptions, feelings, attitudes, or behaviors of a recipient. We then review the works collectively, cataloging them by trickle type. Next, we examine boundary conditions (moderators) of the effects, methodologies utilized, and the theoretical accounts proposed to explain the effects. Finally, we introduce a conceptual framework that allows us to organize trickle-effects research and identify paths for future trickle-effects research.