Upvote:2
According to an American Anthropologist article written by A. L. Kroeger, one example of Stimulus Diffusion would be Chinese Porcelain. In the Sixteenth Century, Chinese Porcelain started coming into Europe. Porcelain had previously been unknown. Over the course of the next two centuries, as more and more people discovered the usefulness of porcelain, the demand was fairly universal throughout Europe. Unfortunately, due to demand and the high cost of importation from China, it was extremely expensive.
European craftsman had to both find the materials and duplicate the processes. The kaolin deposits were found in Germany and the craftsmen invented and perfected the manufacturing processes, enabling relatively inexpensive European porcelain to be made.
Bottom Line Chinese Porcelain was imported into Europe. -> European housewives wanted it. Chinese porcelain was prohibitively expensive. European craftsmen found the materials and invented new processes to manufacture equivalent porcelain. The materials used were not exactly the same and the manufacturing processes were completely new inventions. The output was of comparable quality. -> European Porcelain was now made available.