Proximal studies by location
Here, Castiglione and Infante review Zieba's (2009) research on theater attendance in Germany.
Introducing this work serves two purposes: (1) to the extent universal forces drive theater attendance, the authors imply we may learn something about theater attendance in Italy from studies of theater attendance in Germany, and (2) the authors demonstrate that scholars are addressing this question in other locations, but, they argue later, have not sufficiently addressed it in Italy (i.e., it contributes to their argument that this study fills an important gap in the literature).
Also recall the upside-down pyramid structure discussed above. The pyramid continues to narrow as we draw nearer to the authors' "point."