Technology hype is when expectations about a new technology’s potential impact become overinflated. The technology’s subsequent failure to meet these lofty expectations can seriously undermine its legitimacy and in turn, its future market deployment.
On occasion, however, a technology may ‘live up' to this hype and some experts maintain that hype can actually help push and pull a technology towards market.
Staff
Research
Matthew Hannon
Matthew Hannon is a co-Investigator on the “Political hyping of new energy technologies” project, which explores how parliamentary processes fuel or deflate expectations surrounding low-carbon technology innovations.
We focus in particular on tipping-points between political support and opposition to new technologies, examining the case of nuclear fast-breeder reactor technology in Scotland. His work of wave energy’s failure to achieve commercialisation in the UK also speaks to the risks of over-inflating technology expectations and subsequently under-delivering.
Nigel Lockett
Spanning over two decades, Nigel Lockett’s research on the adoption of emerging ICT has gone beyond the hype to identify the real value of innovations. Publications include: 2018 ‘The Missing Link: Creating Value with Social Media use in Hotels’ in International Journal of Hospitality Management and 2014 ‘Paving the way for CRM success: the mediating role of knowledge management and organisational commitment’ in Information & Management.