Objective
This project applies a socio-cognitive lens to examine how high-technology firms negotiate the criteria journalists use to evaluate their products and how the balance between appreciation for both technological and aesthetic product dimensions is created and maintained. In many high-technology markets, firms offer goods that are at the technological forefront and are also aesthetically appealing (e.g. iMacs and iPods). This focus on aesthetics is puzzling because in high-technology industries, firms and their goods are appreciated for their technological functionality and utility and the scientific and mechanic principles that underlie this functionality. When firms invest resources in product aesthetics, they expect their constituents (journalists, customers, suppliers, stakeholders, etc.) to appreciate these non-utilitarian product dimensions and the way they operate as meaningful symbols that can express users’ identities.
To study the aesthetic focus, this inductive multi-case study uses both qualitative and quantitative content analysis approaches. I will collect press releases for Apple, Dell, Nokia, and Ericsson as well as product reviews for the entire personal computer and mobile phone industries from the past two decades. I will use these texts to compare the ways in which both firms and journalists describe their products and how they construct the criteria they apply to evaluate these products. I will also be able to examine how firms’ evaluations influence and/or are influenced by those of journalists. Analyses will include both a deep qualitative reading of the texts as well as an innovative computerized approach. Using a computer program, I will develop a coding scheme allowing me to analyze this vast amount of text with great reliability. Previous research, especially past experience with developing three computerized coding schemes, has helped me develop the theoretical and methodological skills required to successfully execute the project.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- social sciences media and communications journalism
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering information engineering telecommunications mobile phones
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
FP7-PEOPLE-2010-RG
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
91904 JERUSALEM
Israel
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.