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Demand articulation is a concept developed within the scientific field of innovation studies which serves to explain learning processes about needs for new and emerging technologies.〔R.E.H.M. Smits, Innovation studies in the 21st century, Technological Forecasting and Social Change 69 (2002) 861-883.〕 Emerging technologies are technologies in their early phase of development, which have not resulted in concrete products yet.〔Van Merkerk, R. and H. Van Lente (2005). “Tracing emerging irreversibilities in emerging technologies: The case of nanotubes.” Technological Forecasting and Social Change 72(9): 1094-1111.〕 Many characteristics of these technologies, such as the technological aspects but also the needs of users concerning the technology, have not been specified yet. Demand articulation can be defined as ‘iterative, inherently creative processes in which stakeholders try to address what they perceive as important characteristics of, and attempt to unravel preferences for an emerging innovation’.〔Boon, W.P.C., E.H.M. Moors, S. Kuhlmann, R.E.H.M. Smits (2010) Demand articulation in emerging technologies: Intermediary user organisations as co-producers? Research policy, 40 (2011) 242–252.〕 The approach may be applied to describing the processes by which needs for emerging technologies become more concrete over time. At the same time, demand articulation can also be perceived as learning processes that can be evaluated. == Background == The concept of demand articulation originates from the theoretical school that explains innovations as a result of the co-evolution of technological developments and societal pressures. The central idea behind this school is that innovations are not only deterministically formed following technological considerations and possibilities, but in interaction with societal aspects, such as ethical questions, user demands, implementation issues.〔Mowery, D. C. and N. Rosenberg (1979). “The influence of market demand upon innovation: a critical review of some recent empirical studies.” Research Policy 8(2): 102-153.〕〔Nelson, R. R. and S. G. Winter (1982). An evolutionary theory of economic change. Cambridge/London, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.〕〔Van den Belt, H. and A. Rip (1987). The Nelson-Winter-Dosi model and synthetic dye chemistry. The social construction of technological systems; new directions in the sociology and history of technology. W. Bijker, T. P. Hughes and T. Pinch. Cambridge, MIT Press: 135-158.〕 In the emergent phase, several aspects of the technology remain rather ‘fluid’ and can be formed by stakeholders involved. In this period, co-evolution of society and technology takes place and ‘societal entrenchment of a technology’ is carried by different processes in which several aspects of the technology become articulated over time. In the 1990s, the term articulation processes was introduced,〔Rip, A. (1995). “Introduction of new technology: making use of recent insights from sociology and economics of technology.” Technology Analysis & Strategic Management 7(4): 417-431.〕 including articulation of technology specifications, of product and maintenance networks, of cultural and political acceptability, and of demands.〔Nelis, A. (1998). DNA diagnostics in the Netherlands (original title: ‘DNA-diagnostiek in Nederland’). Enschede, Twente University Press.〕 Demand articulation processes owe much to the work of Teubal,〔Teubal, M., A. Arnon and M. Trajtenberg (1976). “Performance in innovation in the Israeli electronics industry: a case study of biomedical electronics instrumentation.” Research Policy 5(4): 354-379.〕〔Teubal, M. (1979). On user needs and need determination: aspects of the theory of technological innovation. Industrial innovation: technology, policy and diffusion. M. Baker. London, Macmillan: 266-289.〕 in which he stated that in existing markets users have defined their needs quite precisely, and prices (also of competitors) play a major role in sales decisions. With breakthrough, radical, emerging technologies there are no markets and needs in place. Producers can only offer blueprints. However, users might not have thought of the direction of solutions the new product offers, and the regime as a whole might even change as a result of the innovation, which both can lead to different preferences of users. In order to deal with the determination of user preferences in the context of emerging technologies, Teubal 〔Teubal, M., A. Arnon and M. Trajtenberg (1976). “Performance in innovation in the Israeli electronics industry: a case study of biomedical electronics instrumentation.” Research Policy 5(4): 354-379.〕 introduced the term market determinateness as “the degree of specificity of the market signals received by the innovating firm and consequently to the extent to which it anticipates demand. In order to explain the concept we introduce four types of market signals, in ascending order of specificity: (1) signals about a need; (2) signals about a product class; (3) signals about basic functions; (4) signals about product specifications.” Ideally, as a technology emerges and several of its aspects become clear, users are also becoming specific about their ‘market signals’ or demands. Kodama 〔Kodoma, F. (1995). Emerging Patterns on Innovation: Sources of Japan’s Technological Edge. Boston, Harvard Business School Press.〕 later picked up market determinateness or demand articulation, which he defined as “a dynamic interaction of technological activities that involves integrating potential demands into a product concept and decomposing this product concept into development agendas for its individual component technologies”. Building on this, the term ‘latent demand’ was introduced, which means that most stakeholders will not have an evident idea of what they want from the start.〔Orihata, M. and C. Watanabe (2000). “The interaction between product concept and institutional inducement: a new driver of product innovation.” Technovation 20: 11-23.〕 An actor might have a certain need that is ill-defined or latent, but which, in a sense, cannot be denied. For example, there have been an evident need for communication over long distances and even an then-farfetched idea of mobile communication devices, but the precise need for mobile phones (or SMS services for that matter) could not be foreseen before the introduction of these devices. The demand articulation process, therefore, is the start of a consciousness-raising exercise in which demands become increasingly concrete. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Demand articulation」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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