Technology is a force that civilization forward and enables societies to improve their quality of life, making communication, transportation, and other spheres easier. Marketing is a powerful tool that is used extensively by businesses to promote products and new technological solutions. The article “Consuming Technology: Why Marketers Sometimes Get It Wrong” provides insight into the role of marketing in the promotion of technology.
Traditionally, technology is viewed as a means to serve the customer, which neglects its capacity to morph when used by people. For instance, my friend mixes hydrogel contained in diapers with soil for their plants in order to ensure better moisture retention. The article also highlights how past technological advancements can interfere with future innovation and limit it to a considerable extent (Berthon et al., 2005). Nevertheless, in the majority of cases, technology evolves together with society, members of which simultaneously try to enhance it and experience its effects. Such a situation can be described by intentional and unintentional processes which demonstrate the relationship between people and technology. Intentional processes involve changing the existing technology by people, while unintentional ones imply a transformation of society by technology.
Subversion is one of the intentional processes which entails a change in the role of technology by society. For example, during COVID-19, protective masks became another item where people could demonstrate their creativity through unique designs or prints. Moreover, at times, technology can lead to aspersion, which involves causing unintentional side effects in addition to the main impact. The rise in popularity of smartphones lets people not only conduct numerous activities such as reading and writing using a handheld device but also increases the possibility of eyestrain due to screen glare exposure. Due to their relationship with innovation, businesses can be divided into four groups. One of them is followers, which take advantage of trends by tracking subversion of consumers.
The article in question makes it clear that technology is a constantly evolving phenomenon capable of influencing societies and being radically changed by consumers. People interact with technology in a variety of ways and do not necessarily use it for its intended purpose. Marketing limits a deeper understanding of technology and devalues many of its effects.
Reference
Berthon, P., MacHulbert, J., & Pitt, L. (2005). Consuming technology: Why marketers sometimes get it wrong. California Management Review, 48(1), 110–128. Web.