New publication: “Emotional Drivers of Innovation”
“Innovative ideas are more often tied to emotional everyday experiences than we might think or are deliberately emotionalized to make them more marketable,” says Franziska Sörgel. In her recently published book “Emotional Drivers of Innovation,” the ITAS researcher looks at the often elusive emotional moments of innovation. She analyzes how the actors involved bring their specific expectations to products. In addition, she explores how the respective attitudes toward the idea or the associated prototype influence innovation decisions.
Examples from medical technology
Numerous examples from medical technology that Franziska Sörgel examined during her field research illustrate the dynamic tension between emotion and innovation. For example, a young entrepreneur terminates the collaboration with a vast investor because he fears that his new sensor technology might be used not only for medical but also for military applications. In another case study, an insole used for therapy after hip and knee surgery becomes a platform for the battle of the sexes. And in yet another example, an anesthesia headband designed to prevent brain damage during operations is being promoted for use in other medical conditions, despite the absence of supporting data – primarily because it enables an emotionally driven marketing strategy.
Contribution to a broader understanding of innovation
In her book, Franziska Sörgel elaborates on emotions as an inherent part of complex innovation processes. According to the scientist, the aim is to challenge and expand the previously rather linear understanding of innovation through the emotions involved.
The book is based on a dissertation that Fransziska Sörgel successfully defended at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin in the summer of 2023. (18.10.2024)
Bibliographic data:
Sörgel, Franziska
Emotional Drivers of Innovation. Exploring the Moral Economy of Prototypes. Bielefeld: transcript, 2024, 206 pp., ISBN: 978-3-8376-7147-6
Publisher information and PDF download