製品カテゴリの社会的形成

抄録

Pioneering of a new product category to enjoy the first-mover advantage is a critical issue for manufacturing firms. However, a firm cannot simply choose to be a pioneer. We investigated interactions among market actors and product development teams to discover the process of new category generation by using the social shaping of technology approach. In a case study, we examined the "healthy tea beverage" category, which was identified as a tea beverage approved as Food for Specified Health Uses, packaged in a 350-ml PET bottle and priced relatively higher than conventional tea beverages. To describe the case study, we collected data from interviews and published documents relevant to three product development cases: "Healthya Green Tea" by Kao, "Kuro Oolong Tea" by Suntry, and "Catechin Ryokucha" by Ito En. Through the case study, we identified three phases in the category generation process: shaping of products, shaping of an exampler, and shaping of a competitive market. In the shaping of products phase, product concept and design were shaped under the influence of shared structural factors, e.g., the health care movement. When Healthya Green Tea was launched, it became an exampler and urged products that followed it into the marketplace to share its characteristics, e.g., being packaged in a 350-ml PET bottle, by involving structural factors and material factors. After those products were launched, the competitive market was shaped through the interactions among market actors. In the case study, the shared characteristics of products were generated in the shaping of products phase, and these characteristics became triggers to shape a new category. A category and products sharing characteristics were mutually shaped by interaction among product development teams, market actors, structural factors, and material factors. These findings suggest that not only interactions among market actors after products are launched but also the product development process play important roles in category generation.