S-curves analysis focusing on WOM for technological system evolution

Market competition is becoming more and more intense through globalization of products. And the technology is being improved sustainably, or new idea is being applied continuously for overcoming an existing technology. For the continuous and secure leadership of a market, we need to know the adoption timing of next-generation technology and next-development trends for technical systems. In this paper, we presented the product innovation understanding method based on the S-curve analysis with product quality focusing on Word of Mouth (WOM). The vacuum cleaner was chosen for product innovation understanding. The technological system evolution process of this product was analyzed using trends for the number of patents, the diffusion rate, and WOM information in Japan from the viewpoint of product quality. As the result, we confirmed that cyclone and robot type vacuums have become sustainable and disruptive innovations, respectively. Additionally, for using in S-curve analysis, the relation between WOM information and product quality was generalized by combining the S-curves of each quality's Negative /Positive ratio for WOM content.