Technology Selection and Forecasting at the Fuzzy Front End with the Use of Social Media

In this paper, we investigate the possibility of using social media technologies to select and forecast the viability of early-stage technological ideas at the fuzzy front-end (FFE) of the product development process. During the FFE, market needs, wants, and preferences are seldom clear, especially when considering radical new technologies. For a company seeking clarity on the preferences in its selection of ideas at the FFE, communicating with markets is essential. Additionally, the importance of cross-functional communication at the FFE is emphasized in current literature. Technological and market uncertainties push and pull multiple stakeholders in the formation of heterogeneous views on the customers' needs, and social media technologies may be used in finding a shared vision amongst these divergent views. The main research question is whether the adoption of social media technologies will result in a shared, convergent vision, or is social media usage more likely to generate scattered visions during the initial phase of the new product development. The paper presents a propositional framework arguing social media technologies' contributions to FFE performance. We argue that the FFE phase is expected to receive a beneficial impact from social media adoption as the business potential can be analyzed from various sources already in the early stages.