The "cool" label given to tech products actually depends on its edginess and capability to appeal to tech enthusiasts, according to the findings of a new study.
Any tech product is given a "cool" label not because of its looks but because of its edginess, originality and attractiveness. At least that's what Penn State University researchers found in their new study. And they discovered something else, it is as easy for a gadget to lose its cool quotient - if it becomes too popular and hence less edgy.
"Everyone says they know what 'cool' is, but we wanted to get at the core of what 'cool' actually is, because there's a different connotation to what cool actually means in the tech world," said S. Shyam Sundar, Distinguished Professor of Communications, Penn State, and co-director of the Media Effects Research Laboratory, in a press statement.
The study was conducted on 315 college students who were asked to give their opinion on 14 different products based on the elements of coolness taken from current literature. Previously it was believed that the coolness of a device actually depended on its design and originality. However, a follow-up study of 835 participants from the U.S and South Korea increased the list to four elements of coolness -- subculture appeal, attractiveness, usefulness and originality.
A third follow-up study on 317 participants revealed that usefulness was integrated with the other factors and did not stand on its own as a distinguishing trait of coolness.
"Historically, there's a tendency to think that cool is some new technology that is thought of as attractive and novel," said Sundar. "The idea is you create something innovative and there is hype -- just as when Apple is releasing a new iPhone or iPad -- and the consumers that are standing in line to buy the product say they are buying it because it's cool. The utility of a product, or its usefulness, was not as much of a part of coolness as we initially thought."
The process of terming any technology trend as "cool" works in the form of a wave. First, it is used by a group of people known as the subcultures. These people are usually considered to be a step ahead of mainstream people in terms of gadgets and technology. Once the product becomes popular among the subcultures, mainstream people begin using it and the product suddenly becomes "cool."
Consequently, if the product becomes too popular among the mainstream or loses its appeal to the subcultures, it suddenly drops its "cool" label and becomes one of the regular technology trends.
"It appears to be a process," Sundar said. "Once the product loses its subculture appeal, for example, it becomes less cool, and therein lies the challenge."
Findings of this study are important as tech manufacturers are constantly looking for ways to increase sales and stay above their competition. For this, they will have to adopt changing strategies that will allow their products to remain "cooler" for longer duration, authors of the study advise.
"It underscores the need to develop an innovation culture in a company," Sundar said. "For a company to make products that remain cool, they must continually innovate. The bottom line is that a tech product will be considered cool if it is novel, attractive and capable of building a subculture around it."
Findings of the study were published in the current issue of the International Journal of Human-Computer Studies.
