Recent innovations in mobile and

sensor A sensor is a device that produces an output signal for the purpose of sensing a physical phenomenon. In the broadest definition, a sensor is a device, module, machine, or subsystem that detects events or changes in its environment and sends ...

technologies allow for creating a digital representation of almost any physical entity and its parameters over time at any place.

RFID Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder, a radio receiver and transmitter. When triggered by an electromag ...

technologies, for instance, are used to ground digital representations, which are used to track and geo-reference physical entities. In general, physical worlds and digital representations become tightly interconnected, so that manipulations in either would have effect on the other. Integration of information and communication technologies into products anywhere and anytime enable new forms of mobile marketing in respect to situated marketing communication, dynamic

pricing Pricing is the process whereby a business sets the price at which it will sell its products and services, and may be part of the business's marketing plan. In setting prices, the business will take into account the price at which it could acqui ...

models and dynamic product differentiation models. As Fano and Gershman state: "Technology enables service providers to make the location of their customers the location of their business". Smart products are specializations of hybrid products with physical realizations of product categories and digital product descriptions that provide the following characteristics: *

Situated {{dictionary In artificial intelligence and cognitive science, the term situated refers to an agent which is embedded in an environment. The term ''situated'' is commonly used to refer to robots, but some researchers argue that software agents c ...

: recognition and processing of situational and community contexts * Personalized: tailoring to buyer's and consumer's needs and affects * Adaptive: change according to buyer's and consumer's responses and tasks * Pro-active: attempt to anticipate buyer's and consumer's plans and

intention Intentions are mental states in which the agent commits themselves to a course of action. Having the plan to visit the zoo tomorrow is an example of an intention. The action plan is the ''content'' of the intention while the commitment is the ''a ...

s * Business aware: considering business and legal constraints * Location aware: considering functional performing and restricted location choice * Network capable: ability to communicate and bundle ( product bundling) with another

product (business) In marketing, a product is an object, or system, or service made available for consumer use as of the consumer demand; it is anything that can be offered to a market to satisfy the desire or need of a customer. In retailing, products are often ...

or product sets The vision of smart products poses questions relevant to various research areas, including

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

, product engineering,

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

, communication science, media economics, cognitive science,

consumer psychology Consumer behavior is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and all the activities associated with the purchase, use and disposal of goods and services. Consumer behaviour consists of how the consumer's emotions, attitudes, and ...

innovation management Innovation management is a combination of the management of innovation processes, and change management. It refers to product, business process, marketing and organizational innovation. Innovation management is the subject of ISO 56000 (formerly ...

and many more. Since smart products combine a physical product with additional services, they are a form of product service system.

Categories of smart products

The term smart product can be confusing as it is used to cover a broad range of different products, ranging from smart home appliances (e.g., smart bathroom scales or smart light bulbs) to smart cars (e.g., Tesla). While these products share certain similarities, they often differ substantially in their capabilities
Raff et al.
developed a conceptual framework that distinguishes different smart products based on their capabilities, which features 4 types of smart product archetypes (in ascending order of "smartness"){{Cite journal, last1=Raff, first1=Stefan, last2=Wentzel, first2=Daniel, last3=Obwegeser, first3=Nikolaus, date=2020-08-20, title=Smart Products: Conceptual Review, Synthesis, and Research Directions*, journal=Journal of Product Innovation Management, volume=37, issue=5, language=en, pages=379–404, doi=10.1111/jpim.12544, issn=0737-6782, doi-access=free * Digital * Connected * Responsive * Intelligent

References

Human–computer interaction Wireless locating

Categories of smart products

See also

References