When hype polarises: the polarisation of moral evaluations around hyped innovations
File(s)
Published version (ahead of print)
Author(s)
Gualtieri, Gastone
Dalpiaz, Elena
Hampel, Christian
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Innovations such as AI are the subject of much hype in society. Burgeoning scholarship on hype and entrepreneurship has focused on the sustained high expectations and excitement that hyped innovations attract. This essay reorients extant scholarship by uncovering an unexplored phenomenon: the moral polarisation that regularly accompanies hyped innovations from the outset. We articulate how the emergence of hyped innovations triggers polarised moral views in society as audiences disagree about the innovation’s moral, rather than pragmatic, value, and what challenges this presents for the proponents of hyped innovations. We argue that this dynamic may emerge as the visibility generated by hype moves an innovation’s evaluation beyond experts to audiences relying on conflicting sources, while its framing as highly consequential shifts that evaluation from the technical plane to the moral one. Under these conditions, opposing views may harden into mutually delegitimising camps rather than mere differences of opinion. We illustrate this through the case of 5G technology, a hyped innovation that faced celebration and condemnation at once. Our essay outlines four promising research opportunities about the important topics of how moral polarisation emerges alongside hype, how innovative companies may navigate it, how processes of depolarisation unfold, and how individuals associated with hyped innovations experience the micro-dynamics of this morally charged situation.
Date Issued
2026-09-02
Date Acceptance
2026-07-23
Citation
Innovation, 2026
ISSN
1447-9338
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Journal / Book Title
Innovation
Copyright Statement
© 2026 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent. Related research People also read Recommended articles Cited by Relationship between product market strategy and inbound open innovation: evidence from Japanese firms Naohiro Sawada Innovation Published online: 3 Sep 2026
License URL
Publication Status
Published online
Date Publish Online
2026-09-02