After Hype: The Business of Taming the Digital Economy

Publisher:

Cambridge University Press

Publication date:

01 May 2026

21 May 2026

ISBN:

9781009644013

9781009644068

9781009644044

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009644013

Research funder:

Economic & Social Research Council, Economic & Social Research Council

Open access funder:

University of Edinburgh

Creative Commons:

This content is Open Access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0.
https://creativecommons.org/creativelicenses

Dimensions:

(229 x 152 mm)

Weight & Pages:

0.677kg, 344 Pages

Dimensions:

(229 x 152 mm)

Weight & Pages:

0.507kg, 344 Pages

Subjects:: Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Strategic Management, Management

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From artificial intelligence (AI) to quantum computing, every new technology is surrounded by 'hype' – but what exactly is hype, and how does it work? This is the first book to take hype seriously, showing how it is made, managed, and mobilised across today's innovation landscapes. Far from being just empty talk, hype has become a structured practice and even a business in its own right. The authors uncover the machinery that drives markets, guides innovation, and shapes whole promissory economies. They also initiate 'Hype Studies' – a new way of understanding how innovation unfolds in the digital age and beyond. After Hype not only establishes hype as a serious object of study but also reveals it to be one of the most powerful yet overlooked forces shaping and influencing our technological future. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

‘Hype has become a defining feature of contemporary capitalism. Not as a spontaneous force, but as something increasingly organized, managed and strategically deployed. This groundbreaking book lays the foundations for a systematic study of hype, offering a compelling analysis of how it is produced and sustained through managerial practices. By uncovering the mechanisms behind the orchestration of hype, the authors provide an original and timely contribution to the performative dynamics shaping today's markets.'

Jens Beckert - author of Imagined Futures: Fictional Expectations and Capitalist Dynamics

‘Pollock and Williams elevate our understanding of how hype dynamics work, perform and transform to a new level, focusing on a major business sector of our times. A much needed contribution to a widely debated and impactful field, whose inner workings are mostly hidden from scholarly scrutiny.'

Kornelia Konrad - University of Twente, the Netherlands, and Associate Editor, Futures

‘This groundbreaking book makes a powerful case to take hype seriously and provides the analytical and methodological tools to make this possible. Its impressive scope places the need to understand hype at the centre of contemporary innovation studies.'

Paul Martin - Professor of the Sociology of Science and Technology, University of Sheffield

‘Hypes are much more than unwanted and disturbing exaggerations. After Hype details how hypes have become an integral part of modern economies and strategic decision making. This book convincingly brings together many strands of scholarship and offers significant theoretical and practical insights.'

Harro van Lente - Professor of Science and Technology Studies, Maastricht University, the Netherlands

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After Hype

The Business of Taming the Digital Economy

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Why this information is here

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Content Navigation

Table of contents navigation

Index navigation

Reading Order and Textual Equivalents

Single logical reading order

Short alternative textual descriptions

Full alternative textual descriptions

Visualised data also available as non‐graphical data

Visual Accessibility

Use of colour is not sole means of conveying information

Use of high contrast between text and background colour