Marketing in the material construction of artifacts: A case study of a Portuguese navigation systems company

This article examines the social construction of technological innovations, focusing on how marketers of an information and communication technology (ICT) product interact with engineers in the creation of that product. The main purpose is to develop in empirical terms the concept of “material semiotics' rhetoric”. To this end it takes an in-depth look at a medium-sized Portuguese firm, in which we have over a period of five years observed how a GPS navigation device is generated and developed. We use the notions of “rhetoric” and “frames of reference” in adopting “material semiotics” as the theoretical background for observing the behaviors and interactions of the different actors involved in the construction of this technological artifact. The results show how the rhetorical framework shapes the technology, and also reveals the roles of different professionals when negotiating technical possibilities within the communicational strategies of a firm. The paper highlights the specific role of symbolic aspects in the material development of technology, stressing a relation between rhetoric and material semiotics.