Purpose

Research at the interface of marketing and entrepreneurship has emphasized digital entrepreneurship and how entrepreneurs pursue business opportunities centered on new technologies. However, a different type of entrepreneurship focused on opportunities involving consumers’ (re)adoption of displaced analog technologies when digital alternatives are dominant – analog entrepreneurship – is a trend and counter phenomenon to digital entrepreneurship that is receiving intense practitioner interest but limited scholarly attention. The purpose of this article is to present a theoretical framework that explains the role of analog entrepreneurship in technology revitalization.

Design/methodology/approach

In this conceptual paper, the authors use the microfoundations perspective to develop a multilevel theory of analog entrepreneurship. The authors define and delineate the “analog entrepreneurship” concept and formulate a midrange theory explaining how entrepreneurs influence the reemergence of analog technologies.

Findings

The theory’s main insight is that the renewal of analog technologies is not confined to consumers. Entrepreneurs are creating businesses that stimulate demand for analog technologies. As a result of entrepreneurs’ activities, legacy analog technologies do not fade into nonexistence in the face of rival digital technologies.

Originality/value

The theory of analog entrepreneurship contributes to research at the intersection of entrepreneurship and marketing by expanding its focus to consider the entrepreneurs who revitalize displaced analog technologies when digital alternatives are dominant. The authors provide insight into the potential trajectories of technologies after their initial displacement and the role entrepreneurs play in shaping the late stages of technology lifecycles. The theory draws attention to an underexplored phenomenon made increasingly prevalent by recent technological disruptions and suggests an agenda for studying how entrepreneurs renew analog technologies.

中文翻译：

---

数字取代后的生活：模拟创业和传统技术的复兴

目的

营销与创业界面的研究强调数字创业以及企业家如何寻求以新技术为中心的商机。然而，另一种类型的创业关注的是当数字替代品占主导地位时消费者（重新）采用被取代的模拟技术的机会——模拟创业——是一种趋势，也是数字创业的反现象，它受到了从业者的强烈兴趣，但学术界的关注却有限。本文的目的是提出一个理论框架来解释模拟创业在技术振兴中的作用。

设计/方法论/途径

在这篇概念性论文中，作者利用微观基础的视角发展了模拟创业的多层次理论。作者定义和描述了“模拟创业”概念，并制定了一个中层理论来解释企业家如何影响模拟技术的重新出现。

发现

该理论的主要观点是模拟技术的更新并不局限于消费者。企业家正在创建刺激模拟技术需求的企业。由于企业家的活动，传统的模拟技术在面对竞争对手的数字技术时并没有消失。

原创性/价值

模拟创业理论通过扩大其关注点来考虑在数字替代品占主导地位时重振被取代的模拟技术的企业家，从而为创业和营销交叉点的研究做出了贡献。作者深入探讨了技术在最初转移后的潜在轨迹，以及企业家在塑造技术生命周期后期阶段所扮演的角色。该理论引起了人们对由于最近的技术颠覆而变得日益普遍的未经充分探索的现象的关注，并提出了研究企业家如何更新模拟技术的议程。