Exploring users motivation in innovation communities

Anna Stahlbrost and Birgitta Bergvall-Kareborn

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, 2011, vol. 14, issue 4, 298-314

Abstract: A rapid growth of technologies supporting user interaction on the internet, such as social networking sites and other virtual communities, can be seen today. These virtual communities have been shown to be of great value to companies who want to involve users in their innovation processes. However, in order to guide organisations on how to utilise their virtual communities, more knowledge is needed regarding who their users are and their motivational drivers for participating in a community. The aim of this paper therefore is to explore user characteristics and motivations to contribute to innovation processes in an innovation intermediary community. The main findings of our study indicate that users' motivation to participate is influenced by community type as well as technology adoption type. This study show that in innovation intermediary communities, one important motivational factor for users is learning.

Keywords: open innovation; user involvement; innovation communities; user characteristics; user driven innovation; user motivation; Botnia Living Lab; technology adoption types; intermediary communities; Sweden; human-centric innovation; innovation processes; Lulea University of Technology; user interaction; social networking; social networks; virtual communities; web based communities; online communities; internet; world wide web; motivational drivers; community participation; innovation intermediaries; community types; learning; entrepreneurship; innovation management; social media. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ids:ijeima:v:14:y:2011:i:4:p:298-314

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