Research indicates that creative ideas provide the seed for successful service innovations.
However, little attention has been paid to understanding idea creation, especially for service
innovations. Lead user analysis has been shown to provide the highest potential to create
attractive innovation ideas. But which characteristics in lead users are important in this regard
is still under-researched. In the realm of an idea contest, we examine the impact of specific lead
user characteristics in driving the quality of service innovation ideas. Our study broadens the
understanding of which customers are suitable and should be activated for service innovation
idea contests. Using the data of 120 ideas resulting from an idea contest for new online services
of soccer clubs, our findings demonstrate that specific lead user characteristics affect the
quality of service ideas generated. We find that dissatisfaction with existing services has the
highest impact on idea quality. Thus, companies should make use of their complaint management
database to invite dissatisfied users to participate in idea contests. The results also show
that highly experienced users provide ideas of higher quality. Our findings imply that companies
should design closed-membership idea contests so that only people who show specific
characteristics can be admitted.
Dieser Eintrag ist Teil der Universitätsbibliographie.
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