PurposeAutonomous technologies represent an increasingly important, but at the same time controversial technological field with enormous potential. From a consumer perspective, however, the growing autonomy of technologies might result in a perceived loss of control, which can lead to consumer resistance. Given the practical and theoretical relevance, this research examines antecedents to consumer adoption of autonomous technologies in the context of self-driving cars.Design/methodology/approachThis article looks through the lens of the technology acceptance model and conducts structural equation modeling.FindingsThe study validates the positive effect of perceived usefulness on behavioral intention to adopt self-driving cars. The results further suggest that individuals with a generally negative attitude toward technologies are afraid that they might not be capable of handling the new technology. Moreover, further mediation analyses reveal that perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness help us to explain the indirect effects of novelty seeking and technology anxiety on adoption intention.Practical implicationsThe results imply that users' perceptions of an autonomous technology's usefulness are an important determinant of technology adoption. Adoption barriers could be overcome by emphasizing the usability of the new technology. On the other hand, individuals who enjoy using the old technology may be persuaded by arguments that focus on the usefulness of the new technology rather than its ease of use.Originality/valueSelf-driving automobiles will change our perception of mobility. It is important to understand the mechanisms that drive the adoption of such innovations.

PurposeRecent technological and social changes have challenged manufacturing firms to remain competitive in increasingly dynamic markets. A way of facing these challenges is to foster organizational structures that encourage creativity. Although the general importance of organizational creativity for market success is undeniable, few studies on manufacturing firms have provided a nuanced view of how this relationship is affected by firm-external factors (e.g. different levels of market dynamism) and whether and how this leads to greater market success.Design/methodology/approachThis research uses survey data from 255 chief executive officers (CEOs) and top managers of manufacturing firms in Germany. The authors performed different regression analyses to test for direct, mediation, moderation and moderated mediation effects.FindingsThe findings show that, in highly dynamic markets, organizational support for creativity indeed helps manufacturing firms to remain competitive by positively influencing firms' innovation performance, which subsequently results in improved market performance. By contrast, in markets with low dynamism, organizational support for creativity has no impact on firms' innovation and market performance.Research limitations/implicationsFrom a theoretical perspective, this study introduces market dynamism as a novel, so-far underexplored firm-external factor that moderates the relationship between organizational support for creativity and innovation and market performance. This research thus enhances the understanding of the dynamics of organizational creativity and its effects on innovation and market performance in an organizational context of manufacturing firms.Practical implicationsIn general, this research emphasizes the importance of establishing a creativity-supporting environment to enhance innovation and market performance. Most importantly, this relationship depends on whether firms are active in highly dynamic or stable markets. Managers should thus consider the level of (future) market dynamism when making decisions about creativity-supporting work environments.Originality/valueThis research provides novel insights into how organizational support for creativity influences innovation and market performance in the manufacturing industry and introduces market dynamism as an important moderating factor.

Based on legitimacy and consumer inference theory, we examine when, how, and why past crowdfunding success influences the perceptions and behaviors of consumers. Across five studies (four controlled experiments and one field experiment), our findings demonstrate that a young venture’s past crowdfunding success enhances consumers’ perceptions of its cognitive legitimacy. This “legitimization effect of crowdfunding success” leads to positive outcomes with respect to purchase intentions, brand attitudes, and consumers’ willingness to recommend young ventures to others. These effects are robust across different product categories. However, our findings also reveal that these positive effects occur exclusively for young ventures, whereas they disappear or even reverse for established ones.

In recent years an increasing number of organizations have started to rethink their physical work environments and recognized the value of having activity-based workspaces (ABWs). This allows employees to choose freely between several work environments based on their specific task. There is growing debate amongst researchers about the effects of ABWs on employee behavior, but companies are still not aware of the options available or the consequences of moving to an ABW layout. This single-case, exploratory study uses 36 interviews and multiple data sources in a German organization leading in use of ABWs to generate insight into this topic. We develop a taxonomy of ABWs and analyze how various design parameters affect how people perform in ABWs regarding communication, leadership, working style, and work performance. We relate these findings to previous research and develop a cause-effects framework of ABWs. Against these findings, we generate recommendations for future research and practice.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide the first empirical evidence on how consumption-supportive packaging functionality influences consumers’ purchase intentions. Consumption-supportive packaging functionality implies that the packaging itself serves a function that actively helps users achieve their consumption goals and that supports the objectives consumers have in mind when using it. Design/methodology/approach To achieve the research goal, this study presents four between-participant experimental studies. In the studies, this paper tests for the direct effect of consumption-supportive packaging functionality on consumers’ purchase intentions across different product categories. Moreover, this study tests for the mediating effect of perceived product meaningfulness to explain the underlying mechanism (Studies 2 and 3) and for the moderating effect of product complexity (Study 4). Findings This paper shows that consumption-supportive packaging functionality leads to higher purchase intentions. The findings also reveal that perceived product meaningfulness is one underlying mechanism that helps us to explain the positive effect of consumption-supportive packaging functionality on purchase intention. Moreover, findings reveal that the positive effect of consumption-supportive packaging functionality only works for low-complex products, but not for high-complex ones. Research limitations/implications This research offers a new perspective on package design, and thus advances the understanding of how to package functionality can influence consumer responses. Moreover, this study contributes to the Gestalt theory because it applies a holistic design view on the packaging that influences product perception. Practical implications For low complex products, marketing managers should consider integrating packaging functionality into their communication strategy to focus on the overall Gestalt of the product. Product designers should integrate consumption-supportive packaging functionality in the product design to evoke positive consumer responses. Originality/value The research gives first empirical evidence on how and when consumption-supportive packaging functionality influences consumers’ product evaluations.