How User-Innovators Pave the Way for a Sustainable Energy Future: A Study among German Energy Enthusiasts

Abstract

The existence of user-innovators in the household sector is undeniable. Prior research provided evidence on the vast scope of product developments by household sector users and documented a large set of individual user-innovator characteristics to explain their behavior. What has largely been neglected as a potential source of user innovation activities are product- and technology-specific factors. This study aims to fill this gap by identifying and analyzing user-innovators in Germany. On the basis of the results of a large-scale survey on German energy enthusiasts, we find dissatisfaction with existing products and time-consuming implementation as the main drivers of user innovation in our setting. The results show a negative correlation between data security concerns and the likelihood of becoming a user-innovator, pointing towards the maker culture among user-innovators. As an implication of our work, we provide a roadmap for all stakeholders aiming to harness the potential of user-innovators for future open innovation eco-systems.

Sustainable Circular Mobility: User-Integrated Innovation and Specifics of Electric Vehicle Owners

“…Processes with a strong user involvement are those in which the users themselves are the innovators. Those users are also called user-innovators [35]. In the given context, the users gave input to shape the future ecosystem and its products, specifying important ecosystem and product characteristics.…”

Social entrepreneurship based on personal unmet needs: Lead user characteristics’ influences on nascent social entrepreneurs

“…In multiple industries, such as extreme sport (Baldwin et al, 2006;Hienerth, 2006;Shah, 2000), film animation (Haefliger et al, 2010), juvenile products (Shah & Tripsas, 2007, bicycles (Hanna, 2008), and the virtual world (Chandra & Leenders, 2012), lead users have also commercialized their innovations. It is only recently that this is shifting toward more sustainability-oriented fields (Grosse, 2018), such as sustainable energy (Hyysalo et al, 2013;Ornetzeder & Rohracher, 2006), which provides interesting avenues for conducting research. Combinations of user-innovators as social entrepreneurs were also found in a study of grassroots innovations Ross, Mitchell, & May (2012) and of Huysentruyt and Stephan (2011) who study social entrepreneurs as lead users for service innovations.…”

“…Entrepreneurial lead userinnovators have been detected in several industries, such as extreme sport (Baldwin et al, 2006;Hienerth, 2006;Shah, 2000), juvenile products (Shah & Tripsas, 2007, film animation (Haefliger et al, 2010), the bicycle industry (Hanna, 2008), and the virtual world (Chandra & Leenders, 2012). Recently, this has also been extended to the social and/or the sustainability domain (Grosse, 2018;Ross et al, 2012).…”

“…Whether lead userinnovators are active in the social domain and whether they become social entrepreneurs is a field for future inquiry (Shah & Tripsas, 2007). Lead user innovation has been studied in various industries, and is slowly shifting toward more sustainability-oriented domains (Grosse, 2018;Hyysalo, Juntunen, & Freeman, 2013;Ornetzeder & Rohracher, 2006). Recent studies have examined patients-as-innovators, who create and commercialize products and services that have had immense social value (Conway & Steward, 2009;Oliveira et al, 2015;Wood et al, 2013).…”

“…Users, with their specific use experiences, sometimes find solutions that are overlooked or are deemed unimportant by established manufacturers (Baldwin et al, 2006;Lüthje et al, 2005;Shah & Tripsas, 2007). The domains in which user innovation research takes place are shifting to more sustainability oriented goals (Grosse, 2018). Combinations of user-innovators as social entrepreneurs were found in a study of grassroots innovations (Ross, Mitchell, & May, 2012).…”