Treading new ground in household sector innovation research: Scope, emergence, business implications, and diffusion

J.P.J. de Jong, Shiko Ben-Menahem, Nicolaus Franke, Johann Fuller, Georg von Krogh

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Individual consumers in the household sector increasingly develop products, services and processes, in their discretionary time without payment. Household sector innovation is becoming a pervasive phenomenon, representing a significant share of the innovation activity in any economy. Such innovation emerges from personal needs or self-rewards, and is distinct from and complementary to producer innovations motivated by commercial gains. In this introductory paper to the special issue on household sector innovation, we take stock of emerging research on the topic. We categorize the research into four areas: scope, emergence, implications for business, and diffusion. We develop a conceptual basis for the phenomenon, introduce the articles in the special issue, and show how each article contributes new insights. We end by offering a research agenda for scholars interested in the salient phenomenon of household sector innovation.

Original languageEnglish
Article number104270
Pages (from-to)1-8
JournalResearch Policy
Volume50
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank all authors who submitted their manuscripts for review; many of whom presented their work at the 19th Open and User Innovation conference in Utrecht, the Netherlands. We deeply acknowledge Research Policy's editorial office for guidance and operational support ? in particular Pavel Corilloclla, Melina Galdos, Claire Harkin and Ben Martin. Finally, we are grateful to all colleagues from within and outside the open and user innovation research community, who assisted in reviewing the papers for this special issue.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021

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