Utilizing Customer Knowledge in Innovation: Antecedents and Impact of Customer Involvement on New Product Performance

Cui, Anna Shaojie and Fang Wu (2016), “Utilizing Customer Knowledge in Innovation: Antecedents and Impact of Customer Involvement on New Product Outcomes,” Journal of Academy of Marketing Science, 44(4), 516-538.

55 Pages Posted: 20 Jul 2016

See all articles by Anna Shaojie Cui

Anna Shaojie Cui

University of Illinois at Chicago - College of Business Administration

Fang Wu

University of Texas at Dallas

Date Written: 2016

Abstract

This study examines the antecedents and impact of three forms of customer involvement in innovation: customer involvement as an information source (CIS), customer involvement as co-developers (CIC), and customer involvement as innovators (CIN). We propose that the three forms of customer involvement employ different ways of utilizing customer knowledge and thus are influenced differently by the nature of customer knowledge, the firm’s knowledge management strategy, and organizational support for knowledge management implementation. Using primary data from multiple industries, we test a set of drivers along these three dimensions and find that the three forms of customer involvement are driven by different factors. Furthermore, the impact of customer involvement on product performance is contingent upon the firm’s technological capability, and the contingent effect also varies across different forms of customer involvement. These findings provide important theoretical implications as well as practical guidance for adopting and managing customer involvement in innovation.

Keywords: customer involvement, innovation, customer knowlege, co-creation, co-development

Suggested Citation

Cui, Anna Shaojie and Wu, Fang, Utilizing Customer Knowledge in Innovation: Antecedents and Impact of Customer Involvement on New Product Performance (2016). Cui, Anna Shaojie and Fang Wu (2016), “Utilizing Customer Knowledge in Innovation: Antecedents and Impact of Customer Involvement on New Product Outcomes,” Journal of Academy of Marketing Science, 44(4), 516-538., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2811840

Anna Shaojie Cui (Contact Author)

University of Illinois at Chicago - College of Business Administration ( email )

601 South Morgan Street
11th Floor
Chicago, IL 60607
United States

Fang Wu

University of Texas at Dallas ( email )

2601 North Floyd Road
Richardson, TX 75083
United States

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