TY - JOUR

T1 - To own or not to own

T2 - How ownership impacts user innovation-An empirical study

AU - Tietze, Frank

AU - Pieper, Thorsten

AU - Herstatt, Cornelius

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.

PY - 2015/4/1

Y1 - 2015/4/1

N2 - User innovation studies have mainly concentrated on markets in which users purchase products and, thus, both own and control the acquired good. However, users also use products that they do not own, in which case ownership and control are separated. Property rights theory predicts that the separation of ownership and control is a user innovation barrier. When innovating, users need to accommodate an additional actor: the owner. Separation of ownership and control thus induces uncertainty and complexity in the user innovation process, increasing users' costs to innovate. The results of hierarchical regression analyses of data from 743 German rowers show that separation of ownership and control negatively impacts user innovativeness. Use experience positively moderates this relationship with regard to idea generation, but negatively with regard to idea realization. To remedy the negative impact, we propose approaches to manufacturers that employ co-creation-based innovation strategies (e.g. grant back clauses in use contracts).

AB - User innovation studies have mainly concentrated on markets in which users purchase products and, thus, both own and control the acquired good. However, users also use products that they do not own, in which case ownership and control are separated. Property rights theory predicts that the separation of ownership and control is a user innovation barrier. When innovating, users need to accommodate an additional actor: the owner. Separation of ownership and control thus induces uncertainty and complexity in the user innovation process, increasing users' costs to innovate. The results of hierarchical regression analyses of data from 743 German rowers show that separation of ownership and control negatively impacts user innovativeness. Use experience positively moderates this relationship with regard to idea generation, but negatively with regard to idea realization. To remedy the negative impact, we propose approaches to manufacturers that employ co-creation-based innovation strategies (e.g. grant back clauses in use contracts).

KW - Property rights theory

KW - Separation of ownership and control

KW - Use experience

KW - User innovation barrier

KW - Management studies

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84924147484&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.technovation.2014.11.001

DO - 10.1016/j.technovation.2014.11.001

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:84924147484

VL - 38

SP - 50

EP - 63

JO - Technovation

JF - Technovation

SN - 0166-4972

ER -