How can a firm achieve ambidexterity? The present study proposes that the answer to this question lies in the distinction between ambidextrous culture and ambidextrous innovation. Drawing upon organizational learning theory and the source-position-performance framework, we propose that ambidexterity requires the adoption of two important organizational cultures, willingness to cannibalize (WTCA) and willingness to combine existing knowledge (WTCO), which allow firms to attain superior performance through the implementation of both radical and incremental (i.e., ambidextrous) innovations. Our major contribution lies in addressing the important debate in the literature on whether exploration and exploitation are complements or substitutes. Furthermore, competition intensity is a key condition that determines the degree to which the two types of organizational cultures and the two types of innovations are necessary for superior firm performance. The study uses data from multiple respondents from 199 Chinese firms. Our findings thus suggest that WTCA and WTCO, which are traditionally treated as opposites, are complements in generating radical innovations.

@en

Purpose: Nowadays, customers have big chunks of information on their smartphones and can acquire information and make decisions rapidly, oftentimes with the use of specific apps. Most of the research on this topic to date has been conducted from the perspective of the provider, or the company, therefore missing the value that is created with these apps in the customer’s own domain according to the customer-dominant logic (CDL) approach. Design/methodology/approach: As compared with prior research, CDL requires a different type of research that is much more inclined towards customers and specific circumstances. This paper is positioned within CDL (Heinonen and Strandvik, 2015) and aims to quantitatively explore app usage in different customer contexts. Findings: Seven apps were tested in two different usage contexts: a social vs an individual context and a calm vs dynamic context. It was found that for the social vs individual context there was no difference; thus, managers should not pay too much attention to whether the user of the digital service is in a social context. For the calm vs dynamic social context, it was found that customers’ satisfaction, enjoyment, pleasure and their overall rating of an app were higher when the customer as in a tranquil vs dynamic context. Research limitations/implications: The proposed method provides a highly relevant way to approach app development from a CDL perspective. Practical implications: These findings provide evidence that context matters and that we should study customer behavior from a more integral and detailed perspective as has been advocated by CDL. Social implications: App research should incorporate a customer focused approach. This means that not only the customers’ needs need to be considered. The circumstances and context in which apps are used are highly relevant as well. Originality/value: This research uses a CDL approach to provide evidence about the consequences for app usage and satisfaction and shows the necessity of incorporating specific circumstances, customer experience and usage variables to a larger extend than has been advocated in the past.

@en

Attentional strategies in the form of focused and defocused attention can be used for generating new product ideas. Focused attention refers to limiting the mental scope, whereas defocused attention refers to a widening of the mental scope. In two empirical studies, we investigate the effect of focused and defocused attentional strategies on the novelty, usefulness, and symbolism of the resulting product ideas and consumer response to these ideas. Study 1 shows that defocused (vs. focused) attention leads to ideas that are more novel, which in turn increases the desirability of these ideas to consumers. Study 2 replicates the link between defocus and novelty. Also, it shows that focused (vs. defocused) attention increases the usefulness of ideas, while defocused (vs. focused) attention increases the symbolic qualities of the product idea. Further, all three dimensions—novelty, usefulness, and symbolism—mediate the relationship between (de)focused attention and the desirability of a new product idea.

@en

Purpose: Development of new products is important for firm success; however, firms often struggle to identify the best ideas from multiple options. The purpose of this paper is to study how innovators and early adopters can be used for identifying the best ideas, i.e. the ideas that appeal to mass-market customers. Design/methodology/approach: Two empirical studies were conducted. Study 1 concerned the development of a symbolic innovation, whereas Study 2 focused on a functional innovation. Each study consisted of two parts: idea generation and idea evaluation. In Study 1 there were 124 idea generators and 248 idea evaluators. In Study 2 there were 104 idea generators and 108 evaluators. Findings: Both studies demonstrate that innovators and early adopters are able to predict the ideas that appeal to mass-market customers. Yet, it was also shown that this prediction depends on the nature of the idea. In the case of ideas for products that are predominantly symbolic in nature (Study 1), innovators and early adopters predict the buying intentions of mass-market consumers via the perceived novelty of the idea. In turn, for ideas that are predominantly functional in nature, innovators and early adopters predict the buying intentions of mass-market consumers directly via buying intentions. Originality/value: These findings show that innovators and early adopters can be used for selecting the best ideas from a plethora of available options. This is the first time that innovators and early adopters have been empirically demonstrated to hold such a role.

@en

The goal of this paper is to examine meaning as a component of creativity. We take a demand-based approach for conceptualizing meaning, and propose that it emerges from user needs instead of emerging from already existing creative solutions. Meaning is proposed as a third component of creativity, alongside novelty and usefulness. We test this proposition in a pre-study, and two empirical studies. In the pre-study, designers define creativity and provide examples of solutions that they deem creative. The results of the pre-study yield a 24-item scale for assessing creativity. Then, we conduct two empirical studies, in which we utilize the created scale for measuring creativity, and for examining the components arising thereof. In the first study, we ask creators (design engineering students) to generate ideas for one of two design briefs. Afterwards, creators were asked to rate their own creations, on the 24-item creativity scale. Here, we find a four-factor solution for creative outcomes, consisting of the dimensions novelty, usefulness, cleverness, and meaning. In the second study, we ask independent evaluators (individuals with related and relevant degrees) to assess the creators' work on the creativity scale. Here, we find a three-factor solution for creative outcomes, consisting of the dimensions novelty, usefulness, and meaning. In both studies, meaning emerged as a separate component of creativity. Additionally, in both studies, it accounted for variance that was unaccounted for by novelty and usefulness, thereby increasing the overall explanatory power of creative solutions. These findings strongly speak of meaning as a third component of creativity.

@en

When tackling problems, designers might be inspired by different sources, whether concrete or abstract. The more concrete sources often comprise representations of potential solutions or examples of existing designs. The more abstract sources often represent the desirable properties of engineered systems, such as modular system architectures. We performed an experiment with 60 novice designers to compare the inspiration effects from these two types of stimuli. Participants were asked to solve a design problem, having been exposed to a concrete example design, an abstract system property, both, or no stimulus at all. Their design work was assessed according to four metrics: fluency, diversity, commonness, and conformity. Exposure to either the example design or the system property reduced the fluency and diversity of ideas, and exposure to both stimuli reduced these measures even further. While there was no difference in the inspiration effects from the example and the property in terms of fluency, diversity, and commonness; results for conformity showed that each stimulus constrained participants differently: encouraging ideas similar to one type of stimulus, while discouraging ideas similar to the other type. In combination with other work on inspiration and fixation, these findings can help shape how design is taught and how inspiration tools are developed.@en

Consumers are no longer passive recipients of products, but are actively involved in various stages of their creation from their design to their actual production. Regarding design, consumers can customize everything from t-shirts and shoes to shelves on their own, often using toolkits of configurators that help them in the process. A specific type of customization effort that has lately become pervasive is customized assembly, where consumers need to expend effort also in the production stage in order for their preferred designs to come to fruition. This makes customized assembly a particularly intriguing form of consumer participation because, ceteris paribus, consumers should welcome the opportunity to customize (a benefit) but avoid the effort of assembly (a cost). However, there is evidence to suggest that consumers also enjoy participating in the making of a good. This study examines whether customers’ satisfaction with customized assembly products is driven by their participation in their design (the “I designed it myself” effect) or their production (the “I made it myself” effect) by means of an experiment. In marked contrast to studies on customization, our results support the “I made it myself” effect over the “I designed it myself” effect - consumers want to be co-producers of good products, regardless of whether who designed it. Our results also indicate that the influence of designing on satisfaction is derived from self-expression provided by customization, whereas the influence making is mediated by the pleasure derived from co-production. These mechanisms operate in parallel to produce the satisfaction consumers experience toward the customized assembly product. For companies, knowing how consumers derive satisfaction from customized assembly products can provide valuable insight into crafting and positioning such products.@en

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to focus on the potentially positive role of rumors in generating curiosity about new products, and further shows how this prior knowledge through rumors affects consumer responses to subsequent official preannouncements about these products. Design/methodology/approach: Building on the seminal work by Rogers (2003) on the innovation-adoption process, the authors examine how two factors – product newness (incremental vs radical) and rumor ambiguity (ambiguous vs unambiguous) shape consumer interest (curiosity) toward new products. Findings: Study 1 experimentally tests the assumption that incremental and radical new products may benefit from different types of rumors, and shows that radical new products benefit more from ambiguous rumors as compared to incremental new products in terms of increased curiosity toward the product. Study 2 links rumors to preannouncements, and shows that rumors set expectations that become confirmed or disconfirmed by preannouncements. The results show that the curiosity evoked by the rumor has a significant impact on purchase intentions toward the new product, especially when they are confirmed by the preannouncements about the same product. Originality/value: There is scant research investigating how rumors may shape consumer expectations about new products despite the prevalence of rumors in the marketplace, and this research provides a first outlook on the positive role that rumors play in the marketplace.

@en

It is commonly known in the positive psychology literature that people who want to increase their
happiness ought to engage in so-called happiness-enhancing activities. Building on this stream of research, work that emphasizes the duality of happiness (affect vs. meaning) is introduced in order to propose a new conceptualization of happiness activities. The new conceptualization distinguishes between self- and other-focused happiness activities, and argues for the importance of other-focused activities over self-focused ones. Results from a six-week long study show that other-focused happiness activities consistently outperformed self-focused ones in terms of raising participants’ levels of happiness. Although self-focused happiness activities also increased happiness, by showing increases over time relative to participants’ baseline level, other-focused happiness activities
consistently outperformed such increases.@en

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine women’s reactions to celebrity endorsers holding positive and negative public images and the consequences for purchase intentions of the endorsed
product.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on the social comparison literature and applies the theory of upward and downward comparisons to the celebrity endorsement context.
Findings – Study 1 shows that exposure to celebrities holding a positive public image decrease consumers’ temporal self-esteem, while celebrities holding a negative public image increase temporal self-esteem. Study 2 suggests that this change in self-esteem transfers to the product depending upon the type of social comparison focus (similarity vs dissimilarity) which people have. Study 3 shows that for consumers low in true self-esteem, i.e. self-esteem based upon a stable foundation, celebrities holding a positive public image decrease purchase intentions. For consumers high in true self-esteem, there was no difference between exposure to celebrities holding a positive and a negative public image for purchase intentions. Study 4 focused on replicating the results found in Studies 1-3 in the context of an achievement celebrity (as opposed to a regular celebrity). The findings in Study 4 provide further support for the results of Studies 1 and 3, and identify expert celebrities as a boundary condition for the
effects found in Study 2.
Practical implications – The results provide evidence suggesting that celebrities holding a negative
public image can be used as celebrity endorsers in product categories in which it can be considered
helpful to protect women’s self-esteem, such as beauty products or self-expressive products.
Originality/value – This research contributes to the literature on celebrity endorsement by adding a
boundary condition for the effectiveness of celebrity endorsement. According to the results, choosing a
positive celebrity can, for some groups, have negative effects on purchase intensions and that a negative
celebrity might be the safer choice.@en

Purpose – Previous research in the context of feature fit has examined the effects of congruence (i.e. more specifically, the extent to which a new feature and the product are similar in the hedonicutilitarian benefits they provide to consumers). The purpose of this paper is to examine a second dimension of feature fit: complementarity (i.e. the extent to which a new feature is related and contributing to the main functionality of the product). Design/methodology/approach – The role of feature fit is examined in two experimental studies (n¼593) in the context of feature additions, and also for feature deletions. Findings – The results showed that complementarity adds value to a product as an additional dimension of feature fit beyond congruence, complementarity matters more for a hedonic than for a utilitarian product, and complementarity can compensate for lack of congruence. Originality/value – For a product developer, adding new features to a product offers an array of choices in terms of what feature(s) to include. Although having a large pool of potential features to choose from is attractive it can also prove problematic, as products may become overly complex and features do not fit well together. The results demonstrate the importance of both congruence and complementarity as predictors of feature fit when features are added to or deleted from products. @en

Background: The current article explores the effect of design on the efficacy of behavioural intervention technologies (BITs). With a user-centred design process, colourful key ring coins were created as a means of introducing self-administered behavioural interventions. Methods: A 6-week study tested whether the tangible objects contributed to the effectiveness of these interventions. Three groups were compared (N = 100): one group received happiness-enhancing activities printed on key ring coins, one group received the same activity tasks printed on paper, and one group served as a control. The outcome measure was the satisfaction with life scale (SWLS). Results: The group that received happiness-enhancing activities on key ring coins scored highest on SWLS. Participants mentioned that it was exciting to be reminded to do the task whenever they were using their keys. Others mentioned that the coins helped them to put their hearts into the project, trying their best to finish the tasks. Conclusions: The findings support the proposition that design should be recognized as an important factor when developing effective means for disseminating positive psychology to a broad audience. This highlights the need for multidisciplinary approaches to the development of BITs, embracing active collaborations between psychologists, computer scientists, and (interaction) designers. @en

Scarcity is a frequently used marketing tactic to encourage product acquisition. A product that is scarce seems more appealing to buyers than a product that is non-scarce, positively influencing product sales by attracting buyers to the store, and by encouraging hoarding behaviour. To date, scarcity has been examined in relation to product acquisition: people acquire scarce products because they find them desirable. What is lesser known, however, is the ability of scarce products to retain their desirability over time; in other words, do scarce products remain attractive after they have been acquired? Or is the attractiveness in the acquisition itself, in the ability of getting something that is hard to get? Focusing specifically on scarcity caused by limited supply, we utilize the theory of hedonic adaptation for making predictions about the consequences of product scarcity over time. In line with the theory of hedonic adaptation, we predict that the attractiveness of product scarcity is short-lived; over time, a scarce product is predicted to be just as attractive as a non-scare product. We further examine boundary conditions for the non-attractiveness of scarce products over time. Results of our experimental study show that the effect only holds true for consumers who have a low need to maintain social face; for consumers who are high in the need to maintain social face, the scarce product retains its attractiveness over time. Importantly, we also show that the results pertaining to social face cannot be explained by need for uniqueness, which is frequently thought to underlie the appeal of scarce products.@en

Previous research has argued that in order to become happier, consumers should prefer experiences over material objects. However, this experience recommendation is based upon measures of short-term happiness. In two empirical studies, we test the experience recommendation for both short- as well as long-term happiness. In line with previous results, it was found that the experience recommendation holds for short-term happiness but data did not support the superiority of the experience recommendation for long-term happiness. More specifically, it was documented that adding a material component to the experience had the best effect upon long-term happiness.@en