Member (co)creativity in open innovation communities

Abstract

Purpose Organizations increasingly seek to leverage open innovation (OI) communities to generate and advance novel ideas through collaborative innovation efforts of their members. However, success is far from guaranteed, as OI communities can only thrive depending on individual and collective member contributions. This study aims to examine individual and social determinants that encourage members to first generate novel ideas, then collaboratively advance these ideas through cocreation with other members, a process this study terms member “(co)creativity.” Design/methodology/approach A survey design was used to collect data from 301 OI community members, which this study analyzed through component-based structural equation modeling using the partial least squares (PLS) method. Findings Drawing on componential theory of creativity and innovation, this study demonstrates the role of members’ creative identity, creative self-efficacy and domain-relevant knowledge as determinants for their novel idea generation. While novel idea generation leads to members’ participation in collaborative innovation, this relationship is partially mediated by members’ willingness to cocreate in this process. This process is further conditioned by social determinants and leads to members’ creative self-enrichment as a result of collaborating in OI communities. Research limitations/implications Taking a member perspective, this study advances marketing innovation theorizing by investigating critical determinants of effective OI communities, informing managers about success factors that promote collaborative innovation in OI communities. Practical implications This helps overcome rather reductionist innovation models and highlights interdependencies between the individual and social determinants from a theoretical perspective while helping managers better understand important OI member profiles and social aspects that can foster the success of OI communities. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to examine the notion of member (co)creativity in OI communities and its determinants for effective collaborative innovation. This study also demonstrates self-enrichment as an important outcome of (co)creativity.