Seeker Exemplars and Quantitative Ideation Outcomes in Crowdsourcing Contests

Crowdsourcing ideation contests allow solution-seeking firms (seekers) to solicit ideas from external individuals (solvers). Contest platforms often recommend seekers to provide examples of solutions (i.e., seeker exemplars) to guide and inspire solvers in generating ideas. In this study, we delve into solvers’ ideation process and examine how different configurations of seeker exemplars affect the quantitative outcomes in solvers’ scanning, shortlisting, and selection of ideas. Results from an online experiment show that solvers generally search for, shortlist, and/or submit fewer ideas when shown certain seeker exemplars. In addition, solvers who submit fewer ideas tend to submit lower-quality ideas, on average. Thus, a key insight from this study is that showing seeker exemplars, which contest platforms encourage and seekers often do, could negatively affect quantitative ideation outcomes and thereby impair idea quality. To help mitigate these adverse ideation outcomes, we propose a few areas of which seekers should be mindful. We also suggest ways that contests’ platforms can contribute to the idea generation process that solvers undertake.

Identifying high quality ideas in the online context: evidence from a meta-analysis

PurposeWith the rapid development of web-based ideation platforms, firms are increasingly reaching outside their boundaries to obtain ideas, which makes idea evaluation tricky and ineffective. Numerous studies have investigated the antecedents of idea quality, but few have focused on the fragmented and contradictory conclusions these studies have drawn. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to disentangle conflicting findings regarding factors affecting idea quality.Design/methodology/approachA total of 41 independent samples from 40 articles published between 2009 and 2020 were retrieved and encoded to conduct a meta-analysis. By using Comprehensive Meta-analysis 3.0 (CMA 3.0) software, the relationship between identified influencing factors and idea quality, and the moderating effects of potential variables were investigated.FindingsFactors affecting idea quality were summarized and divided into three categories: idea-related factors, ideator-related factors and platform-related factors. The results indicated that all proposed factors (idea length, supporting evidence, past success, past submissions, past comments, votes received and comments received) had significant positive effects on idea quality. Moreover, the measurement of idea quality and idea type was the causative factor for the inconsistent findings, whereas the moderating effect of platform type was not significant.Originality/valueThis study systematically synthesized the existing research on the factors influencing idea quality and helped to reconcile the mixed results. The findings serve to enrich current knowledge of idea evaluation in the online context, which could have important implications for both scholars and practitioners.

Group idea generation and selection: The originality versus feasibility battle & intragroup competition

Organizations often try to stimulate creative problem-solving by inducing competition among group members. This facilitative effect of intragroup competition lies in group members’ enhanced motivation to outperform the others. Previous research, however, has mainly focused on idea generation, thereby overlooking the subsequent idea selection stage. In fact, groups are poor at selecting both original and feasible ideas (i.e., creative), which may be further exacerbated when group members compete against each other. Furthermore, while originality and feasibility are two key factors of creativity, people seem to have difficulty taking both into account. The current research investigated how intragroup competition, through incorporating a rewarding scheme, influences group idea generation and selection, and whether explicit instructions of focusing on either originality or feasibility (performance criteria) could steer groups’ focus in the intended direction. An experimental study was conducted with 78 three-person groups. Results showed that overall, neither intragroup competition nor performance criteria influenced groups’ generation and selection performance. Nevertheless, some interesting findings emerged - Originality and feasibility were indeed inversely correlated; idea quality at the generation stage predicted the idea quality at the selection stage; furthermore, certain group processes during the group task might have indirectly linked the competition-selection performance relationship. Study limitations, theoretical and practical implications were discussed.

Modelling the Dynamics of Influence on Individual Thinking during Idea Generation in Co-design Teams

Social influence is not evenly distributed in teams. Some individuals, referredto here as influencers, become more influential than others. Consequentially,these influencers play a significant role in shaping project performance.The current work simulates the presence of influencers duringidea generation in co-design teams to better understand emergent socio-cognitivephenomena. Besides providing, a novel approach for modelling learningin concept generation the model highlights the results related to individualcognition during idea generation. Idea quality and exploration of designspace are affected by the presence of influencers in design teams. Teamswith no well-defined influencers produce solutions with high general explorationbut less quality. In contrast, the agents in the teams with only oneinfluencer produce solutions high quality than those teams with no influencers.

The impact of employee participation in online innovation communities on idea quality

Purpose Online user innovation community (OUIC) has become a vital source for enterprises to obtain user innovation ideas and interact with users in new product development. However, most studies only focus on the relationship between users and ideas, often ignoring the influence of employees in the innovation platform. The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of employee behaviors on idea quality in OUIC. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, the authors collected sample data of open user innovation community – Idea Exchange – and then, the authors examined the direct roles of employee’s idea generation behaviors and idea promotion behaviors on idea quality and the moderating roles of social networks position and enthusiasm by using binary logistic regression model. Findings Results indicated that employee’s idea generation behaviors and idea promotion behaviors have a positive influence on users’ idea quality. Also, the social network position and characteristics show the moderation effect of employee behavior and idea quality. Originality/value This study is different from prior studies because it emphasizes the role of employees in the open source platform. The findings suggest that enterprises and platform managers pay more attention to the impact of employees and improve the quality of ideas and promote the development of OUIC.

Harvesting tourists’ ideas through an idea contest

Purpose This study aims to demonstrate how destination management organizations can fruitfully harvest users’ ideas by facilitating an online idea contest to enhance value creation and innovation processes. The structure of the idea quality, contest-related factors and user-related factors are investigated in relation to the overall quality of the ideas submitted by users. Design/methodology/approach A total of 489 ideas were assessed based on the overall quality and effects of various factors. A structural model was tested to analyze the dimensions contributing to quality of the submissions that influence the overall idea quality. Furthermore, non-parametric tests were performed to reveal how specific user traits as well as contest-related traits relate to overall idea quality. Lastly, post-hoc analyses were performed to reveal if mean values differ among users who are grouped according to age, overall idea quality, place of residence and age at time of submission. Findings The study demonstrates that novelty, feasibility, relevance and elaboration explain overall idea quality. Only the age of the idea submitter exhibits an impact on the level of idea quality, wherein younger users tend to submit higher quality ideas. The areas of innovation significantly differ depending on the users’ place of residence and age. Moreover, none of the contest-related traits that were analyzed have an impact on the level of overall idea quality. Practical implications Marketing managers and destination management organizations are given a set of recommendations on how to facilitate internet-based participation tools, such as idea contests, to collect high-quality input from various user segments and, subsequently, to feed their value creation and innovation processes. Originality/value Within the field of tourism, the open tourism paradigm is relatively new. New insights into the role of online tools, and how they can be leveraged to harvest users’ ideas, as well as users’ capabilities for enhancing tourism firms’ value creation and innovation processes, are provided.

Tournaments to Crowdsource Innovation: The Role of Moderator Feedback and Participation Intensity

Firms increasingly use innovation tournaments to crowdsource innovation ideas from customers. This article uncovers antecedents and consequences of customers’ participation intensity over the course of a tournament. More specifically, the authors theorize on the effects that the type and timing of moderating feedback have on tournament participants’ participation intensity, as well as the effect of the latter on idea quality. Through two longitudinal experiments using a commercial innovation tournament platform, the authors show that moderating feedback stimulates ideators’ participation intensity. They find that negative feedback increases participation intensity, as compared to no feedback and positive feedback. Moreover, negative feedback, either provided in isolation or together with positive feedback, is more effective during the early stages than in the later stages of a tournament. Using a large-scale managerial survey, the authors show that higher participation intensity leads to higher idea quality and better business performance. The effect of participation intensity on idea quality is stronger than the effect of number of ideas and as strong as the effect of number of participants on idea quality.