Innovation by Consumers in the Prototyping Stage: Contributions to the Lead-User Theory

Innovating with users offers numerous opportunities for companies that wish to remain competitive in the market. Several comparative studies have investigated which consumer profiles can develop the most attractive ideas and concepts, but the conclusions differ. This research joins this debate and focuses on a still understudied stage by asking the following question : With which type of consumer firms should co-innovate to improve the commercial attractiveness of prototypes during the prototyping stage ? To address this question, we compare video game prototypes generated by four types of consumers : lead-users, emergent-nature consumers, individuals combining both characteristics, and ordinary consumers. Through a two-stage quantitative study, we show that innovative consumers with lead-user characteristics develop video games’ prototypes that are more commercially attractive than those developed by the other consumer profiles.
JEL Codes: O30, M12, D11, D12, L25