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Faced with an increasingly dynamic environment primarily due to advancing competitiveness, new technologies as well as shorter product and innovation cycles, the success of a company is mainly determined by its innovative abilities (Dahan, Soukhoroukova, & Spann, 2010; Schreyögg & Sydow, 2010). Thus, the continuous development and market introduction of new products have a crucial impact on the economic success of an enterprise and its performance (Blundell, Griffith, & Van Reenen, 1999; Ernst, 2002). However, various empirical studies highlight the high failure rates of new products, especially in consumer markets (see e.g., Ayers, Gordon, & Schoenbachler, 2001; Cooper, Edgett, & Kleinschmidt, 2004; Crawford, 1987; Ernst, 2002). It is therefore obvious that management is highly interested in detecting ways that enable the development of successful innovations.
A review of old and recent literature reveals that the reduction of innovation failures and the improvement of the return on funds invested in new product development (NPD) are mainly determined by the capability of these innovations to meet customers’ wants and needs (e.g., Coelho, Augusto, Coelho, & Sa, 2010; Davidson, 1976; Martin & Bush, 2003; Moore, 1982). In the course of time, it has been recognized that the creation of successful innovations requires the compounding of knowledge from various perspectives, including especially the knowledge of customers, as these are most suitable for revealing their wants and needs (Bergman, Jantunen, & Saksa, 2009; Joshi & Sharma, 2004; Leonard & Sensiper, 1998). Customer knowledge has become indispensable for developing innovative products (Sawhney, Prandelli, & Verona, 2003; Su, Chen, & Sha, 2006).
Füller et al. (2015), Enkel et al. (2005), Lau et al. (2010), and Sandmeier et al. (2010), amongst others, suggest that absorbing customer knowledge through customer integration into NPD strengthens a company’s core competencies. In the context of customer integration, customers creatively contribute and cooperate within the different phases of the innovation process (Zwass, 2010) and thereby transfer their knowledge to the R&D professionals. Since 2003, this approach is often referred to as “Open Innovation” (Chesbrough, 2003), whereas nowadays this approach is also referred to as Crowdsourcing for Innovation (Afuah & Tucci, 2012).
Over the years, various methods and practices that allow engagement of customers in NPD have been developed in practice and discussed in literature (Bartl, Füller, Mühlbacher, & Ernst, 2012; J. Füller & Matzler, 2007; Lilien, Morrison, Searls, Sonnack, & von Hippel, 2002). Existing customer integration methods are all different in their nature; however, the central purpose of all methods is to attain knowledge from customers and internalize that knowledge into innovation development.