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Demand articulation through virtual crowdsourcing : the case of Lego ideas
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Odonye, Jacintha (2021) Demand articulation through virtual crowdsourcing : the case of Lego ideas. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.
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Official URL: http://webcat.warwick.ac.uk/record=b3848132
Abstract
The role of potential consumers during the process of innovation development and idea generation has remained instrumental to firms because they articulate beneficial ideas and knowledge, which is borne from the actual use of a product or observing others. As such, online communities have become attuned to trends and the current consumption patterns of their consumers in order to understand their needs fuelled by the rise in digitisation.
Virtual communities like crowdsourcing, which transcend practices of traditional businesses through the inclusion of a virtual crowd and the social, have afforded firms easy access to heterogeneous ideas and views from individuals. Users articulate their needs and demands during the process of developing innovations or solving a challenge. As a result, several firms across various industries including entertainment, food and drinks, and automobile, are inverting their business operations by leveraging external ideas and knowledge of individuals to bolster business innovations. However, the dynamics and process of users’ interactions with other actors still remain insufficient. Additionally, the mechanisms and process behind crowdsourcing in a virtual community as well as the manner in which it is conducted and evolves remain a challenge for researchers.
This thesis investigates how ideas and demands trigger reactions from users, subsequently yielding an outcome. I adopt demand articulation in a crowdsourcing context to conceptualise a process model through which crowdsourcing makes innovations valuable to potential consumers. This model is grounded in a qualitative study of a crowdsourcing platform conducted at LEGO’s crowdsourcing platform. Data was collected from the web (ideas.lego.com – LEGO’s crowdsourcing platform) for 24,292 projects from 2008 to 2018. A total of 24 projects were selected using specific key criteria useful in answering the research question.
The key contribution of this thesis is developing a process model of demand articulation through a virtual crowdsourcing community. This process model offers three mechanisms, namely the meditative operation, performative convention, and transformative overhaul.
The meditative operation is the mechanism by which contributors add to the pool of knowledge related to the artefact. The performative convention mechanism indicates significant efforts executed by contributors and project designers to promptly materialise and launch efforts and activities related to the progression of projects. The transformative overhaul mechanism denotes the adoption of new ideals, practices, and values as a result of the artefact developed. Drawing on the insights into the demand articulation process through a virtual crowdsourcing community, I discussed the implications for the literature on crowdsourcing and demand articulation. I suggest that project designers’ interactions with crowd members, or the lack thereof, have a significant impact on the magnitude of efforts offered by contributors in response. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed in the latter chapters of this thesis. This contributed to the general discussion of crowdsourcing and delivers valuable insights into how project designers’ efforts instigate active participatory communities. In addition, I offer invaluable insights to firms looking to develop their understanding of user engagement and participation in a virtual setting.
Item Type: | Thesis (PhD) | ||||
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Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions H Social Sciences > HF Commerce H Social Sciences > HM Sociology |
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Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Technological innovations -- Case studies, Crowdsourcing, Online social networks, Consumption (Economics), Demand (Economic theory), LEGO toys -- Design and construction | ||||
Official Date: | 2021 | ||||
Dates: |
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Institution: | University of Warwick | ||||
Theses Department: | Warwick Business School | ||||
Thesis Type: | PhD | ||||
Publication Status: | Unpublished | ||||
Supervisor(s)/Advisor: | Nandhakumar, Joe ; Aaltonen, Aleksi | ||||
Format of File: | |||||
Extent: | 217 leaves : illustrations | ||||
Language: | eng |
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