Call for Papers: User Innovation and the Role of Creative Consumers

User innovation happens when innovation is undertaken by end users, both firms and creative consumers. In this special issue, we focus on the role of creative consumers, who are any “individual or group who adapts, modifies, or transforms a proprietary offering, such as a product or service” (Berthon et al. 2007, p.40). Thus, creative consumers are a category of inventive individuals that includes ‘lead users’, ‘hackers’, ‘pirates’, ‘user designers’, ‘phreakers’, and ‘jail breakers’.

User innovation happens when innovation is undertaken by end users, both firms and creative consumers. In this special issue, we focus on the role of creative consumers, who are any “individual or group who adapts, modifies, or transforms a proprietary offering, such as a product or service” (Berthon et al. 2007, p.40). Thus, creative consumers are a category of inventive individuals that includes ‘lead users’, ‘hackers’, ‘pirates’, ‘user designers’, ‘phreakers’, and ‘jail breakers’.

In this Special Issue we seek to advance research on the role of creative consumers in user innovation. Such papers should inform and encourage debate on the different types of creative consumer that exist, the challenges and opportunities these types present to firms, and the responses that firms should adopt to identify, work with, and absorb knowledge from these consumers.

The deadline for submissions is August 31st, 2012.