The value priorities of consumer innovators

Abstract

Contributing to the understanding of drivers for innovation, we report the first study of the value base of consumer innovation. Based on a survey with representative samples across ten European countries (N ≈ 10,000), about 5 per cent of participants are engaged in innovation activities in their leisure time, which is in line with earlier, single-country studies. The study confirms that consumer innovation is significantly related to personal value priorities and as expected, consumer innovators give higher priority to openness-to-change values than non-innovators. More surprisingly, consumer innovators are less motivated by hedonistic goals (fun and enjoyment) and more by concern for other people and society (i.e. self-transcendence values) than non-innovators. This adds an important dimension to existing knowledge and understanding of what motivates consumer innovation, helps differentiate consumer innovators from other consumers, and offers important input to the development of policies for facilitating or supporting consumer innovation.