Open Innovation: A Double-Edged Sword?

Innovation contests have become a widely-used open innovation instrument to gather new product ideas. This research examines positive and potential negative effects of this open innovation technique by analyzing the impact of a successful and unsuccessful participation in idea competitions on three key performance figures, namely purchase, word-of-mouth, and loyalty intentions. Experimental results demonstrate that – besides positive effects of a successful participation – unsuccessful participation entails adverse side effects triggered by negative emotions.