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| The Manners and Paths of Context-driven User Innovation in the Internet of Things Environment |
| Zhang Fan1,2,He Jiaxun1,2 |
| (1.Faculty of Economics and Management, East China Normal University; 2.Institute for Nation(al) Branding Strategy, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China) |
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Abstract With the widespread adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) technology and smart devices, contextual marketing has emerged as a novel business model that dynamically stimulates customers' underlying needs, thereby fostering firm innovation. The IoT serves as a critical means to achieve a profound integration of technology and consumption context. With the advancement of the IoT, marketing has been transitioned from the traditional online-offline mode to a co-constructive context, where the digitalization of context drives industry digitalization, consequently influencing changes in the industrial chain and facilitating industry ecological reform. The iterative innovation of technology has resulted in a more diverse competitive environment. The ability to rapidly meet customer needs has emerged as a new focal point of competition. Intensifying market competition compels firms to redirect their R&D investments towards engaging users in active innovation, and thus the user innovation mode has become the primary driving force behind enhancing firms' innovation output.#br#Several scholars have acknowledged the impact of context innovation on consumer behavior and the significant role of users in context-driven innovation models. They have also recognized that customers, in turn, can drive the innovation of technology and business models for firms within a context-driven innovation framework. Various concepts such as value co-creation, product development tools, and service-dominant logic regarding user innovation have been proposed, but specific manners of user innovation and contribution have not been thoroughly discussed. In practice, researchers have focused more on the impact of user innovation on product development and the establishment of user innovation platforms, but have not extensively explored the specific implementation pathways. Therefore, given the fact that users play a crucial role as a significant source for firms to gain sustainable innovation advantages, stimulating user participation in innovation has become a pressing issue in firm innovation management. This holds particularly true in the context of the IoT where the exploration of how consumption context drives user innovation and, in turn, stimulates firm innovation deserves considerable attention.#br#This study aims to explore how users generate new consumer demands and create value with firms driven by consumption context. According to context theory and user innovation theory, this paper takes the scene-brand Casarte as the sample case and uses the data processing program of grounded theory to theorize the manners of user innovation driven by context and its generation path. The findings reveal that the consumption context encompasses physical elements, technological elements, humanistic elements, and relational elements. Users engage in innovation within different types of consumption contexts through activities such as bridging expected demands, breaking consumption inertia, transforming emotions, generating experiential data, and integrating customer knowledge. The context-driven user innovation path follows a closed-loop trajectory characterized by dynamic changes and cyclic iterations. It is shaped by the interplay of contextual elements and driven by both natural and human forces.#br#This paper establishes a preliminary foundation for contextual marketing as a means to stimulate user innovation and create value. It offers insights into context interaction and user demand mining in contextual marketing strategies, thereby fostering firm innovation. The theoretical contribution of this paper lies in the consolidation of the elements and types of consumption contexts, which extends the concept of the "five context forces" proposed by Scoble and incorporates the four elements of context proposed by Peng Lan. This enriches the research outcomes on context marketing in the IoT environment. With the refinement of the manners and paths of context-driven user innovation, it provides valuable insights for researchers to gain a deeper understanding of the harmonious management state of firm and customer collaboration in creating value within the IoT environment.#br#This paper also offers practical implications for practitioners. First, firms should prioritize the construction of contextual elements in contextual marketing. Second, it is crucial to harness the wisdom of users and stimulate their inspiration to promote innovation for firms. Third, firms should leverage advanced context analysis technologies to precisely assess user needs and make corresponding adjustments.#br#
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Received: 30 September 2022
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