Aging populations challenge companies across different countries and industries to respond to the changing needs, demands and expectations of their growing shares of older customers. This opens room for improving or developing innovations – products as well as services – that correspond to...

Analogies can trigger breakthrough ideas in new product development. Numerous examples demonstrate that substantial innovations often result from transferring problem solutions from one industry or domain to another. For instance, the designers of the new running shoe generation of Nike, "Nike...

This study builds on our previous work, which had questioned the validity of certain assumptions of the lead market theory in the face of changing ground realities in a globalized world. Sustained economic growth and proven technological capabilities in some "emerging economies" like China and...

The existing research on the behavior of user innovators has focused almost exclusively on younger users. In light of the demographic shift and the increasing importance of the "Silver Market" segment (customers 55 years plus), we analyzed whether important determinants of user innovator...

Integrating lead users into the product development process is a promising source of innovations. While the lead user approach is clearly established in academia, the implementation into management practice is ambiguous. Conducting a literature review of 255 articles in business press we show...

High-tech, German companies are facing a curious problem: their products are reportedly "too good" for the expanding global markets. So in a way they get "penalised" for offering a superlative quality. At a second glance, though, this doesn't seem surprising. For, succeeding in the emerging...

The trend of population aging is affecting an increasing number of countries around the world, especially advanced economies. One consequence of a growing population share of aged persons is a shift in consumer needs, reflected by a rising number of products and services designed particularly...

In the light of depleting natural resources and growing awareness for responsible consumption, "Cradle-to-Cradle" (C2C) has emerged as one of the key concepts redefining product characteristics and assigning a new role to environmental responsibility of companies. It reframes the general goal of...

Prior research on user innovation has concentrated on markets in which products (e.g., mountain bikes, kitesurfing equipment, tools, etc.) are typically purchased by those users who modify them. However, in numerous markets, this is not the case, for example, those in which equipment is rented....