Service Users as Sources for Innovation:An Empirical Study in the German Services Industry

Users are considered as important source for new service ideas and, therefore, as a vital impetus to the creation of innovative new services. Yet, little is known about how service companies manage user integration in the early stages of service development and which types of user qualify as source of service innovation. In this work we widen the knowledge base practitioners and scientists can build on when exploring which service users to integrate and how to increase the likelihood of generating attractive new service ideas. Based on empirical data from two complementary large scale surveys, we provide valuable new insights into the industrial practice of user integration in the German services industry and analyze the independent development contributions of Internet service users.