EXPRESS: Better Innovation for a Better World

Abstract

We aim to stimulate discussion on how innovation research within marketing can use a better world (BW) perspective to help innovation become a driver of positive change in the world. In this “Challenging the Boundaries” series paper, we hope to provide purposeful research opportunities for scholars seeking to bridge innovation research with the BW movement. We frame our discussion with four areas of innovation research in marketing that are particularly relevant to BW objectives. We discuss how the innovation process may be disrupted by potentially relinquishing customer centricity and embracing the constraints imposed by BW objectives. We explore how firms should organize for BW innovation, both in terms of who should be involved in the process internally and externally, and how the workforce and firm should be structured to support BW innovation. We then consider consumer response to innovation from a BW perspective, examining drivers of adoption behavior regarding BW innovations and how these innovations should be marketed. We also explore post-adoption behavior, as well as helping consumers resist adoption in certain contexts. Finally, we discuss how markets for BW innovation may be created and sustained, and how external constituencies (i.e., government, lawmakers, and academic communities) could shape these markets.