Enhancing diffusion of consumer innovations on knowledge sharing platforms

Abstract

In the past decade, studies showed that many consumers innovate for themselves. Sometimes their innovations are useful to others and potentially enhance social welfare. Unfortunately, diffusion fails as consumers lack incentives to inform others. Online knowledge sharing platforms (OKSPs), which can be stimulated with government support, may alleviate this problem. Platform communication may trigger passive consumers into active knowledge contributors. It is however uncertain if and how platform communication affects consumers who never shared designs before. We conducted a randomised controlled experiment with 715 members of an OKSP in 3D printing. Our intervention included a series of general and personal messages, tailored to various motives to share knowledge: altruism, status, ideology, learning and community. Platform members who never uploaded designs before are positively influenced by our intervention. Specifically, messages tailored to altruism, ideology and learning made platform members upload more designs. Hence, platform communication can improve the availability of innovative designs to potential adopters, and is a useful step to alleviate diffusion failure of consumer innovations.