Impact of a Difference in Regulatory Focus on the Originator Effect for User-Generated Products

Abstract

With the evolution of digital technology, there has been increased development of new products that are co-created by the user. Studies have shown the presence of an “originator effect”, which increases consumers’ purchase intentions by informing them that the new product was ideated by a user when it is marketed. However, there has been insufficient research on the boundary conditions under which this effect is lost. In this study, two evaluations were conducted to explore the impact of a difference in regulatory focus on the boundary conditions of the originator effect, using regulatory focus theory. These evaluations were performed for promotion-focused products of high complexity and for prevention-focused advertising messages for products of low complexity. The results revealed that the originator effect was maintained even for highly complex products, for which it is possible that this effect may be lost. A negative interaction effect was found between prevention-focused advertising messages and user-ideated information for low-complexity products.

Keywords

• new product development
• user innovation
• marketing communications
• advertising
• co-creation