This dissertation explores user innovation from three different perspectives, the relationship between social network measure and innovation output of user innovators, the relationship between the membership dynamics of online user innovation communities and innovative performance of online communities, and finally the diffusion of user innovation within online communities.
In the first essay, the relationship between user innovator and the social network position were theorized and empirically demonstrated. The results reveal two findings, first the existence of a threshold point within the relationship between social network position and user innovator’s performance levels. Increase in relationship strength leads to decrease in the level of innovative performance of the user innovators. Second, social network position of user innovators alters the novelty of innovation they produce.
The second essay explores the influences of dynamic membership within online community on user innovator’s innovative performance. The results reveal that higher boundary spanning activity of community members diminished the innovative performance levels of network communities. However, the additional analysis reveals that community members within the top 1% of the entire boundary spanning activity holders actually benefited from their boundary spanning activities. Overall, the essay identifies different aspects of boundary spanning activities of community members and their contradicting impacts on innovative performance of the communities.
The final essay examines the diffusion of user innovation in relation to social network theory. The results show that innovation diffusion by user innovators with different social network positions leads to different diffusion outcomes. User innovators with higher community central positions were able to diffuse their innovation earlier, while user innovators with higher intermediary positions were able to diffuse their innovation at a greater rate within the community.
본 학위 논문은 사용자 혁신을 총 세가지 관점에서 연구를 진행하였다. 첫번째 연구에서는 네트워크 분석과 사용자 혁신가의 혁신성에 대한 연구를 진행하였다. 두번째 연구는 온라인 커뮤니티 회원의 유동적인 움직임이 사용자 혁신가들의 집단에 어떠한 영향이 있는지에 대한 연구를 진행하였고, 마지막으로 사용자 혁신가들 개발한 혁신의 확산에 대한 연구를 진행하였다.
