Exploring Commercial, Social, and Digital Innovation from the Customer Perspective

The traditional narrative of innovation often centers around the firm, overlooking the role of the customer as the ultimate judge and beneficiary of innovations. This book challenges the firm’s right to define innovation, advocating instead for a customer-centric approach.

The ultimate aim of this book is to help innovate both for and with the most critical stakeholder―the customer. To achieve this aim, the book explores various aspects of the customer perspective on innovation through five parts: 1) strategies for increasing market attractiveness through innovation, 2) commercial innovation, 3) social innovation, 4) digital innovation, and 5) innovation outcomes and prospects. Drawing on recent research from national innovation indexes in Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Spain, Belgium, and the USA, the book presents ideas and examples that explain how adopting the customer perspective on innovation can help transform challenges into opportunities and achieve higher returns.

By exploring customer-oriented strategies and discussing the implications of commercial, social, and digital innovations, the book provides a detailed guide for leaders, innovators, entrepreneurs, and students to navigate the complexities of modern business environments. It will be a valuable resource for scholars of innovation management, strategic management, and marketing.

Seidali Kurtmollaiev is Professor of Innovation at Kristiania University of Applied Sciences, Norway. His research interests include new product and service development, design thinking, marketing of new solutions, organizational change, adoption of innovations, and the emergence of service ecosystems.

Line Lervik-Olsen is Professor of Marketing at BI Norwegian Business School, Norway. She has served as the research leader of the Norwegian Customer Satisfaction Barometer and is currently affiliated with the Center for Digital Innovation for Growth at the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH).

Tor W. Andreassen is Professor Emeritus at NHH, Norway, where he served as Professor of Innovation and was the Director of the Center for Service Innovation (CSI) from 2013 to 2019, as well as the Director of the Digital Innovations for Sustainable Growth research center from 2019 to 2022.