Idea Contests in the Era of Ai: Is the Crowd Still Useful in the Case of Sustainable Food Packaging?
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Companies often rely on crowds to complement their own R&D activities, for example, through idea contests. However, the ongoing digital disruption initiated by artificial intelligence applications may blunt the effectiveness of such crowd-based idea generation. Asked pointedly: When artificial intelligence can deliver product ideas that are valued by customers, is the crowd still needed? This study investigates the impact of innovation sources in new product development – crowd-sourced versus R&D departments – and the use of artificial intelligence on consumer acceptance in the context of sustainable food packaging. A scenario-based experiment involving 340 participants reveals that crowd-sourced solutions suffer from a competence trust deficit, which can be mitigated by using artificial intelligence in the design process. Our research is a first step to advance the understanding of how innovation sources and artificial intelligence affect consumer responses and provides insights for the future of the crowd.
Authors: Walsh, Gianfranco, Schaarschmidt, Mario, Karampournioti, Evmorfia
Institutions: Leibniz University Hannover, University of Duisburg-Essen
Language: English
Subfield: Computer Science Applications
Field: Computer Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7019828568
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