Synergistic effect and differential effect: The impact of managerial outcome and process feedback fairness on continuous user innovation in innovation communities

This study examines the synergistic and differential effects of managerial feedback fairness in open innovation communities, where users easily compare outcome and process feedback from managers. Drawing on relevant literature, we investigate how outcome and process feedback fairness interact with each other and with peer recognition to impact user innovation. Through a mixed-methods design, combining qualitative interviews and quantitative study of 135,822 ideas from 22,925 Xiaomi community users, we reveal: (1) both fairness types positively impact continuous user innovation; (2) these fairness types exhibit two distinct synergistic effects, emphasizing the importance of a balance; and (3) with increased peer recognition, outcome feedback fairness’s impact strengthens while process feedback fairness’s impact weakens. Our research contributes by introducing a new framework for understanding managerial feedback fairness, empirically demonstrating its synergistic and differential effects. These findings underscore the critical role of balanced feedback fairness in sustaining innovation communities and guiding effective management strategies.