IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbvent/v31y2016i3p287-301.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

In user's shoes: An experimental design on the role of perspective taking in discovering entrepreneurial opportunities

Author

Listed:
  • Prandelli, Emanuela
  • Pasquini, Martina
  • Verona, Gianmario

Abstract

In this paper we investigate how the entrepreneur's ability of taking the perspective of the user in a market enhances opportunity identification. We also show how prior knowledge of the market positively moderates the relationship between user perspective taking and opportunity recognition. Our study is grounded in entrepreneurship contributions that try to disentangle the role of cognitive processes in opportunity recognition. We confirm our intuition through a one-factorial between-subject experiment and we discuss our findings for entrepreneurship research and user innovation literatures.

Suggested Citation

  • Prandelli, Emanuela & Pasquini, Martina & Verona, Gianmario, 2016. "In user's shoes: An experimental design on the role of perspective taking in discovering entrepreneurial opportunities," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 287-301.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbvent:v:31:y:2016:i:3:p:287-301
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusvent.2016.02.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883902616300015
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2016.02.001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eric von Hippel, 1986. "Lead Users: A Source of Novel Product Concepts," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 32(7), pages 791-805, July.
    2. Yasemin Y. Kor & Joseph T. Mahoney & Steven C. Michael, 2007. "Resources, Capabilities and Entrepreneurial Perceptions," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(7), pages 1187-1212, November.
    3. Haynie, J. Michael & Shepherd, Dean & Mosakowski, Elaine & Earley, P. Christopher, 2010. "A situated metacognitive model of the entrepreneurial mindset," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 217-229, March.
    4. Kaish, Stanley & Gilad, Benjamin, 1991. "Characteristics of opportunities search of entrepreneurs versus executives: Sources, interests, general alertness," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 45-61, January.
    5. Deniz Ucbasaran & Paul Westhead & Mike Wright, 2008. "Opportunity Identification and Pursuit: Does an Entrepreneur’s Human Capital Matter?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 153-173, February.
    6. J. Brock Smith & J. Robert Mitchell & Ronald K. Mitchell, 2009. "Entrepreneurial Scripts and the New Transaction Commitment Mindset: Extending the Expert Information Processing Theory Approach to Entrepreneurial Cognition Research," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 33(4), pages 815-844, July.
    7. Ardichvili, Alexander & Cardozo, Richard & Ray, Sourav, 2003. "A theory of entrepreneurial opportunity identification and development," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 105-123, January.
    8. Edmund R. Thompson, 2009. "Individual Entrepreneurial Intent: Construct Clarification and Development of an Internationally Reliable Metric," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 33(3), pages 669-694, May.
    9. von Hippel, Eric, 1976. "The dominant role of users in the scientific instrument innovation process," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 5(3), pages 212-239, July.
    10. Wade-Benzoni, Kimberly A. & Tenbrunsel, Ann E. & Bazerman, Max H., 1996. "Egocentric Interpretations of Fairness in Asymmetric, Environmental Social Dilemmas: Explaining Harvesting Behavior and the Role of Communication," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 111-126, August.
    11. Stephen Ko & John E. Butler, 2006. "Prior knowledge, bisociative mode of thinking and entrepreneurial opportunity identification," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 3(1), pages 3-16.
    12. Nikolaus Franke & Marion K. Poetz & Martin Schreier, 2014. "Integrating Problem Solvers from Analogous Markets in New Product Ideation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(4), pages 1063-1081, April.
    13. Nicos Nicolaou & Scott Shane & Lynn Cherkas & Janice Hunkin & Tim D. Spector, 2008. "Is the Tendency to Engage in Entrepreneurship Genetic?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 54(1), pages 167-179, January.
    14. Denis A. Grégoire & Andrew C. Corbett & Jeffery S. McMullen, 2011. "The Cognitive Perspective in Entrepreneurship: An Agenda for Future Research," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48, pages 1443-1477, September.
    15. Dew, Nicholas & Read, Stuart & Sarasvathy, Saras D. & Wiltbank, Robert, 2009. "Effectual versus predictive logics in entrepreneurial decision-making: Differences between experts and novices," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 287-309, July.
    16. G.T. Lumpkin & Claudia C. Cogliser & Dawn R. Schneider, 2009. "Understanding and Measuring Autonomy: An Entrepreneurial Orientation Perspective," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 33(1), pages 47-69, January.
    17. Gaglio, Connie Marie & Katz, Jerome A, 2001. "The Psychological Basis of Opportunity Identification: Entrepreneurial Alertness," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 95-111, March.
    18. Richard J. Boland & Ramkrishnan V. Tenkasi, 1995. "Perspective Making and Perspective Taking in Communities of Knowing," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 6(4), pages 350-372, August.
    19. Joep P. Cornelissen & Jean S. Clarke, 2010. "Imagining and rationalizing opportunities : Inductive reasoning and the creation and justification of new ventures," Post-Print hal-02312342, HAL.
    20. Ward, Thomas B., 2004. "Cognition, creativity, and entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 173-188, March.
    21. Chen, Chao C. & Greene, Patricia Gene & Crick, Ann, 1998. "Does entrepreneurial self-efficacy distinguish entrepreneurs from managers?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 295-316, July.
    22. Sharon A. Alvarez & Jay B. Barney, 2007. "The Entrepreneurial Theory of the Firm," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(7), pages 1057-1063, November.
    23. Busenitz, Lowell W. & Barney, Jay B., 1997. "Differences between entrepreneurs and managers in large organizations: Biases and heuristics in strategic decision-making," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 12(1), pages 9-30, January.
    24. Scott Shane, 2000. "Prior Knowledge and the Discovery of Entrepreneurial Opportunities," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 11(4), pages 448-469, August.
    25. Alvarez, Sharon A., 2007. "Entrepreneurial rents and the theory of the firm," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 427-442, May.
    26. Marc Gruber & Ian C. MacMillan & James D. Thompson, 2013. "Escaping the Prior Knowledge Corridor: What Shapes the Number and Variety of Market Opportunities Identified Before Market Entry of Technology Start-ups?," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(1), pages 280-300, February.
    27. Glen L. Urban & Eric von Hippel, 1988. "Lead User Analyses for the Development of New Industrial Products," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 34(5), pages 569-582, May.
    28. Parker,Simon C., 2004. "The Economics of Self-Employment and Entrepreneurship," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521828130.
    29. Marc T. Junkunc & Jonathan T. Eckhardt, 2009. "Technical Specialized Knowledge and Secondary Shares in Initial Public Offerings," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(10), pages 1670-1687, October.
    30. Scott Shane, 2001. "Technology Regimes and New Firm Formation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 47(9), pages 1173-1190, September.
    31. John C. Dencker & Marc Gruber & Sonali K. Shah, 2009. "Pre-Entry Knowledge, Learning, and the Survival of New Firms," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(3), pages 516-537, June.
    32. Babcock, Linda, et al, 1995. "Biased Judgments of Fairness in Bargaining," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(5), pages 1337-1343, December.
    33. Michael Haynie & Dean A. Shepherd, 2009. "A Measure of Adaptive Cognition for Entrepreneurship Research," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 33(3), pages 695-714, May.
    34. Parker,Simon C., 2006. "The Economics of Self-Employment and Entrepreneurship," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521030632.
    35. Stephen L. Mueller & Mary Conway Dato-On, 2008. "Gender-Role Orientation As A Determinant Of Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy," Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship (JDE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 13(01), pages 3-20.
    36. Dean A. Shepherd & Dawn R. DeTienne, 2005. "Prior Knowledge, Potential Financial Reward, and Opportunity Identification," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 29(1), pages 91-112, January.
    37. von Hippel, Eric & Tyre, Marcie J., 1995. "How learning by doing is done: problem identification in novel process equipment," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 1-12, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Stevenson, Regan M. & Josefy, Matthew, 2019. "Knocking at the gate: The path to publication for entrepreneurship experiments through the lens of gatekeeping theory," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 242-260.
    2. Frederiks, Arjan J. & Englis, Basil G. & Ehrenhard, Michel L. & Groen, Aard J., 2019. "Entrepreneurial cognition and the quality of new venture ideas: An experimental approach to comparing future-oriented cognitive processes," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 327-347.
    3. Yu, Xin & de Jong, Jeroen P.J., 2024. "An identity perspective on the diffusion of user innovations in the household sector," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(4).
    4. Yu, Xin & Zhang, Ting & Bogers, Marcel L.A.M., 2023. "Why do user innovators want to pursue user entrepreneurship? On the influence of the communitarian identity," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 20(C).
    5. Oo, Pyayt P. & Allison, Thomas H. & Sahaym, Arvin & Juasrikul, Sakdipon, 2019. "User entrepreneurs' multiple identities and crowdfunding performance: Effects through product innovativeness, perceived passion, and need similarity," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 1-1.
    6. Cillo, Paola & Priem, Richard L. & Verona, Gianmario & Zanella, Paola, 2021. "Consumer-CEO interaction as catalyst for business model innovation in established firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 241-253.
    7. Sara Sassetti & Giacomo Marzi & Vincenzo Cavaliere & Cristiano Ciappei, 2018. "Entrepreneurial cognition and socially situated approach: a systematic and bibliometric analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 116(3), pages 1675-1718, September.
    8. Packard, Mark D. & Burnham, Thomas A., 2021. "Do we understand each other? Toward a simulated empathy theory for entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(1).
    9. Ludvig Levasseur & Jintong Tang & Masoud Karami & Lowell Busenitz & K. Michele Kacmar, 2022. "Increasing alertness to new opportunities: the influence of positive affect and implications for innovation," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 39(1), pages 27-49, March.
    10. Stevenson, Regan & Allen, Jared & Wang, Tang, 2022. "Failed but validated? The effect of market validation on persistence and performance after a crowdfunding failure," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 37(2).
    11. Xuemei Xie & Yonghui Wu, 2022. "Doing Well and Doing Good: How Responsible Entrepreneurship Shapes Female Entrepreneurial Success," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 178(3), pages 803-828, July.
    12. Rafal Kusa, 2016. "Social Entrepreneurship Research – Challenges, Explanations and Suggestions for the Field Development (Przedsiebiorczosc spoleczna – wyzwania, przyczyny i sugestie dla obszaru badawczego)," Problemy Zarzadzania, University of Warsaw, Faculty of Management, vol. 14(61), pages 32-44.
    13. Vassallo, Jarrod P. & Banerjee, Sourindra & Zaman, Hasanuzzaman & Prabhu, Jaideep C., 2023. "Design thinking and public sector innovation: The divergent effects of risk-taking, cognitive empathy and emotional empathy on individual performance," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(6).
    14. Davidsson, Per & Grégoire, Denis A. & Lex, Maike, 2021. "Venture Idea Assessment (VIA): Development of a needed concept, measure, and research agenda," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(5).
    15. Pollack, Jeffrey M. & Cardon, Melissa S. & Rutherford, Matthew W. & Ruggs, Enrica N. & Balachandra, Lakshmi & Baron, Robert A., 2023. "Rationality in the entrepreneurship process: Is being rational actually rational? Introduction to the special issue," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 38(3).
    16. Khalid, Saddam & Sekiguchi, Tomoki, 2018. "The role of empathy in entrepreneurial opportunity recognition: An experimental study in Japan and Pakistan," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 9(C), pages 1-9.
    17. Rose, Stefan & Wentzel, Daniel & Hopp, Christian & Kaminski, Jermain, 2020. "Launching for Success: The Effects of Psychological Distance and Mental Simulation on Funding Decisions and Crowdfunding Performance," SocArXiv fqbwk, Center for Open Science.
    18. Adnane Maalaoui & Nada Rejeb & Meriam Razgallah & Mirko Perano & Alberto Dello Strologo, 2023. "Perceived health as human capital in entrepreneurial intention among people with disability," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 1367-1394, September.
    19. Rose, Stefan & Wentzel, Daniel & Hopp, Christian & Kaminski, Jermain, 2021. "Launching for success: The effects of psychological distance and mental simulation on funding decisions and crowdfunding performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(6).
    20. Amirmahmood Amini Sedeh & Amir Pezeshkan & Rosa Caiazza, 2022. "Innovative entrepreneurship in emerging and developing economies: the effects of entrepreneurial competencies and institutional voids," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 47(4), pages 1198-1223, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pérez-Centeno, Victor, 2018. "Brain-driven entrepreneurship research: Expanded review and research agenda towards entrepreneurial enhancement," Working Papers 02/18, Institut für Mittelstandsforschung (IfM) Bonn.
    2. Frederiks, Arjan J. & Englis, Basil G. & Ehrenhard, Michel L. & Groen, Aard J., 2019. "Entrepreneurial cognition and the quality of new venture ideas: An experimental approach to comparing future-oriented cognitive processes," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 327-347.
    3. Sara Sassetti & Giacomo Marzi & Vincenzo Cavaliere & Cristiano Ciappei, 2018. "Entrepreneurial cognition and socially situated approach: a systematic and bibliometric analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 116(3), pages 1675-1718, September.
    4. Jason Arentz & Frederic Sautet & Virgil Storr, 2013. "Prior-knowledge and opportunity identification," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 461-478, August.
    5. Magdalena Markowska & Dietmar Grichnik & Jan Brinckmann & Diana Kapsa, 2019. "Strategic orientations of nascent entrepreneurs: antecedents of prediction and risk orientation," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 53(4), pages 859-878, December.
    6. Dimo Dimov, 2007. "Beyond the Single-Person, Single-Insight Attribution in Understanding Entrepreneurial Opportunities," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 31(5), pages 713-731, September.
    7. Vandor, Peter & Franke, Nikolaus, 2016. "See Paris and… found a business? The impact of cross-cultural experience on opportunity recognition capabilities," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 388-407.
    8. Jiang, Yi Dragon & Straub, Caroline & Klyver, Kim & Mauer, René, 2021. "Unfolding refugee entrepreneurs' opportunity-production process — Patterns and embeddedness," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(5).
    9. Tumasjan, Andranik & Braun, Reiner, 2012. "In the eye of the beholder: How regulatory focus and self-efficacy interact in influencing opportunity recognition," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 622-636.
    10. Matthew R. Marvel & G. T. Lumpkin, 2017. "Domain Learning and Opportunity Development in a High-Tech Context," Journal of Enterprising Culture (JEC), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 25(01), pages 67-96, March.
    11. Ratan J. S. Dheer & Tomasz Lenartowicz, 2018. "Multiculturalism and Entrepreneurial Intentions: Understanding the Mediating Role of Cognitions," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 42(3), pages 426-466, May.
    12. Peter Klein & Per Bylund, 2014. "The place of Austrian economics in contemporary entrepreneurship research," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 27(3), pages 259-279, September.
    13. Dheer, Ratan J.S. & Castrogiovanni, Gary J., 2023. "Cognitive adaptability’s impact on entrepreneurial intent: The mediating roles of entrepreneurial passion and efficacy," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    14. Jeffery S. McMullen & Katrina M. Brownell & Joel Adams, 2021. "What Makes an Entrepreneurship Study Entrepreneurial? Toward A Unified Theory of Entrepreneurial Agency," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 45(5), pages 1197-1238, September.
    15. Marvel, Matthew R. & Wolfe, Marcus T. & Kuratko, Donald F., 2020. "Escaping the knowledge corridor: How founder human capital and founder coachability impacts product innovation in new ventures," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 35(6).
    16. Darcy W E Allen, 2020. "When Entrepreneurs Meet:The Collective Governance of New Ideas," World Scientific Books, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., number q0269.
    17. Nicolaou, Nicos & Shane, Scott & Cherkas, Lynn & Spector, Tim D., 2009. "Opportunity recognition and the tendency to be an entrepreneur: A bivariate genetics perspective," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 110(2), pages 108-117, November.
    18. Douglas, Evan J., 2013. "Reconstructing entrepreneurial intentions to identify predisposition for growth," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 28(5), pages 633-651.
    19. Nerine Mary George & Vinit Parida & Tom Lahti & Joakim Wincent, 2016. "A systematic literature review of entrepreneurial opportunity recognition: insights on influencing factors," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 309-350, June.
    20. Stephen E. Lanivich, 2015. "The RICH Entrepreneur: Using Conservation of Resources Theory in Contexts of Uncertainty," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(4), pages 863-894, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jbvent:v:31:y:2016:i:3:p:287-301. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusvent .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.