The role of feedback source and valence in crowdsourced idea innovation

In crowdsourcing communities, individuals play an influential role in areas such as new business ideas, product development, and service improvement. For a company seeking to learn from its customers, establishing communication mechanisms such as online feedback systems becomes important for generating better crowdsourced ideas. This research investigates the effect of feedback source (expert vs. peer) and feedback valence (negative vs. positive) on the motivation of individuals in an online crowdsourced ideation platform to generate better ideas. By collecting and analyzing over 300 observations of experimental data, this study’s findings indicate that the mere presence of feedback, compared with no feedback, increases the likelihood of innovation in idea generation. Additionally, feedback from experts, rather than peers, increases the likelihood of innovation in idea generation. Negative feedback from peers has a negative effect on the likelihood of innovation with respect to idea generation, whereas negative feedback coming from experts will motivate individuals to generate better ideas. Positive feedback from peers does not have a significant impact on improving ideas, while positive feedback from experts contributes to improving ideas. Results offer insights for managers to better develop and monitor the feedback process to solicit higher-quality input from individuals external to the organisation.