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2026 , Vol. 70 >Issue 5: 131 - 142

DOI: https://doi.org/10.13266/j.issn.0252-3116.2026.05.011

RESEARCH PAPERS

A Study on Identifying Factors Influencing Idea Popularity in Corporate Open Innovation Communities from a User’s Perspective

  • Yan Ying ,
  • Zhang Jundong ,
  • Li Na ,
  • Huang Qi
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  • 1 School of Information Management, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023;
    2 Nanjing Research Base of National Information Management, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093
Yan Ying, Doctoral Candidate; Zhang Jundong, Doctoral Candidate; Li Na, Doctoral Candidate; Huang Qi, Professor, PhD, Doctoral Supervisor, Corresponding Author, E-mail: huangq@nju.edu.cn.

Received date: 2025-01-06

  Revised date: 2025-02-19

  Online published: 2026-03-04

Supported by

This work is supported by the project of Postgraduate Research & Practice Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province, titled “Research on Automatic Evaluation of Ideas and Mechanism of Idea Selection in Corporate Open Innovation Communities” (Grant No.KYCX25_0131).

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Abstract

[Purpose/Significance] While users are currently the primary and direct evaluators in corporate open innovation community idea selection, their opinions are rarely considered. Exploring the factors that influence idea popularity from the user’s perspective can offer key information and a reliable basis for further optimizing platform idea selection activities and corporate innovation management practices, and provide support for enhancing the transparency of platform idea evaluation and guiding more high-quality innovations. [Method/Process] Research data were gathered from LEGO Ideas, one of the largest corporate open innovation communities worldwide. Through the crowdsourcing platform CloudResearch, LEGO users were recruited and surveyed on their reasons for supporting the “popular” ideas, providing first-hand perspectives. Content analysis was conducted on the survey responses to identify factors influencing idea popularity from the user’s perspective, and an ablation experiment was used to examine the actual influence of these factors. [Result/Conclusion] Through the crowdsourcing survey, a total of 373 valid responses are collected. Following three rounds of iterative content analysis, 16 factors are identified. The subsequent ablation experiment results confirm that these factors have a significant overall impact on idea popularity. At the level of individual factors, all but one—visual texture of the idea image—exhibit unique and substantial influences on idea popularity.

Key words： research on the perspective of user participation; corporate open innovation community; idea popularity; influencing factors; crowdsourcing

Cite this article

Yan Ying , Zhang Jundong , Li Na , Huang Qi . A Study on Identifying Factors Influencing Idea Popularity in Corporate Open Innovation Communities from a User’s Perspective[J]. Library and Information Service, 2026 , 70(5) : 131 -142 . DOI: 10.13266/j.issn.0252-3116.2026.05.011

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