Unlocking the link between user participation and new product performance: The moderating effect of network capability

Abstract

User participation is regarded as an essential approach by firms seeking new product advantages. However, in the social media context, does more user participation improve new product development? This study explores the nonlinear effects of user participation on new product performance in the social media context, its inner mechanisms, and boundary conditions. The results show that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between user participation and new product performance. Further, user participation exerts an inverted U-shaped relationship with knowledge creation, which positively affects new product performance. Moreover, when firms have high-level rather than low-level network capability, knowledge creation plays a significant mediating role. Additionally, network capability positively moderates the nonlinear relationship between user participation and knowledge creation. Specifically, increasing network capability increases the positive effect of low levels of user participation and reduces the negative effect of high levels of user participation.