Costa, Cláudia Isabel de SousaAguiar, Pedro Senos de2020-11-092020-11-092020-06-302020http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/31300the traditional paradigm of innovation in which consumers are merely buyers, firms are increasingly drawing on their user communities to conceptualize new products. Innovation scholars acknowledge this process as beneficial for both firms and observing consumers (consumers not involved in the conceptualization process). However, some caveats were made regarding the expertise of users when conceiving products that are either complex, luxurious or when knowledge about technical details such as materials or components is needed. This research aims to investigate whether observing consumers perceive users (vis-à-vis professional designers) to possess enough expertise to design products ideated around technical and functional details. Additionally, two moderators of this effect are studied: observing consumers’ uncertainty avoidance beliefs and perceptions of similarity these have towards the creators of new products. We conducted an experimental study using two design modes: products designed by users or by firms’ professionals. The data have been collected in MTurk measuring participants’ perceptions of expertise and purchase intentions. The results show that consumers prefer professionals’ input for these products due to higher perceptions of expertise (that also lead to higher quality perceptions). Additionally, we find that this preference is exacerbated for high uncertainty-avoiding consumers and that expertise perceptions mediate purchase intentions differently depending on the perceptions of similarity that observing consumers have towards the creators of a product. This study adds to the innovation literature by showing that consumers’ involvement in NPD is not universally beneficial and that uncertainty avoidance beliefs and perceptions of similarity are two critical boundary conditions.engUser designCompany designExpertiseQualityObserving consumersUncertainty avoidancePerceived similarityPurchase intentionmaster thesis202517500