Research Collection Doctoral Thesis From game to play curiosity, innovation & entrepreneurship in online communities Author(s): Jäger, Peter Michael Publication Date: 2010 Permanent Link: https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-a-006473550 Rights / License: In Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Permitted This page was generated automatically upon download from the ETH Zurich Research Collection. For more information please consult the Terms of use. ETH Library Diss. ETH N° 19 371 FROM GAME TO PLAY CURIOSITY, INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN ONLINE COMMUNITIES A dissertation submitted to ETH Zurich for the degree of Doctor of Sciences presented by Peter Michael Jäger Dipl.-Ing. University of Stuttgart born March 24, 1979 citizen of Germany Accepted on the recommendation of Prof. Dr. Georg F. von Krogh Prof. Dr. Elgar Fleisch 2010 For my parents, Simon and all those friends that made Zurich my new home ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Completing a work like this does not only involve time and passion but to a significant extent the sup- port and companionship of friends and family. Working with colleagues who are at the same time friends makes the experience even more pleasurable. My first thanks go to Prof. Georg von Krogh who made all this possible. While constantly encouraging and motivating ambitious research, he also exerted the gentle pressure that is needed to eventually finalize a dissertation and achieve the goal set. Throughout my time at his chair I always got advice from a friend and never the order of a superior that I highly appreciate. I sure hope this friendship will endure the many years to come. I also would like to express my thanks to Prof. Elgar Fleisch who immediately accepted my request to be my co-referee. His support helped very much to successfully finish and compile the dissertation to- wards the end. Stefan Häfliger played a prominent role during my time at ETH since he supported and coached my work from the very first day in his always friendly, sympathetic and unobtrusive nature. Stefan and I coauthored three of the four included papers. We travelled to many conferences and discussed our research in most extravagant places all over the world making this collaboration one of the most excit- ing I ever had. His way of balancing work and fun showed me that outstanding research is more than a profession – it’s a lifetime commitment. Whoever had the joy of conducting research knows that success is not granted at all times. When such times come, it is very important to have several other good reasons to return to the office. I always had those reasons – my friends at the Chair of Strategic Management and Innovation. The team culture we had was something we were always admired for. Here I want to say thank you to all my team mates: Sebastian, Martin, Zeynep, Matthias, Renato, Andreas, Jan, Alban, Lise, Fotini, Helena, Pasqual, Lu- kas and especially our secretary Hilde who helped to keep me out of trouble more than once. My special thanks go to my very dear friend Simon who I was fortunate to meet during my first lecture I gave at ETH. His unconstrained mind and his casual nature always helped me to cheer up for an- other round of scientific work while at the same time he encouraged me with his investigative but de- termined way of discovering the big, wide world in everyday life. Among all the people I met during my time in Zurich, he changed my self-perception, the way I approach things, and how I lead my life the most. Should I ever be asked to picture my ideal brother – it would be Simon. As long as the sun sets orange, this friendship may last! Mentioning all my friends I found in Zurich and the stories that are behind them would probably take more pages than those at hand. However, there are always some that stick out. This is Christian, who convinced me to learn Swiss German, an idea he most likely regretted the following couple of weeks. He was the first to show me that Switzerland was home now. Dominik and Damian stand representa- tive for all students who became my friends. Thanks to my presidents for all the fun we had! My time at ETH is over but I definitively hope that the friendships will continue. Last but not least I am deeply grateful to my parents who always believed in me and never doubted that my work will eventually bear fruit. They always gave me the confidence that I can succeed if I only wanted. Thanks! ZUSAMMENFASSUNG “From Game to Play” beschreibt wie innovative Anwender von Videospielen als Spie- ler starten und nachdem ihre Neugier beim Beobachten anderer Spieler geweckt wur- de diese Spiele als preiswerte Alternative zu 3D-Animationsprogrammen verwenden um damit selbstproduzierte Filme zu vermarkten. Das hierzu benötigte Wissen sam- meln die Spieler in Online Communities, in welchen sie auch ihre ersten Produktionen veröffentlichen. Während diesem Prozess des Spielens und Lernens entdecken die Mitglieder der Online Communities Möglichkeiten ihre produzierten Filme in der Filmindustrie zu kommerzialisieren, was sie zu „User Entrepreneuren“ werden lässst. User Entrepreneurship als relativ neues Forschungsgebiet hat seinen Ursprung in der Literatur über User Innovation, einem Feld das sich primär der Erforschung von nut- zergetriebenen Innovationen widmet. Nutzer von im Markt erhältlichen Produkten haben oftmals Änderungswünsche oder weitere Entwicklungsideen, welche von den Herstellern nicht oder erst sehr spät aufgegriffen werden. Innovationen von solchen Nutzern dienen daher in erster Linie der Befriedigung eigener Wünsche statt der Ge- winnerzielung, wie dies bei Herstellern der Fall ist. User Entrepreneure unterscheiden sich analog hierzu von klassischen Entrepreneuren indem sie Produkte oder Prototy- pen entwickeln, welche vor allem ihnen selbst dienen. Während der Benutzung dieser Prototypen erkennen sie aufgrund von Rückmeldungen anderer Nutzer ähnlicher Produkte das gegebenenfalls vorhandene Marktpotential und werden anschliessend zu kommerziell agierenden Produzenten. Das in dieser Dissertation präsentierte Modell für User Entrepreneurship über Indu- striegrenzen hinweg betrachtet Nutzer von Videospielen, welche durch die Verwen- dung dieser Spiele zur Filmproduktion, Machinima als neues Genre in der Animati- onsindustrie geschaffen haben. Spezielle Betrachtung erfahren die für den Erfolg der User Entrepreneure wichtigen Online Communities, in welchen die Anwender lernen sich auszutauschen und ihre Produktionen zu präsentieren. Hierbei spielen Kompo- nenten Sozialer Netzwerke zur Massenkommunikation, der Einfluss von Rückmeldun- gen und Ideen zu den Innovationen und persönliche Neugier der Mitglieder eine zen- trale Rolle. Verschiedene Erkenntnisse in Bezug auf den User Entrepreneurship Prozess und des- sen Relevanz für Forschung und Wirtschaft werden aufgezeigt. Hinzu kommen zahl- reiche Aspekte, welche sich mit dem Thema Community Management befassen. Die abschliessenden Betrachtungen umfassen Vorschläge zu möglichen weiteren For- schungsthemen sowie die Grenzen dieser Dissertation. ABSTRACT “From Game to Play” illustrates the path innovative users took when they started off as avid gamers who got curious about others’ use of video games as cost effective tools for 3D animation production. They acquired the knowledge and skills necessary to realize first little projects, later staged their own plays in games which they presented to fellow online community members, and after having recognized an opportunity even- tually commercialized their Machinima projects as animated shorts in the film industry – thus turning user entrepreneurs. User entrepreneurship as a rather new field of research has its origins in the user inno- vation literature where users innovate to satisfy their own needs, hence for their own use-value instead of commercial interest. In contrast to the classic approach of entre- preneurship where opportunity recognition precedes prototype development, user entrepreneurs first develop prototypes and while using these for their own purpose receive feedback and thus recognize an opportunity for commercialization. This dissertation presents a model of user entrepreneurship across industry boundaries by studying users in the field of Machinima, a new film genre characterized by shoot- ing film in video games, who enter the animation industry. Being important for the success of user entrepreneurs, the impact of online user communities on the commer- cialization process is discussed. Therefore, several aspects of online communities such as social network site features for mass communication, the impact of feedback on innovation activities of the sponsoring firm, and individual curiosity as predictor of members’ contribution behavior are studied and described in more detail. Several implications for research and management regarding the user entrepreneur- ship process with its impact on incumbent firms as well as online community man- agement conclude the thesis complemented by a future research agenda. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. From Individual Curiosity to Initial Commercial Success 2 2. Innovating with Peers – How User Entrepreneurs Interact with and Learn from Communities 5 2.1. The Enabling Framework of User Entrepreneurship 5 2.2. Online Communities 7 2.3. Curiosity 8 2.4. User Innovation 8 2.5. User Entrepreneurship 9 3. Setting the Stage – Research Framework and Methodology 11 3.1. The Gaps – Extending Current Research 11 3.2. Change of Scene – Following User Entrepreneurs Beyond Industry Boundaries 12 3.3. Commercial, yet Social – SNS Features in Firm-sponsored Online Communities 12