Innovation in an Advanced Consumer Society

This book aims to develop innovation theory by focusing on innovation in a consumer society. In an advanced consumer society, services dominate and are provided through digital as well as physical channels by local, national and global firms. This book aims to identify the ways in which value can be increased for all stakeholders through both incremental and disruptive innovation. When interacting with leading businesses, there is a common acceptance that we need a better understanding of how to innovate in a service economy. Today, most advanced economies are service and knowledge based, accounting for about 70 percent of GDP. OECD reports document a considerable knowledge gap related to service innovation. It is a challenge for both business and society that future economic growth will increasingly be based on services rather than manufacturing and products. Failing to understand innovation issues in this context as an engine for growth is somewhat alarming. This raises the question: do we know how to innovate successfully in a consumer driven society? In this book, the authors develop the concept of Value Driven Service Innovation, alongside a methodology for applying this approach in practice: the Service Innovation Triangle. They develop a better understanding of innovation, based on the uniqueness of services in order to develop the theory of service innovation suitable for a consumer society.