Evolutionary Economics, Responsible Innovation and Demand: Making a Case for the Role of Consumers

Publication Type

Journal contribution (peer reviewed)

Authors

Schlaile, Michael P.; Mueller, Matthias; Schramm, Michael; Pyka, Andreas

Year of publication

2018

Published in

Philosophy of Management

Pubisher

Springer

Band/Volume

17/1

DOI

10.1007/s40926-017-0054-1

Page (from - to)

7-39

Keywords

Konsumentenverhalten

This paper contributes to the (re-)conceptualisation of responsible innovation by
proposing an evolutionary economic approach that focuses on the role of consumers in the
innovation process. After a discussion of the philosophical foundations and ethical implications
of this approach, which bears an explanatory potential that has not been adequately
considered in previous discussions of responsible innovation, we present a first step towards
capturing the important but often neglected role of consumers in innovation processes
(including responsible innovation): We propose an agent-based model that incorporates a
multidimensional space of characteristics in which new products or services are represented
by more than the mere aspect of price and quality. Instead, innovations are denoted by a large
set of characteristics, including also negative or harmful ones. The model is used to illustrate
that consumers’ heterogeneity and bounded rationality – even if considered in a simple manner
– indeed play a crucial role in the creation and diffusion of responsible innovation which can
and should be used for further work in this field and for possible extensions of the model.