To face innovation challenges of the twenty-first century, companies should learn from proven successful strategies and draw on technological evolutions as well.Our proposal consists in aligning ideation to innovation strategies through the use of avatars in a virtual world. On the basis of the Persona method and the Proteus effect, we design avatars’ appearance so as to implement a Needseeker or a Technology-driver innovation strategy. To test the effectiveness of this avatar-mediated innovation tool, we conducted an experiment in a French company. Two groups of highly qualified employees from the innovation department had to find applications for smart windows in public transportation. Both groups experienced immersion in a virtual transportation situation: one group embodied avatars resembling Inventors, whereas the other group embodied Personas representing users of public transportation.As expected, avatars’ appearance proved to influence the creative production: the Inventor condition led to a techno-centered ideation profile, oriented toward technological solutions, while the Persona condition led to more user-centered, needs-oriented ideas. Consistently, Inventors’ production tended to be better evaluated through industrial criteria and Personas’ production tended to be better evaluated by transportation users. We discuss the use of avatar-mediated creativity as a strategic tool for companies seeking to innovate.
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