Communities of Consumption and Made in Italy

The interest towards the role of user communities in innovation has grown among scholars and practitioners. Research has explored the role of communities in high-tech and medium-tech industries with a focus on innovation in the functional dimension of products. Less attention has been devoted to user communities' contribution in industries such as fashion, where innovation is much more related to communication and aesthetics. This paper provides a preliminary set of concepts and working hypotheses regarding the contribution of communities to the non-functional dimension of product innovation in low-tech industries and to the relationship between user involvement in brand communities and their incentives to contribute to innovation both tangible and intangible. The paper discusses two case studies of Made in Italy enterprises that refer to communities for their innovation strategies.