From user innovator to social user entrepreneur; can these factors also be detected in Base of Pyramid situations?

This research was the first to explore the analogies between user-entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship in a Base of the Pyramid (BoP) context to contribute to the generation of knowledge regarding these theories and to apply the findings to the PC3 (product co-creation centres) project that currently is undertaken University of Twente. This study explored which characteristics and factors influence the likelihood that a user innovates and commercialises its innovation. Subsequently whether these factors and characteristics could be detected at social entrepreneurs in BoP situations. Therefore were the characteristics and factors influencing this process were derived from the relevant literature. Based on the user innovation and user-entrepreneurship literature propositions were formulated to make statements regarding the innovation likelihood commercialisation likelihood. The derived factors were placed into two process models to illustrate the transformation process. 75 cases were analysed based on a content analysis. It was found that one case had strong analogies with the phenomenon under study, and several other conditions could be found as well on which several patterns could be identified. However, the data did not concern users from the BoP context. The fact that these cases have not been found provides strong indication that further research is needed that takes into account the specific challenges of the BoP context.