Innovation for Sufficiency : How Businesses Support a Disruptive Consumption Strategy
(2026) In Creativity and Innovation Management- Abstract
Ecological constraints and changing societal values require businesses to reconsider innovation opportunities. Sufficiency constitutes an emerging sustainability strategy for businesses that focuses on the absolute reduction of inputs and consumption levels to restrict resource use. This particularly challenges aspects of value generation, strategic orientation, and consumer focus in the context of innovation management. Although sufficiency strategies and business models have been explored, the link to innovation is missing. We review the literature on sufficiency and innovation to create an Innovation for Sufficiency framework that contributes twofold. First, we propose sufficiency-oriented innovation varieties that guide businesses... (More)
Ecological constraints and changing societal values require businesses to reconsider innovation opportunities. Sufficiency constitutes an emerging sustainability strategy for businesses that focuses on the absolute reduction of inputs and consumption levels to restrict resource use. This particularly challenges aspects of value generation, strategic orientation, and consumer focus in the context of innovation management. Although sufficiency strategies and business models have been explored, the link to innovation is missing. We review the literature on sufficiency and innovation to create an Innovation for Sufficiency framework that contributes twofold. First, we propose sufficiency-oriented innovation varieties that guide businesses in engaging in sufficiency practices along themes of circularity, product lifecycles, service provision, consumer engagement, and communication. Second, the framework indicates how these innovations direct consumers' consumption behavior toward sufficiency. We identify sufficiency as a driver for innovation, leading to innovative services and innovations that prioritize communication with, participation of, and education of consumers. Specifically, the Innovation for Sufficiency framework positions businesses in close interaction with the demand side by introducing varieties for innovations leading to disruptive consumption strategies for long-term changes toward sufficiency. Our study stimulates the creativity of practitioners to engage in sufficiency through innovation and encourages researchers to focus on understanding the sufficiency concept from the perspectives of specific innovation drivers, strategies, or capabilities.
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- author
- da Silva Wagner, Indra and Ebersberger, Bernd LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2026
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- epub
- subject
- keywords
- business, disruption, innovation, sufficiency, sustainable consumption and production
- in
- Creativity and Innovation Management
- publisher
- John Wiley & Sons Inc.
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:105036580186
- ISSN
- 0963-1690
- DOI
- 10.1111/caim.70062
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 0a8dfe7f-399b-427e-add7-a328c5ffa48a
- date added to LUP
- 2026-05-29 10:42:20
- date last changed
- 2026-05-29 10:43:13
@article{0a8dfe7f-399b-427e-add7-a328c5ffa48a,
abstract = {{<p>Ecological constraints and changing societal values require businesses to reconsider innovation opportunities. Sufficiency constitutes an emerging sustainability strategy for businesses that focuses on the absolute reduction of inputs and consumption levels to restrict resource use. This particularly challenges aspects of value generation, strategic orientation, and consumer focus in the context of innovation management. Although sufficiency strategies and business models have been explored, the link to innovation is missing. We review the literature on sufficiency and innovation to create an Innovation for Sufficiency framework that contributes twofold. First, we propose sufficiency-oriented innovation varieties that guide businesses in engaging in sufficiency practices along themes of circularity, product lifecycles, service provision, consumer engagement, and communication. Second, the framework indicates how these innovations direct consumers' consumption behavior toward sufficiency. We identify sufficiency as a driver for innovation, leading to innovative services and innovations that prioritize communication with, participation of, and education of consumers. Specifically, the Innovation for Sufficiency framework positions businesses in close interaction with the demand side by introducing varieties for innovations leading to disruptive consumption strategies for long-term changes toward sufficiency. Our study stimulates the creativity of practitioners to engage in sufficiency through innovation and encourages researchers to focus on understanding the sufficiency concept from the perspectives of specific innovation drivers, strategies, or capabilities.</p>}},
author = {{da Silva Wagner, Indra and Ebersberger, Bernd}},
issn = {{0963-1690}},
keywords = {{business; disruption; innovation; sufficiency; sustainable consumption and production}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
series = {{Creativity and Innovation Management}},
title = {{Innovation for Sufficiency : How Businesses Support a Disruptive Consumption Strategy}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/caim.70062}},
doi = {{10.1111/caim.70062}},
year = {{2026}},
}