Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

8-2026

Abstract

On online platforms, new ideas often emerge by recombining existing ones within idea networks. Unlike traditional knowledge networks, idea networks represent curated, meaning-based associations among ideas, offering a distinct lens on recombination. Drawing upon a hypergraph perspective, we investigate how new idea success depends on their structural and content attributes, and how collaborative participation shapes these attributes. Using data from an ideation platform, we find that both structural embeddedness and bridging benefit new idea success. Content diversity has no direct effect, but it amplifies the benefits of bridging while constraining those of embeddedness. Both crowd contributions and ideator expertise strengthen ideas’ structural positions, whereas they shape content diversity in opposite ways: crowd contributions increase diversity, while ideator expertise reduces it through selective integration. These findings advance research on networks, recombination, and online collaboration by showing how structure, content, and collaborative participation jointly shape new idea success.

Keywords

Combinatorial creativity, structural embeddedness, structural bridging, content diversity, idea network, online collaboration, online innovation, ideation platforms

Discipline

Databases and Information Systems

Research Areas

Information Systems and Management

Publication

Journal of Management Information Systems

Volume

43

Issue

3

First Page

685

Last Page

715

ISSN

0742-1222

Identifier

10.1080/07421222.2026.2692285

Publisher

Taylor and Francis Group

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1080/07421222.2026.2692285

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