Motivating students to attend open innovation initiatives. A motivational structure perspective

Given the widespread diffusion of open innovation (OI) initiatives that rely on student contributions, we aim to investigate how students’ motivations for attending OI initiatives connect and interact. To this end, we conducted two studies using the laddering technique with a sample of 59 students who participated in two OI programs held in different contexts: ICARO, a business-oriented program carried out before and after the COVID-19, and TEN, a social innovation program conducted during the pandemic to help people cope with the effects of COVID-19. Our results reveal two motivational maps, illustrating commonalities and differences in motivational orientations, and highlighting core and contextual motivational structures. Our study provides evidence for the value of adopting a structural perspective on motivations and presents a comprehensive and replicable methodology for assessing motivations.