Frugal Innovation and Core Characteristics: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Making products that cater to the requirements of emerging and new markets may help businesses all around the world. The concept of frugal innovation has resulted in many successful products for various markets that save money, focus on the most critical aspects, and perform well. According to the literature study, organizations must have a frugal mindset to come up with frugal innovations. For this qualitative study, the SPIDER methodology was employed. Businesses must learn to think frugally to come up with innovative ideas on a limited budget. A comprehensive review of the literature was undertaken to identify the most important aspects influencing people's decisions on frugal innovation initiatives at work. The review of relevant literature yielded important parameters. The goal of this study was to establish an understanding of what frugal innovations mean to different researchers, and what characteristics are essential for launching and sustaining frugal innovations. The conclusions of this study have implications for academic research on frugal innovations and the frugal attitude, as well as for businesses seeking new ways to save money and expand their market opportunities while capturing an unserved market with frugal innovations. This paper examines the core characteristics of frugal innovation: Affordability, optimized for performance level, concentration on core functionality, simplicity, high quality, eco-friendly, and sustainability. The main research strategy used was the systematic literature review with some attention given to cases and practices based on the Sri Lankan context. The paper discusses different scenarios and cases guiding future research directions. It concludes research avenues by highlighting future research directions for extended studies.