Sticky Information

General description:

Sticky information is a concept by Eric von Hippel that defines need information as sticky. “Stickiness” is "the incremental expenditure required to transfer a unit [of information] from one place to another, in a form that can be accessed by the recipient. When this expenditure is low, information stickiness is low; when it is high, stickiness is high" (von Hippel 1994: 430). There are different reasons for stickiness of information. On the one hand reasons for stickiness can be due to the information seeker’s situation and abilities; for instance, in the information seeker’s lack of receptiveness (foreknowledge, qualifications) or lack of capacity for receiving information (e.g. missing instruments, or the absence of complementary information) (Cohen / Levinthal 1990). On the other hand reasons can be seen in the information deliverer’s implicit knowledge, information specificity, degree and type of coding (Nelson 1982; Pavitt 1987; Polanyi 1958; Rosenberg 1982, Piller & Reichwald 2009).

References:

von Hippel, Eric (1994). Sticky information and the locus of problem solving. Management Science, 40 (1994) 4: 429-439.

Cohen, Wesley M. /Levinthal, Daniel A. (1990). Absorptive capacity: A new perspective on learning and innovation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 35 (1990) 1: 128-152.

Nelson, Richard (1982). The role of knowledge in R&D efficiency. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 7 (1982) 3: 453-470.

Pavitt, Keith (1987). The objectives of technology policy. Science and public policy, 14 (1987) 4: 182-188.

Polanyi, Michael (1958). Personal knowledge: towards a post-critical philosophy. London: Routledge 1985.

Rosenberg, Nathan (1982). Inside the black box: technology and economics. New York: Cambridge University Press 1982.