Setting the stage for social entrepreneurship: a systematic literature reiview on user entrepreneurship in relation to social entrepreneurship

This research explored the boundaries of the theories on user entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship by examining the differences and analogies between them. This research was the first to explore the relationship between user entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship and theorized about the value these types of entrepreneurship combined can bring. By doing so, we explored the possibility of social user entrepreneurship as an independent phenomenon. Social user entrepreneurship would entail the commercialization of products and services by (lead) user innovators that aim to address societal pain and create social wealth. Contextual factors can cause unmet needs, which can trigger the social user entrepreneurship process. We argue that social user entrepreneurs are valuable for deprived regions as a bottom-up approach to empower people and create economic growth. Knowledge gained on social user entrepreneurship, and whether it serves as a valuable instrument to address societal unmet needs was therefore an important motivation for this research. This research provided interesting avenues for conducting future research which will contribute to a more solid understanding of social user entrepreneurship, and social innovation by lead users in context characterized by social unmet needs.