Table 1.

Frugal innovation as a relative construct in current literature

PaperQuotation*
Zeschky et al. (2011) “The term frugal innovation, defined as responding to severe resource constraints with products having extreme cost advantages compared to existing solutions.” (p. 39)
Rao (2013) “The no frills nature of frugal products makes them ‘lean’ when compared to their ‘ordinary’ counterparts, which were pricier and designed by following standard design procedures” (p. 66)
Rao (2013) “The end result is a product comprising bare minimum of components, which functions at par with, or even better than, the traditional counterpart.” (p. 70)
Weyrauch and Herstatt (2016) “Frugal innovation is characterized by a much lower price or significantly lower costs compared to conventional products and services” (p. 7)
Weyrauch and Herstatt (2016) “Frugal innovations must meet the performance level that is needed for its de facto purpose and the local conditions, compared to current solutions available in the market” (p. 9)
Knizkov and Arlinghaus (2021) “Frugal processes, as portrayed in literature, are… simplified in comparison with their nonfrugal counterparts” (p. 681)
Hossain (2021) [FI can] “be defined as a resource-scarce solution, developed under resource and other limitations, for producing affordable, acceptable goods to serve customers who cannot afford conventional equivalents” (p. 1)
D’Angelo and Magnusson (2021) “General Electric (GE) portable diagnostic ultrasound machine…differs from its ‘traditional’ counterpart for its ease of use (due to a simplified user interface), lower price (80% lower than conventional prices), portability, and battery endurance” (p. 653)
Hossain et al. (2022) “FIs are solutions that have been developed under various resource constraints, and they are often significantly cheaper than conventional equivalents” (p. 522)
Hossain et al. (2022) “[Frugal innovators] mobilize what limited abilities and resources they have at hand to overcome obstacles and arrive at alternative solutions to fill a gap where the existing products and services are either unavailable or inadequate” (p. 533)

Note(s): *If shown, then in-quote quotation marks were present in the original

Source(s): Compiled by authors based on cited sources

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