Attention Allocation to Customer Feedback: Absorbing Knowledge for Digital Innovation in Management Responses

This study addresses a critical yet unexplored question: How does highlighted customer feedback influence subsequent innovation within digital systems, and what role does management play in this process? On mobile app platforms, management responses provide a mechanism through which developers can focus on specific customer feedback and respond accordingly. To investigate the role of management responses in digital innovation, we develop a theoretical framework centered on attention allocation. We identify highlighted customer feedback, corresponding management responses, and subsequent app updates on the Apple iOS platform. Employing text mining techniques, we analyze the content of both feedback and responses to assess goal-directed attention and knowledge absorption in later updates. Our empirical findings reveal that, among responded-to feedback, longer comments as well as feedback related to maintenance and functionality are more strongly associated with knowledge absorption in subsequent updates. Additionally, personalized and actionable developer responses further enhance the likelihood of knowledge absorption. These findings provide empirical support for future research into how developers allocate attention to customer feedback.