The Impact of Frugal Innovation on Sustainability: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Concerns about sustainability challenges are growing. Companies are under pressure to rethink existing innovation paradigms. In this context, research interest in the resource-constrained innovation concept, frugal innovation, has increased. In this paper, we examine the impact of frugal innovation on the economic, social, and ecological sustainability dimensions by conducting a systematic literature review of 44 papers. We find that frugal innovation is a promising approach to promote sustainable development from an economic perspective and a social perspective. Nevertheless, positive and negative effects exist in all three dimensions. Thus, a positive relationship is not inherent but must be proactively formed. External factors can influence the impact of frugal innovation on sustainability. For future research we recommend (1) establishing a unified understanding of frugal innovation through a clear definition, (2) broadening the research focus to a global perspective, (3) assessing the impact of frugal innovation along the entire product life cycle, and (4) investigating characteristics that make frugal innovation sustainable.