Fostering Citizen Engagement in South Korea’s Living Labs: Key Implications for Management

Abstract

Purpose: This study aims to explore the factors that impact citizens’ attitudes in South Korea’s living labs, using quantitative research – an area that has been rarely addressed in previous research. The proposed factors include citizen participation, real-life conditions, multi-method approach, co-creation processes, locality, openness to the public, and the impacts on the economy, society, and the environment. Research design, data and methodology: This study conducted an online survey with the assistance of a well-known research firm. Factor and regression analysis were applied to analyze the data. Results: The results indicated that factors including real-life condition, locality, and environmental impact significantly influences attitudes toward living labs. This suggest that citizens’ perceptions of living labs focused on improving quality of life, particularly addressing real-life conditions, locality, and environmental value have a meaningful effect on their attitude toward participation. Conclusions: These findings offer valuable policy and managerial implications. Policies should emphasize the importance of citizen engagement in living labs to address social issues, using innovative and diverse problem-solving approaches. Additionally, improved management strategies are needed to encourage meaningful citizen contributions, particularly through collaborative efforts. Concerted actions are essential to bridge the awareness gap and ensure that citizens are well-informed and actively engaged in living lab projects.