This article investigates the role of affect in innovation managers'
decision to exploit new product opportunities-a decision central to the
innovation process. The model proposes that different types of passion
can trigger managers' exploitation decisions but that this effect is
contingent on experiencing excitement from events outside their work
environment. A field experiment with 90 owner-managers of young firms
located in an innovation context (business incubators) shows that
passion for work and nonwork-related excitement levels interdependently
impact innovation managers' decision to exploit new product
opportunities. Specifically, harmonious passion has a general positive
effect on managers' propensity to exploit. In contrast, the effect of
obsessive passion is more complex and contingent on the additional
excitement managers experience such that the positive relationship
between obsessive passion and the decision to exploit is more positive
with higher levels of excitement. These findings extend the product
innovation management literature by acknowledging that decision-makers'
affective experiences influence innovation decisions and provide a first
step toward understanding the role of affect and passion in the product
innovation context. Second, the finding that obsessive passion and
nonwork-related excitement interact in explaining opportunity
exploitation decisions highlights the need to incorporate contingency
relationships in models of innovation decision-making. Third, in drawing
on a field experiment and the experimental manipulation of managerial
affect during the decision-making task, this article answers a recent
call in the project management literature to pursue less common
methodological approaches and develop 'broader theoretical schema' in
order to enhance our understanding of innovation management. Finally,
this study also has implications for practitioners because it can help
innovation managers understand their own decision policies. To the
extent that innovation managers are able to regulate their affective
experiences, this improved understanding might prevent them from
premature and faulty decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]