Don’t say failed innovation, say failed implementation! The unsuccessful implementation of early paywalls and chatbots in the Spanish news market

Abstract

Analysing failure in innovation processes enhances a better understanding of success, as it might enlighten preconditions for the optimal implementation of initiatives, encompassing institutional logics, market conditions and contexts. This paper aims to identify the main non-successful innovations by Spanish news media over the last decade and to analyse their causes. It is based on interviews with 9 experts, who identified the early implementation of paywalls and chatbots as the most paradigmatic cases among a panel of 20 individuals. This work highlights the immaturity of markets, social contexts, and technological tools as obstacles, and argues that innovation requires a degree of trial and error. This study should be understood as a tentative approach to failure and its causes, which aims to encourage further empirical research.