Crowdsourcing in business typically refers to?

Crowdsourcing in business typically involves engaging a large group of people, often through online platforms, to gather ideas, feedback, or contributions. Option B, which refers to collecting opinions from the public for product ideas, captures this concept accurately. It emphasizes the collaborative nature of crowdsourcing, where businesses leverage the knowledge and creativity of a diverse audience to generate new product concepts or improvements.

This approach can foster innovation and help businesses tap into a broader range of perspectives than they might obtain solely from their internal teams. Crowdsourcing not only allows companies to benefit from the collective intelligence of the crowd but can also enhance customer engagement and loyalty by involving consumers in the development process.

The other options do not reflect the distinct definition of crowdsourcing. For instance, hiring freelancers is more about outsourcing specific tasks rather than gathering collective input. Purchasing content from professionals aligns more with traditional procurement methods, while using internal staff focuses on in-house ideation, which is not inclusive of the broader public involvement that defines crowdsourcing.