Investigating the Relationship Between Co-creation and Corporate Social Responsibility: The Role of Co-creation Type, an Extended Abstract

Abstract

The massive use of the Internet and the development of online communities and interactive platforms allow companies to interact more directly with their consumers, offering them the possibility to co-create. Co-creation refers to the process whereby companies and customers together, in interactions, create value (Gronroos and Voima 2013; Prahalad and Ramaswamy 2004) and has become a major challenge for marketing managers (Roberts et al. 2005; Maklan et al. 2007; Roberts and Adams 2010). Many companies—such as Apple, Danone, or Lego—are today using co-creation strategies to optimize some parts of their marketing mix, stimulate support for their brand and products, and develop closer relationships with their customers (Ramaswamy and Gouillart 2010). In other words, companies have started to treat their customers as active collaborators (Gustafsson et al. 2012). In addition to developing co-creation strategies related to their marketing activities, many companies also invite consumers to co-create the design and implementation of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities (Korschun and Du 2013), which, broadly speaking, reflects “the responsibility of enterprises for their impacts on society” and involves a process whereby companies “integrate social, environmental, ethical, human right, and consumer concerns into their business operations and core strategy in close collaboration with their stakeholders” (Commission of the European Communities 2011, p. 6). Prior research endeavors have highlighted how the co-creation of CSR activities can generate value for both the company and society (Bhattacharya and Sen 2011; Biggemann et al. 2014; Korschun and Du 2013). Yet, research on the relationship between CSR and co-creation is still in its early stages, and more research is needed to better understand the connections between the notions of co-creation and CSR. This research addresses this issue by investigating (1) whether different types of co-creation strategies affect the extent to which the company is perceived as socially responsible by other consumers (who have not been involved in the co-creation activities) and (2) the psychological mechanisms that may underlie this effect.