Co-creation Research Research Articles

Progress of Open Science and Transforming Citizen Science to Co-creative Research

Progress of Open Science and Transforming Citizen Science to Co-creative Research

Branding destination co-creatively: A case study of tourists' involvement in the naming of a local attraction

Destination branding has grown as a powerful marketing tool that helps a tourist destination distinguish itself from its competitors. This study showcases the branding process of a local attraction in Florida, USA, from the theoretical perspective of value co-creation. The attraction's owners, managers, tourism researchers, and, most importantly, actual and potential visitors were involved in this co-creative re-branding process. Beyond the immediate value of the study outcomes specific to this particular attraction, the case study offers a feasible model of co-creative destination branding which actively involves the perspectives of destination consumers. The study also demonstrates and offers some innovative methodological approaches in data collection and analysis that may assist decision-making within the co-creation research framework.

Meaningful experiences: an embodied cognition perspective on brand meaning co-creation

Embodied cognition addresses meaning emergence in abstract concepts through experience, yet has neither been applied to the abstract concept of brand meaning, nor been introduced to brand meaning co-creation research, which also assigns a leading role to brand experiences. The paper closes this gap and argues for an understanding of brand meaning as embodied. Brand meaning in light of co-creation research is discussed, and the need for a new emergent perspective for brand meaning through brand experiences is identified and satisfied by providing an adequate framework. The framework is then illustrated, using a narrative analysis of autobiographical memory stories of three different Nutella user types. The results highlight how meaning varies according to the embodied mental structures that consumers use to comprehend a brand. Consequently, brand meaning is largely influenced through brand experiences early in life and in particular affectively intense ones. The study illustrates how consumers’ experiences shape the way they comprehend the brand and attach meaning to it. The study extends research on brand meaning co-creation, by applying theory of embodied cognition to the concept of brand meaning, and shows how brand experiences, a key element of co-creation theory, shape the meaning of a brand.

Enhancing the effect of frontline public employees’ individual ambidexterity on customer value co-creation

PurposeWhen public employees demonstrate ambidexterity in serving customers, through efficiently providing customers with current public services as well as exploring ways to create more, new public service solutions for customers, they may activate customers’ co-creating value with the public organization. The purpose of this research is to examine the role of public employees’ individual ambidexterity in promoting customer value co-creation. This research also seeks to investigate the levers behind individual ambidexterity, including ambidextrous leadership as an antecedent and public service motivation (PSM) as an enhancer for the leadership effect.Design/methodology/approachPublic employees from public legal service agencies and customer companies they had served have been invited to participate and provide data for this research. The data collated have been analyzed using multilevel structural equation modeling approach.FindingsAmbidextrous leadership was positively associated with frontline public employees’ individual ambidexterity. This positive association was enhanced by PSM among frontline public employees. In turn, frontline public employees’ individual ambidexterity demonstrated a positive link with customer value co-creation through the mediation mechanisms of customer–employee identification and customer–organization identification.Originality/valueThis research extends and marks the convergence between ambidexterity and customer value co-creation research streams.

Mapping Digital Co-Creation for Urban Communities and Public Places

Increasingly digital communication, social media and computing networks put the end-users at the center of innovation processes, thus shifting the emphasis from technologies to people. In the private sector, this shift to user-centricity has been conceptualized under such approaches as Service-Dominant Logic and Open Innovation 2.0. Public sector conceptualizes the change through the New Public Governance and Open Government paradigms and suggest that the public value is no longer created by the governments alone but in collaboration between the public entities, private sector, civil society organizations and citizens. While traditional approaches to public engagement and governmental transformations remain relevant, this article focuses on the growing potential of networked urban communities to solve the social problems. It expands the co-creation research field and suggests a typology discerning co-creation patterns when enhancing the public spaces with a community-wide participation with the use of creative, innovative and cooperative Information and Communication Technologies’ applications. The sample for web-based monitoring consists of 10 digital applications linked with design and improvement of public spaces in Vilnius, Lithuania. The proposed typology framework gives an overview of the state-of-art in the interaction between people, places and technology. The research helps to discern how different technological, organizational and other social factors influence and shape the patterns of co-creative initiatives.

WAR: What Else Is It Good For? A Comparison of Maximum Difference Scaling, Adaptive Choice-based Conjoint, Constant Sum Scaling and Wallet Allocation Rule Utilities

Purpose – This research compares the results of Maximum Difference Scaling (MaxDiff), Adaptive Choice-Based Conjoint (ACBC), and constant sum scaling with the results of a Wallet Allocation Rule (WAR) approach for identifying the features of smartphones deemed most valuable by consumers. Design/methodology/approach – The authors examine the responses of 554 recent purchasers and 598 intended purchasers of smartphones about the features of smartphones that they have considered/will consider in their purchase decisions and the relative value they assign to each feature. MaxDiff, ACBC, constant sum scaling and WAR are used for quantifying the importance of these features and correlation analysis is used to compare the results of the four methods. Findings – The authors find that constant sum scaling and WAR provide nearly identical results at both the aggregate and individual levels, while MaxDiff and ACBC produce similar results to WAR at the aggregate level only. Originality/value – This research validates the feasibility of a simple method for estimating the utility of product features by demonstrating the similarity of results to more established and/or complex methods. The availability of a simpler method creates value by allowing more firms to engage in this kind of co-creative research while reducing costs for customers to participate.

Re-organize the conception about User Co-Creation Research

Re-organize the conception about User Co-Creation Research

Why Do We Need Research on Value Co-destruction?

Because of the etymology of the word ‘value’, this article argues that value co-creation research and practice have been biased from their early days. Value co-destruction appears then as a concept that enables to keep some distance from this bias, and to have a better and more realistic understanding of value processes. More research on this topic is thus needed, especially in the rapidly growing context of ecosystems that make the analysis of value co-creation and value co-destruction even more complex. Finally, the article contends that research on co-destruction is a necessary, but not sufficient, step to depart from the etymological bias on value. To that end, it calls for a renewed value-related terminology to make it more encompassing, less biased and closer to real business life.

Innovation through Large-Scale Integration of Legacy Records

Using the Chaco Research Archive (CRA) as a case study, in this article, we discuss the spectrum of intellectual decisions: conceptualization, design, and development, required to make legacy records (accumulated over many years through numerous archaeological expeditions) publicly accessible. Intellectual and operational choices permeated the design and implementation of the digital architecture to provide internet access to the vast information structures inherent in legacy records for the cultural heritage of Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. We explore how an expansive but focused repository can enable opportunities for research and foster communities of co-creation. We also use the CRA as a case study to outline some of the pitfalls of conventional academic metrics for scholarly impact and provide some alternative means to assess the value of digital heritage resources.

Value co-creation behaviour – role of embeddedness and outcome considerations

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify antecedents and consequences of customers’ value co-creation behaviour (VCB). VCB as a means to facilitate value realisation processes is gaining importance in service research and practice. Encouraging such enactments can be challenging, but can also offer competitive advantages.Design/methodology/approachWe empirically investigate a conceptual model by converging three contemporary concepts of co-creation research – embeddedness, VCB and value-in-context – and examining the interdependencies between them. Data were collected in an online forum of a leading international weight-management firm.FindingsResults suggest that customers’ embeddedness is a key antecedent of customers’ VCB in a service system. The three embeddedness dimensions – structural, relational and cultural – have a differential impact on customers’ VCB. Furthermore, findings illustrate that customers’ VCB has a significant impact on their object-oriented, self-oriented and brand-oriented social value-in-context outcomes.Research limitations/implicationsThis study contributes by empirically investigating and validating antecedents and consequences of VCB in a service system. In doing so, the study highlights the significance of the nature of customer’s social constellations to develop contexts where value outcomes are actualised. Understanding the factors that shape VCB offers insights for firms to recognise how and where value propositions can be deployed that drives on-going co-creation processes.Originality/valueThis study is the first empirical research to offer insights into important pre-conditions and subsequent outcomes concurrently to illustrate how customers’ VCB can be managed and nurtured for sustainable value co-creation processes within service systems. This research further advances mid-range theorizing and microfoundational perspectives in marketing.

The Influence of App Users’ Perceived Brand Co-Creation Benefits When Conducting Feedback on Its Feedback Intention

In the seriously competitive market, especially TMT industry, brand co-creation has been a focus of firms. Past studies focus on the economic gains of co-creation, but have little knowledge on the motivation and psychological reasons behind it, which has restricted the development of co-creation research. And they also neglected that the reasons may differ in different circumstances. This paper is going to see it from a particular perspective- the process of user’s feedback on App, by adapting the Self-determination Theory and Implicit Self-esteem Theory, and constructing a psychological mechanism that consist of perceived competence and brand co-creation engagement to find the reasons behind. We found that perceived competence can positively influence customer and brand relationship by improving brand co-creation engagement. In reality, this paper can help TMT industry firms to build a better feedback channel so that to improve the brand, and its relationship with customers.

Lean Co-Creation: Effective Way to Enhance Productivity

In this paper research is done how lean manufacturing & co-creation both can be applied to emphasize the efficiency, productivity with eliminating the seven types of wastages. Lean manufacturing is helpful to eliminate the seven types of waste in any industry; co creation is emphasizing the generation and current realization of shared Company-Customer value. Main aim of this paper is to create a process lean co-creation to emphasize the efficiency, productivity with eliminating the waste. This paper is based on analytical study of past research of lean manufacturing and co-creation. Lean co creation could be more beneficial in manufacturing industries. Article DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.20319/mijst.2015.11.96107 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-commercial 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.

Atypical Shifts Post-failure: Influence of Co-creation on Attribution and Future Motivation to Co-create

This study investigates how the effect of the failure of co-created products or services influences: (a) internal attribution (i.e. the self) and external attribution (i.e. the firm), (b) customers' expectancies of success, and (c) customers' future motivation to co-create and contribute to recovery from failure. We use attribution theory and the attribution–expectancy framework to explain the theoretical relationships we advance and test our hypotheses in two independent experiments that stimulate co-creation through role-play and vignettes. The results show that customer co-creation shifts the attribution for failure to the self, resulting in atypical shifts in expectancy (increasing customers' expectancy of future success and motivation to continue co-creating in the future). Our results suggest that utilizing customers' efforts and skills in the co-creation of products and services can help firms to manage failure effectively. The implications of our findings on co-creation research and product and service failures are discussed, specific applications within the digital context are considered, and suggestions are offered for future research.

The role of staff engagement in facilitating staff-led value co-creation

PurposeThe study extends customer-led co-creation research to the related staff-led value co-creation domain. In particular, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of staff engagement as a facilitator of staff-led value co-creation.Design/methodology/approachA new conceptual framework develops a model of staff-led value-creation, using three types of staff-led co-creation. A quantitative approach is used. Survey collection yielded a sample of 1,165 employees in an Australian not-for-profit context across 19 organizations. AMOS structural equation modeling analyzes the data.FindingsA major finding is the nexus between staff engagement and staff-led value co-creation. The nexus applies for three types of staff-led co-creation and three staff categories. Different explanatory mechanisms apply to each type of staff-led value co-creation.Research limitations/implicationsThe not-for-profit context may not generalize to the for-profit sector, but future research could clarify this matter.Practical implicationsThe results can inform organizations wishing to create greater service contributions through greater staff participation, which can include a staff-initiating (staff-led) role. Different value co-creation targets require different corporate triggers, reflecting the different explanatory mechanisms of each co-creation type.Social implicationsNot-for-profit context ensures major social implications.Originality/valueThe emphasis on staff-led value co-creation augments the customer-led co-creation literature. Additionally, exploring the (staff) engagement to (staff) value co-creation nexus is a novel contribution.

Designing for residents: Building monitoring and co-creation in social housing renovation in the Netherlands

Large differences between the expected and actual energy consumption have been found in energy efficient dwellings. Research has shown that these differences are partially caused by occupant behaviour. The financing and payback periods of low carbon technologies are often uncertain because of the impact of the occupants on building performance. This translates into a reluctance to invest in deep renovation projects. The goal of this design-inclusive research project is to develop a solution for zero energy renovation that reduces the uncertainty on building performance cause by occupants’ behaviour by reducing the uncertainty in design decisions and energy calculations. This investigation focuses on the identification of building type specific occupants and their characteristics, requirements and living practices. This paper presents the user research approach developed for the renovation process. The approach consists of statistical analysis of Dutch households, a monitoring campaign in the area of study and co-creation research through mock-ups, enactments and interviews. Case studies results are presented to highlight the effect of different household types on energy consumption and occupants’ requirements, and point at the importance of taking into account household typology and socio-economic characteristics in energy calculations or building simulations, as well as occupant requirements in the design process.

Consumer motives and willingness to co-create in professional and generic services

PurposeConsumers’ underlying motives to co-create value are important when determining their willingness to engage in co-creation activities. However, the importance of their motives may vary according to different service contexts. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the value co-creation research by investigating how the service contexts shape consumers’ motives to co-create.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is based on a survey of 284 consumers. By focusing on professional vs generic services (context), based on differences in knowledge intensity and workforce professionalism, the paper pinpoints the contextual nature of consumer motives to co-create.FindingsThe results show that in professional services consumers are positively influenced to co-create by developmental motives, whereas empowerment motives have a negative impact. In turn, the positive effects of individualizing and relating motives are predominant in generic services. Willingness to co-create is a strong determinant of intended co-creation behaviors, regardless of the service type.Research limitations/implicationsThis study clearly shows the contextual nature of motives to co-create value, thereby questioning the generalizability of single-context studies.Originality/valueThis is the first paper to compare consumer motives to co-create across different service contexts.

Editorial appreciating alien thinking

Editorial appreciating alien thinking

Kick-off Special Interest Group Values and Principles of Integrated Care

Context, aims and objectives: Person centered and integrated health services are being developed and implemented worldwide in many countries and locations. However, the development and implementation of integrated care is complex and the concepts of person-centered and integrated care are multidimensional. In practice there is a range of care models, interventions and a diversity of appearances in which integrated care is presented. Despite this diversity, the underlying principles or values of person centered integrated care seem to be more or less generic. Principles and values are important, because they can be the basis to guide integrated care improvement and policy and they can underpin interventions or (measurement) frameworks to evaluate integrated person centered care. With their publication of principles of integrated care, Ferrer and Goodwin [1] described a basis for a core set of principles of integrated care. Principles could be the ground of a common set of goals and aspirations for future reforms. Ferrer and Goodwin invite readers to join the debate about whether a set of principles is needed and whether the principles that they suggest are the right ones. The (first) reactions of fellow healthcare scientists and professionals on the presented principles are positive. Most of them experience having a set of principles as valuable and comprehensive.On the other hand, further development of these principles seem to be possible. It would be interesting to relate the principles to available related literature. Also, a question could be if the set of principles also includes the perspectives of clients, civilians or communities or if the professional perspective is (still) a little dominant. The broadness of the principles is a further issue, because the principles should not be about ‘care’ but reflect the broader aspects of life. Another interesting issue is how generic the principles are or could be and if principles are missing. Altogether it seems that further thinking and working about the principles and underlying values of integrated care would be very valuable.In order to 1) further sharpen the principles of integrated care, and 2) exploring the client or civilian perspective to the principles of integrated care and researching the value and potential use of a set of principles, Vilans and IFIC initiate a Special Interest Group (SIG). The main aim of the SIG Principles of Integrated Care is to develop a valuable, valid and workable set or collection of principles for person centered integrated care. The SIG will closely cooperate with initiatives and the SIG about measurement of integrated care because of the (possible) interrelatedness of the themes.Our ambition is to explore, develop and research in co-creation with international stakeholders and experts. The SIG Values and Principles of Integrated Care will start with an exploration about the value of principles and the further development of the present set principles of integrated care by Ferrer and Goodwin and other related sources.In spring 2016 our editorial about the SIG and the principles of integrated care has been published: http://www.ijic.org/articles/10.5334/ijic.2458/. The workshop is the official kick-off the SIG Values and Principles of Integrated Care. We aim at an inspiring and interactive workshop. We will ask participants to share their thoughts and findings.Target participants: Our target participants are researchers and professionals with a background in person centered and/or integrated care, who have interest in joining or following the SIG Values and Principles of Integrated Care. And, naturally, all other participants of the ICIC16 with interest or a background in person centered and/or integrated care.

The importance of developing a multi-epistemological framework for studying co-creation research: A reply to Csaba

Csaba's (2016, this issue) view that Voyer, Kastanakis, and Rhode (2016, this issue) offers an incomplete perspective on cultural reciprocal identity co-creation misinterprets the actual aim and scope of the article. We agree with Csaba that cultures should not be stereotyped and equated to countries or solely studied from an individualism - collectivism standpoint. However, we argue that his views are partial and mainly reflect a constructivist epistemological perspective. We conclude that Voyer et al. (2016, this issue) offer an open, flexible and comprehensive framework on reciprocal identity-co-creation, which is multi-epistemological and as such reconciles positivist and constructivist perspectives on the topic of reciprocal identity co-creation across cultures. Future research should improve our knowledge on this domain, from both a constructivist and positivist point of view.

Value co-creation in healthcare through positive deviance

PurposeTo explore how converging fields of co-creation and positive deviance may increase value in healthcare. MethodsInformed by research in positive deviance, patient engagement, value co-creation, and quality improvement, we propose a positive deviance approach to co-creation of health. ResultsCo-creation has shown to improve health outcomes with regard to multiple health conditions. Positive deviance has also shown to improve outcomes in multiple healthcare and patient community environments. ConclusionA positive deviance co-creation framework may aid in achieving improved outcomes for patients, care teams and their respective healthcare organizations.