Consumer Co-creation Research Articles

Social capital and consumer co-creation behaviors on tourism social media: the mediating role of psychological ownership

Purpose Consumer co-creation is a relational process through which consumers’ experiences, resources and knowledge are exchanged. This study aims to investigate the indirect effects of social capital on consumer co-creation behaviors, especially citizenship behaviors, through psychological ownership. Design/methodology/approach A survey was designed to measure social network, trust and shared vision, psychological ownership and citizenship behaviors; it was completed by 527 users of the Ctrip. Using data from the survey, a PLS model was constructed to depict the relationships between the key variables. Findings The results showed psychological ownership mediated the relationship between social capital and citizenship behaviors. Specifically, the chain-mediating effects of social capital dimensions (i.e. social network, shared vision and trust) on citizenship behaviors through psychological ownership were validated. Practical implications The rise of social media as a platform for consumer co-creation calls for a fundamental rethinking of traditional approaches to collaboration between companies and consumers. This study offers several suggestions for tourism companies to better engage with consumers on social media platforms. Originality/value This study extends current research by introducing social capital theory as a theoretical foundation for exploring tourism social media and determining the mediating role of psychological ownership between social capital and citizenship behaviors.

Transforming health-care service through consumer co-creation: directions for service design

PurposeThe increasing financial burden and complexity of health-care services, exacerbated by factors such as an ageing population and the rise of chronic conditions, necessitate comprehensive and integrated care approaches. While co-created service design has proven valuable in transforming some service industries, its application to the health-care industry is not well understood. This study aims to examine how health consumers are involved in health-care service co-creation.Design/methodology/approachThe study searched 11 electronic databases for peer-reviewed articles published between 2010 and 2019. Additionally, hand searches of reference lists from included studies, Google© citation searches and searches for grey literature were conducted. The Whittemore and Knafl integrative framework guided the systematic review, and Callahan’s 6 Ws framework was used to extract data from the included articles, facilitating comparisons.FindingsThe authors identified 21 articles, mainly from the UK, North America and Australia. Despite the need for more research, findings reveal limited and geographically narrow empirical studies with restricted theory and method applications. From these findings, the authors constructed a conceptual model to enhance nuanced understanding.Originality/valueThis study offers four contributions. First, it introduces the Health Service Design Transformation Model for Comprehensive Consumer Co-Creation, illustrating health consumers’ multifaceted roles in shaping services. Second, consumer vulnerabilities in co-creating services are identified, linked to diverse consumer groups, power dynamics and decision complexity. Third, this study suggests broadening participant inclusion may enhance consumer-centricity, inclusivity and innovation in service design. Finally, the research agenda explores consumer experiences, organizational dynamics, value outcomes and co-creation theory for health-care service advancement.

Consumers' paradoxical motives of co-creation: From self-service technology to crowd-sourcing platform

Self-service technologies (SSTs) have unleashed the productive potential of modern consumers, while crowd-sourcing (CS) platforms have further elevated the co-creation role of consumers. In this regard, consumers participate to serve not only themselves privately but also other consumers in social/communal settings. Thus, this study aims to explore and compare consumers' motives to co-create using technological platforms in both private and social contexts. A conceptual framework was developed by integrating the theory of technological paradoxes with co-creation literature. Additionally, a social-exchange perspective was adopted to rationalise the differences in private-social contexts and the moderating effects on consumer co-creation motives. The study data (n = 500) were collected using a questionnaire survey and analysed using structural equation modelling. The paradoxical motives of empowerment and shared responsibility were found to be significant contributors to consumers' willingness to co-create, confirming the independence/jointness paradox that shapes technology-mediated service co-creation. Furthermore, the communal setting of CS platforms tends to suppress consumers' empowerment motive, making responsibility-sharing the dominant motive. Therefore, the findings of this study validate (partially with mixed statistical/descriptive evidence) the moderating effect of co-creation contexts on the perceived technological paradox. Finally, this study presents the theoretical and practical implications of the research findings.

New Fashion Products Development through Consumer Co-Creation

New Fashion Products Development through Consumer Co-Creation

Consumer Co-Creation and Its Impact on Brand Innovation in Digital Platforms

Consumer Co-Creation and Its Impact on Brand Innovation in Digital Platforms

A co-creational perspective on consumer-organisation relationships (COR) on digital platforms in a post-truth era

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to build forth on the e-CRM and SCRM processes of customer relationship management and to propose a consumer-organisation relationships (COR) process, which is indicative of the centrality of consumer co-creation and a post-truth view. A co-creational perspective is developed and centralised in the conceptual theoretical framework for consumer-organisation relationships on digital platforms in a post-truth era.Method: The conceptual theoretical research was conducted through a combination of systematic and integrative literature review research designs for the purposes of describing and extending existing literature.Findings: COR confirms the role of consumer co-creation and underlines disinformation as a result of the post-truth era. The proposed co-creational perspective demonstrates prominent considerations of consumer engagement and consumer centralism. Co-creation is indicative of the complexity of managing relationships on digital platforms, due to the centrality of consumer co-creation and a post-truth view. Originality: The article advances knowledge on consumer co-creation in a consumer-organisation relationships process. It further offers new perspectives to customer relationship management in its advancement from e-CRM and SCRM to COR, as viewed from consumer and co-creational perspectives. It is contextualised in a post-truth era with consideration of the role of disinformation in consumer-organisation relationships.

Intelligent Technology Solutions and Banking Efficiency: The Impacts of Institutional Innovation and Consumer Participation

Intelligent technology solutions have revolutionized banking and enhanced the overall efficiency of financial institutions worldwide. As banks endeavor to evolve into comprehensive financial service hubs, this study examines the impact of intelligent technology solutions on the efficiency of a sample of Chinese banks and analyzes efficiency trends over time based on two vectors affecting intelligent technology (enterprise-side innovation and consumer-side co-creation). The study builds upon the parameter non-frontier method (ACF) to measure efficiency and examines intelligent technology solutions and channel usage in China from 2007 to 2017. The results indicate that intelligent innovation and consumer co-creation within intelligent channels both have significant positive impacts on banking efficiency. Moreover, these impacts have gradually surpassed traditional banking innovations and consumer participation in traditional self-service channels. In some ways, consumer participation’s positive impact on banking efficiency is even greater than banks’ institutional innovation. Notably, the relative influence of intelligent innovation and consumer participation on bank efficiency has shifted, and customer participation now occupies a more important position. Based on these findings, banks would be well advised to develop intelligent technology solutions along two paths: enhancing institutional technology and supporting consumer participation.

Enhancing servitization by international consumer integration: the influence of open innovation and co-creation

PurposeResearch demonstrates that servitization can achieve competitive advantages for firms; however, many firms are unable to achieve their target values due to various challenges. This study proposes a new model in which open innovation and co-creation are utilized to access consumer knowledge during the servitization process when developing customized services for international markets.Design/methodology/approachAn online survey was used to collect the data from 150 manufacturing firms. The data were analyzed using the partial least squares (PLS) approach.FindingsThe results indicate that open innovation positively affects servitization strategy. Moreover, consumer co-creation moderates the impacts of servitization on firm performance.Practical implicationsThis study confirms the significant role of open innovation and consumer integration in the servitization process, establishing that managers should effectively integrate different stakeholders from the service design stage (through open innovation) to the service delivery stage (through co-creation).Originality/valueThe paper's results prominently advance the present body of servitization literature by showing how the implementation of open innovation improves the servitization process, an issue that has been ignored in previous studies. Moreover, it seeks to resolve the inconsistent results on servitization's effect on performance by indicating the role of consumer co-creation in the servitization–performance link.

Rethinking value co-creation and loyalty in virtual travel communities: How and when they develop

For marketers of virtual travel communities (VTCs), a vital issue is to understand how to maintain consumer stickiness and loyalty. Although existing studies have tried to explore this issue, researchers have not given detailed and specific answers from the value co-creation theoretic lens. Therefore, the present paper aims to bridge this research gap by investigating the relationship among consumer trust in VTCs, consumer co-creation behaviors and their loyalty. The moderating impact of community service quality (CSQ) on loyalty is also explored. Data from a two-wave survey were collected from 214 active users in a Chinese VTC (Mafengwo) and then analyzed using the ordinary least squares (OLS) technique with STATA 13. Results indicated that (1) consumer trust positively impacts on two dimensions of value co-creation behavior, namely, breadth participation and depth participation. (2) Depth participation is more conducive to cultivating both attitudinal and behavioral loyalty, while breadth participation has an inverted U-shaped influence on behavioral loyalty. (3) CSQ positively moderates the relationship between depth participation and attitudinal loyalty. But after controlling for the effect of attitudinal loyalty on behavioral loyalty, this study found that CSQ negatively moderates the relationship between depth participation and behavioral loyalty. This paper developed a comprehensive framework involving antecedent and consequence of consumer co-creation behavior and showed the importance of CSQ as a key boundary condition, enriching the existing VTC and consumer loyalty research from the perspective of value co-creation and trust theory. Corresponding practical implications and limitations are also discussed.

An empirical examination of consumer co-creation process

An empirical examination of consumer co-creation process

Boosting creativity in co-creation with consumers in the fuzzy front-end of new product development: A literature review and organising framework

Interest in consumer co-creation in the fuzzy front-end of the new product development (NPD) process has increased in recent years. It is generally acknowledged that integrating consumers into collaborative idea generation leverages the potential of social interactions, knowledge sharing and collective creativity, and it may improve the success of NPD. Despite extensive literature on value co-creation, little is known about how creativity can be enhanced and encouraged in this process. Based on a thorough literature review, the author develops an organising framework and six propositions on how creativity can be stimulated at the fuzzy front-end of the innovation process. By exploring the relevant literature, this study extends the understanding of the role that creativity plays in co-creation for NPD and provides some guidelines that may help boost the creative output and interest in co-creation activities during the development stage of an idea.

Consumer co-creation of hybrid meat products: A cross-country European survey

Hybrid meat products are blends of meat and plant-based ingredients that could bridge the gap for consumers who want to reduce their meat intake, without sacrificing the taste, convenience and familiarity of traditional processed meat products. However, little is known about consumers’ preferred formulations, willingness to try (WTT), willingness to buy (WTB), and how they are perceived compared to meat products and plant-based meat-free alternatives. Therefore, this study aimed to: 1) identify hybrid recipes with the most potential for acceptance using a co-creation approach; 2) understand WTT and WTB for hybrid products and 3) compare hybrid meat products vs meat products and plant-based meat-free alternatives on several attributes (healthy, ethical, environmentally friendly, convenient, affordable, tasty, enjoyable, acceptable, aspirational, nutritious, simple, safe). The online survey with a total of 2,405 consumers in Denmark, Spain and the UK, revealed that across countries consumers prefer a hypothetical beef burger made with 25% or 50% plant-based ingredients (onions, herbs, spices, garlic and mushrooms) and with a nutritional claim on protein or fat. At least 57% of consumers were willing to try and at least 46% were willing to buy hybrid meat products. Across countries and for most attributes, hybrid meat products scored similarly to plant-based meat-free alternatives and differently from meat products. Hybrid meat products and plant-based meat-free alternatives were considered as healthy, ethical and environmentally friendly, while meat products were considered affordable, tasty, enjoyable and simple. These findings provide insights and practical suggestions for companies manufacturing innovative solutions for meat products and policy makers aiming to promote more varied diets.

How Consumer Orchestration Work Creates Value in the Sharing Economy

Sharing economy platforms have become increasingly popular, but many platforms do not create all the value that is possible because consumers face challenges while cocreating their experiences. The authors situate the origin of these challenges in the sharing economy’s hybrid cocreation logics, which combine competing communal and transactional logics. Using a qualitative study of Couchsurfing, a platform for sharing free accommodation, the authors find that consumers engage in orchestration work to overcome cocreation roadblocks and extract greater benefits from sharing economy platforms. This orchestration work consists of many actions reflected in four overarching mechanisms: consumer-to-consumer alignment, rewiring relations, trust investment, and network experimentation. The authors connect these mechanisms to known sources of value for firms (i.e., complementarities, efficiency, lock-in, and novelty) to make recommendations for how platform firms can foster consumer orchestration work and unlock the full value of consumer cocreation in the sharing economy.

UNDERSTANDING USERS AND PRODUCTS IN PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT: THE APPLICATION OF PRODUCT USAGE INFORMATION AND ITS CHALLENGES

AbstractThe need to understand users and products is one of the cores for product success. There are many ways to reach this understanding,such as,interviews and consumer cocreation. This study put a focus on the application of product usage information (PUI). Although amount of product-related information is available in the middle of a product's life, producers have not realized the full potential of these data in product development. The academic literature describes various use cases that outline how PUI supports this kind of understanding, and eventually benefits product development. Each of them provides fragmented information from certain perspectives. This diversity and the lack of systematic overview facilitates a fragmentation in the research of PUI usage in product development. To have an initial and unified overview of PUI's value on the understanding of users and products, this paper conducted a combination of systematic and descriptive review to form a sample with 12 papers. The result indicates that PUI increases producer's understanding about the product, its users and the context of usage. However, producers need to address several challenges if they want to apply PUI in product development successfully.

Is self-knowledge the ultimate prize? A quantitative analysis of participation choice in online ideation crowdsourcing contests

Online crowdsourcing contests are a nascent but rapidly growing method among marketers and retailers to generate and solicit creative ideas. In two studies – a dynamic model with scraped data from a well-known crowdsourcing platform using Python (study 1) and a survey among real participants in online contests with conjoint analysis (study 2) – we explore how multiple design parameters influence participation in online contests. Our empirical results support the notion that both extrinsically (i.e., prize money) and intrinsically (i.e., feedback) motivating parameters can generate value for participants (i.e., expected utility). Comparatively, however, we find evidence that intrinsically motivating design parameters that provide self-relevant feedback (i.e., feedback from organizer) can be more impactful than extrinsically motivating design parameters (i.e., award size). We also show novel time-dependent effects: as a contest nears its end, important design parameters shift in their effects on participation rates— their role over time is non-monotonic. In particular, the effect of award size becomes non-significant, but feedback remains impactful. Our findings contribute to the crowdsourcing literature, especially regarding how self-knowledge (e.g., self-efficacy) affects utility and consumer co-creation through contest participation over time; the findings also can help retail managers and marketers enhance participation in idea contests.

Hybrid meat

Hybrid meat

Consumer responses to pictures of co-creating consumers in marketing communications

PurposeCo-creating consumers are often featured prominently in marketing communications for new co-created products. Previous research has only investigated the responses of non-participating consumers by describing co-creating consumers in text. This paper aims to examine consumer responses to combinations of text descriptions and pictures of co-creating consumers.Design/methodology/approachAn experimental study used a reference group perspective to explain non-participating consumer responses to communications about co-creation with consumers in new product development.FindingsPictures of co-creating consumers moderate the effects of texts describing consumer co-creation on brand attitudes. The brand effects of describing the co-creating consumer in text as belonging to a dissociative group are negative when the picture looks similar to the non-participating consumers. If the co-creating consumer looks dissimilar to the in-group, the reference group text has no effect. Self–brand connection mediates these effects on brand attitudes.Research limitations/implicationsA reference group perspective is introduced as a boundary condition to the research on the communication of consumer co-creation. The effects on brand attitudes depend on the pictorial representations.Practical implicationsCompanies should be advised to avoid portrayals of co-creating consumers that could cause dissociation in relevant consumer groups.Originality/valueNeither reference group associations nor pictorial descriptions of co-creating consumers, have hitherto been investigated with regards to consumer co creation, despite the frequent inclusion of consumer imagery in advertising for consumer co-created new products.

Last mile non-delivery: consumer investment in last mile infrastructure

ABSTRACT Consumers execute routine last mile logistics in most brick-and-mortar supply chains. The online version of last mile logistics varies greatly, but still suffers from substantial challenges – one of these being theft, specifically porch piracy. In fact, each day more than 1.7 Million packages are stolen or go missing each day in the United States. In this paper, we look at a consumer’s decision, to buy or not to buy a drop box for online package delivery. We view this decision as an act of co-creation, something routine in both online and traditional retailing, the consumer co-creation of the supply chain. The purpose of this research is to examine the feasibility of using drop boxes, an alternative delivery system, to reduce retailer’s financial and reputation costs and increase consumer confidence in direct ordering. We determine that such alternative infrastructures signal a potential increase in revenues for online retailers. We also show that consumers are willing to pay for such drop boxes even as they co-create a variety of supply chains.

The Influence of Value-Co-Creation on Brand Equity: An Empirical Study in Saudi Arabia

The current study aims to explore the influence of value co-creation on brand equity in a Saudi Arabia context. An attempt to illustrate the factors influencing brand equity from a consumer's perspectives as a result of changing customer's interests and lifestyle. Consumer's co-creation of value is powerful in understanding consumer behavior at its impact on brand equity. This paper has made an applied attempt in Saudi Arabia to study the mediation effect of positive e-WOM on value co-creation and brand equity, which adds to the knowledge line in the digital marketing discipline.

Motives and barriers affecting consumers’ co-creation in the physical store

ABSTRACT The rise of e-commerce has caused a dramatic shift in consumer behaviour, putting pressure on physical stores to offer a more personalised and service-oriented offering. This paper investigates one strategy retailers might apply in this context: in-store consumer co-creation. Research has predominantly focused on online-based consumer co-creation in new product and service development. We argue that with increased focus on digitalisation and consumer experiences in physical retail, this type of co-creation will increasingly take place in-store. Following a pre-study with practitioners, our main study uses 20 scenario-based semi-structured interviews, where we identify eight consumer motives and seven barriers that underlie consumers’ willingness and reluctance to create and select new products in-store, respectively. Some motives, such as ethical, self-efficacy, and concerted are reported as barriers when reverted, due to consumers’ concerns regarding data privacy, low levels of perceived self-efficacy and assumptions that the technology might be flawed. Other motives largely overlap existing research on motives for co-creation whereas other barriers predominantly pertain to the underlying technology and the physical setting of co-creation in-store. The findings further indicate that consumers co-create differently online versus in-store. In-store seems particularly suitable for more marketing related aspects of co-creation, with a stronger emphasis on playfulness and purchase intentions. Practical implications for retailers are therefore discussed.