Consumer Creativity Research Articles

Creative consumers: awareness, attitude and action

PurposeThis paper aims to report on the construction of a scale to measure a firm's stance towards creative consumers; that is, customers who adapt, modify or transform a proprietary offering.Design/methodology/approachA measurement instrument, called the 3As, is developed to assess the extent to which an organization is aware of its creative customers, its attitude towards its creative customers, and finally the action it takes in response to its creative customers. A total of 178 Executive MBA students were used to fine‐tune a set of items using exploratory factor analysis (EFA).FindingsAn empirical test of reliability and validity resulted in three clearly defined factors or dimensions, which correspond to the three constructs of awareness, attitude and action. The relationship between the scales' prediction of stances and a manager's self typing of the organization is assessed, and the relationship between firm stance, environmental turbulence, and performance explored.Originality/valueThis paper provides the first scale for measuring a firm's stance toward creative consumers.

Web 2.0, Social Media, and Creative Consumers: Special Issue

Web 2.0, Social Media, and Creative Consumers: Special Issue

Visualizing Invisible Innovation Continent: Evidence from Global Consumer Innovation Surveys

A number of researches on user innovation have demonstrated the importance of users in the innovation process. Even though it has been proved that users are a source of idea and can increase the probability of success for manufacturers; only a few of manufacturers actively realize the importance of users’ product development. This research aims to investigate and visualize consumers’ innovation. We conduct an online survey in two countries - United States, and Japan, then compare the result with the previous research in the United Kingdom. As a result, we found a significant number of consumers creating their own products or modifying existing products in all three countries, and that a substantial amount of money and time was invested in this. However, only an extremely small number of product innovations were adopted by enterprises as potential products. For manufacturers, we suggest that they should regard users’ creative activities and collaborate more with users, especially in a community level; or they may take effort in working with creative consumers. For policymakers or organizations concerned, it is significant that similar surveys should be conducted in both developed and developing countries in order to understand consumers’ activities and abilities better. We have attached the questionnaire used in the U.S. for reference.

PATHWAYS TO CREATIVITY

Focusing on the ‘talent pathways’ outlined in the 2008 Department of Culture, Media and Sport Creative Britain report, this article explores how different forms of creative agency are positioned to make a ‘contribution’ to the creative economy. Drawing on Paul du Gay's concept of personhood, case studies on digital gaming explore the formation of two forms of personhood – creative consumers and creative workers. Specifically, these forms of creative agency are analysed in terms of their connections on the ‘talent pathway’, and the transitions that see creativity and talent as inherent in all individuals and in need of channelling and directing. The creative-consumer case study unpacks the digital games industry strategy of enrolling fan-creators within their commercial operations. This case study reveals the increasing importance of co-production for the creative economy, and the extent to which diverse cultural practices are facilitated and positioned. Higher education Games Design courses will then provide the case study for examining how the creative-consumer can be positioned to make a productive contribution to the creative economy as a worker. Within this context, the formation of fans/students into a creative worker or industry-ready worker is evident. Through tracing different forms of creative agency and how they are connected to make a contribution to the creative economy, this article explores the governance of creative agency and economic subjects.

The Voice of the Consumer Speaks Forcefully in Brand Identity

<h3>ABSTRACT</h3> User-generated content (UGC) is attracting a great deal of interest—some of it effective, some misguided. This article reviews the marketing-related factors that gave rise to UGC, tracing the relevant development of market orientation, social interaction, word of mouth, brand relationships, consumer creativity, co-creation, and customization, largely through the pages of the <i>Journal of Advertising Research</i> over the last 40 (or so) of its 50 years. The authors then discuss the characteristic features of UGC and how they differ from (and are similar to) these concepts. The insights thus gained will help practitioners and researchers understand what UGC is (and is not) and how it should (and should not) be used.

Introduction: Animation industry at a crossroads

ABSTRACTThis special edition is concerned with the animation industry, an important part of the creative industries. It discusses the current issues and challenges facing the industry, with reference to the specific contexts of China, Japan and the United Kingdom. The findings of the articles included in this edition resonate with key themes of creative industries research, such as location dynamics, roles of government policy, working conditions of creative workforce, consumer creativity and protection of intellectual property rights. They also raise some fundamental questions about the nature of creativity from the perspective of animation: how it is initiated and fostered, and how it is renewed and remade through production, distribution and consumption processes.

On market forces and adjustments: acknowledging consumer creativity through the aesthetics of ‘debadging’

This paper explores the social dynamics by means of which market forces are enacted at the level of everyday consumption. In particular, it draws on Holt's (2002) notion that as ‘unruly bricoleurs’, consumers kick-start processes of market adjustment and innovation through improvising ways to negotiate the demands of daily life. In this way, consumers can become active players in realising new possibilities for identity construction and empowerment that involve the creative re-appropriation of marketer-based meaning. To investigate those issues, we turn to a virtual community in the empirical setting of car customisation. Over an eight-month period, an internet-based methodology generated textual observations of online posting activity on five internet newsgroups attracting those interested in the particular pursuit of car modification. Participants used those web-forums to share information, passions, and enthusiasms. Analysis shows that grounded aesthetics function as vehicles for creativity and the reworking of dominant market logics (Vargo & Lusch, 2004). We conclude that online discussion threads offer valuable access to the emergent interplay of discursive resources in circulation among virtual communities and that this has implications for the conduct of environmental scanning. The paper illustrates how the discursive resource-base is nurtured, sustained, and transformed through various interpellations, including performing claims to prestige and self-defining distinctions, as well as constructing narratives of personal history and social dynamics.

Faces of the New Consumer: A Genesis of Consumer Governmentality

This paper is less concerned with discussing the reality of the new consumer than in discovering how researchers and consultants construct this through their marketing discourses. A genealogical approach uncovers the three major faces of the new consumer that have emerged over the past twenty years: individualistic consumers in the early 1990s; hedonistic consumers at the turn of the millennium; and creative consumers in the mid-2000s. The paper then shows how these faces interact within a consumer competency structure in which individualistic dialogue competencies combine with hedonistic play competencies and creative resource integration competencies. The conclusion focuses on the existence within these different marketing discourses of a governmental process pressuring today's citizens to see and think of themselves first and foremost as consumers.

Consumer Creative Experience: The Role of Motivational Orientation in Creative Leisure Activity

The literature review shows the importance of broadening research on consumer creativity in creative leisure pursuits. Several theories and the results of a motivational study highlight the hedonic (pleasure, vitality) and eudemonic components (learning, identity experience) of the creative experience as well as the consumer's motivational orientation at the time he engages in the creative activity. Subsequently, the links between these experience components and the originality or aesthetic qualities of the creative product are established in order to study the role of this motivational orientation. Results confirm the importance of this orientation and several key areas are identified for further research.

Brand Community Members as a Source of Innovation

Brand community members have a strong interest in the product and in the brand. They usually have extensive product knowledge and engage in product‐related discussions; they support each other in solving problems and generating new product ideas. Therefore, brand communities can be a valuable source of innovation. So far, little is known about the member's ability and willingness to participate in a company's innovation process. How does passion for the brand, affiliation to the brand community, and trust in the brand affect the willingness to engage in a company's innovation process? What is the effect of brand passion on brand knowledge and on domain‐specific skills, which are considered important prerequisites for qualified and creative contributions to new product development? What is the effect of personality traits on the willingness and ability to engage in new product development? This research addresses these questions, which are interesting for managers who are thinking about opening up their innovation process and collaborating with brand communities and for academics exploring the opportunities of online communities for new product development and trying to develop promising new forms of open innovation networks. Drawing on brand community literature, relationship theory, creativity theory, and personality traits research, this paper introduces a comprehensive set of antecedents affecting brand community members' willingness to engage in new product development. It is argued that consumer creativity, identification with the brand community, and brand‐specific emotions and attitudes (passion and trust) as well as brand knowledge are important determinants of consumers' willingness to share their knowledge with producers. The paper also identifies two personality traits (i.e., extraversion and openness) that have significant influence on brand passion, creativity, and identification with the community. The hypotheses are tested on a sample of 550 members of the Volkswagen Golf GTI car community. Structural equation modeling was used to test the relationship among the constructs. Though a positive disposition toward a brand may be advantageous for consumers that are willing to interact with producers during new product development, our results show that it is consumer interest in innovations and the innovative process that drives them to get involved. Further, brand community members with more knowledge and more innovative skills seem to be more willing to contribute than less qualified community members.

When customers get clever: managerial approaches to dealing with creative consumers

Abstract Creative consumers (defined as customers who adapt, modify, ortransform a proprietary offering) represent an intriguing paradox for business. Onone hand, they can signify a black hole for future revenue, with breach of copyrightand intellectual property. On the other hand, they represent a gold mine of ideas andbusiness opportunities. Central to business is the need to create and capture value,and creative consumers demand a shift in the mindsets and business models of howfirms accomplish both. Based upon their attitude and action toward customerinnovation, we develop a typology of firms’ stances toward creative consumers. Wethen consider the implications of the stances model for corporate strategy andexamine a three-step approach to dealing with creative consumers: awareness,analysis, and response.D 2006 Kelley School of Business, Indiana University. All rights reserved. 1. When customers get clever What happens when customers get clever? Whatshould a firm do when creative consumers start tomodify products, hack code, and adjust services tosuit themselves? The following examples illustratethe dilemmas managers face, and the very differ-ent strategies firms employ in dealing with thephenomenon:

When customers get clever: Managerial approaches to dealing with creative consumers

Creative consumers (defined as customers who adapt, modify, or transform a proprietary offering) represent an intriguing paradox for business. On one hand, they can signify a black hole for future revenue, with breach of copyright and intellectual property. On the other hand, they represent a gold mine of ideas and business opportunities. Central to business is the need to create and capture value, and creative consumers demand a shift in the mindsets and business models of how firms accomplish both. Based upon their attitude and action toward customer innovation, we develop a typology of firms' stances toward creative consumers. We then consider the implications of the stances model for corporate strategy and examine a three-step approach to dealing with creative consumers: awareness, analysis, and response.

Marketing Cultural Products on the Internet: Targeting Cultural Creatives

The objectives of this research were to (a) explore demographics and psychographics of consumers who shop for cultural products on the Internet in relation to cultural creative consumers and (b) examine how psychographics of cultural creatives influence attitudes toward shopping for cultural products and intention to purchase. Individuals with certain psychographics of cultural creatives, particularly those related to product authenticity, product origins, and creating a unique home environment, appeared to make up an important target market for selling cultural products on the Internet. While both product characteristics and Web site attributes were important factors influencing a positive attitude toward shopping for cultural products on the Internet, only consumers' beliefs about the Web site significantly influenced their intention to shop on the Internet. Implications of the study and recommendations for future research were provided.

Exploring Antecedents and Consequences of Consumer Creativity in a Problem-Solving Context

Creativity is an underresearched topic in consumer behavior, yet integral in many instances of consumer problem solving. Two experiments were conducted to investigate antecedents and consequences of creativity in a consumption context. The results indicate that both situational factors (i.e., time constraints, situational involvement) and person factors (i.e., locus of control, metaphoric thinking ability) affect creative consumption and that some of these variables have interactive influences. The results also show that acting creatively enhances positive affect.

Consumption, exclusion and emotion: the social geographies of shopping

In recent years, a productive dialogue has developed between retail geographers and those social geographers concerned with the spatiality of consumption. This has resulted in a series of accounts of shopping that emphasize notions of consumer creativity. Nonetheless, this paper argues that many of these have struggled to reconcile the meaning of shopping with an understanding of the material parameters within which consumers operate. Recognizing that this tendency has distracted from the socio-spatial inequalities evident in retailing, the paper examines how shopping rituals are embedded in social relations that discourage particular shoppers from visiting certain retail locations. Drawing on extensive and intensive data derived in Coventry (UK), the paper questions the extent to which this geography of exclusion is the product of constraint, arguing that shopping is shaped by a more complex spatiality of inclusion and (self-) exclusion. Accordingly, the paper makes the case for a social geography of sho...

Consumption, exclusion and emotion: The social geographies of shopping

In recent years, a productive dialogue has developed between retail geographers and those social geographers concerned with the spatiality of consumption. This has resulted in a series of accounts of shopping that emphasize notions of consumer creativity. Nonetheless, this paper argues that many of these have struggled to reconcile the meaning of shopping with an understanding of the material parameters within which consumers operate. Recognizing that this tendency has distracted from the socio-spatial inequalities evident in retailing, the paper examines how shopping rituals are embedded in social relations that discourage particular shoppers from visiting certain retail locations. Drawing on extensive and intensive data derived in Coventry (UK), the paper questions the extent to which this geography of exclusion is the product of constraint, arguing that shopping is shaped by a more complex spatiality of inclusion and (self-) exclusion. Accordingly, the paper makes the case for a social geography of shopping that pays careful attention to the emotionally laden transactions played out in particular settings.

Doctor Who Fans Rewrite Their Program: Mini‐UNIT Minstrels as Creative Consumers of Media

<i>Doctor Who</i> Fans Rewrite Their Program: Mini‐UNIT Minstrels as Creative Consumers of Media

Characteristics of Adopters and Non-Adopters of Home Computers

SUMMARY AND IMPLICATIONS This study investigated the profile of the adopter of a technological innovation, the home computer. The study used a simple trait + behavior model, whereas Rogers' diffusion model (Rogers 1962; Rogers and Shoemaker 1968) is a contingency model: trait + communication + behavior. While it is useful to examine the interaction be- tween traits and innovative characteristics, our approach only tests part of Rogers' model. To some extent, the adop- ter profile is similar to that of the adopter of many other types of innovations: middle-aged, higher income, more education, opinion leader, information seeker, and so on. On the other hand, the profile also suggests that the adopter is a logical introvert. This finding is not unexpected, given consideration of the complex, technological nature of the innovation. We suggest that the nature of the adopter of an innovation is partially a function of the characteristics of the innovation itself-viz., the complexity of the home computer, the familiarity required to be cognizant of its relative advantage, and the need for some other type of computer-oriented experiences before it can be perceived as compatible. We have used the concept of consumer creativity in an attempt to explain the differences between the adopter pro- file we found and that found in studies of symbolic inno- vations. Hirschman (1980b) presents a model showing the hypothesized relationship of consumer creativity to adop- tive i~novativeness; using Welsh's (1975) traits of origence and intellectence, we hypothesized that home computer adopters are more likely to exhibit characteristics typical of the low origenceihigh intellectence individual (introverted, rational, quantitatively oriented, unsocial). Our results pro- vide general support that adopters of home computers have a profile similar to that individual: they are homebodies who are interested neither in the arts nor in innovations that would enhance their ability to communicate. The hypoth- esis that the low origenceihigh intellectence individual is likely to be an early adopter of a technological innovation was tested in an indirect manner, by comparing the adopter profile to that found by Welsh (1975). Future research should direct measures of the dimensions in order to relate them to early adoption of technological pr~ducts.~ More-over, there is a clear need for research investigating the role that the two creativity dimensions play in the adoption of different types of innovations. Past consumption experiences play an integral part in Hirschman's (1980a, 1980b) conceptualization of consumer

Segmenting Industrial Markets by Buyer Sophistication

Proposes that the main objective here is a system being developed for segmenting industrial markets on the basis of the level demonstrated by buying centre members. Examines the factors which influence the individual member of the buying centre in the context of his/her participating in the acquisition of an innovation. Explores the concept of consumer creativity or maturity as developed in the context of consumer marketing, and considers factors which are deemed influential. Posits that greater success rates in new product development would be achieved if research and development worked in tandem with an identified cross‐section of sophisticated buying centre members.

Innovativeness, Novelty Seeking, and Consumer Creativity

A conceptual framework is presented that incorporates three constructs highly relevant to consumer behavior—innovativeness, novelty seeking, and consumer creativity. A fourth construct, role accumulation, is also discussed. A model of the relational linkages among these constructs is developed, together with their definitions and a methodology to develop operational measures. Research implications and applications of this conceptual framework are discussed.