Customer Participation Research Articles

Dynamic Modeling and Optimization of Energy Storage in Peer-to-Peer Energy Trading Systems

The power system landscape has evolved from isolated end-users to interactive communities due to advances in information and communication technologies. This paper explores peer-to-peer energy (P2PE) trading and sharing within a community, where customer incentives for energy exchange enhance collective profits. A two-stage optimization (TSO) framework is proposed: the first stage determines customer participation in P2PE, balancing individual and collective benefits, while the second stage optimizes economic aspects of P2P trading using a payment bargaining model. A case study demonstrates significant cost reductions and improved renewable energy utilization, with notable profit increments for participants. The study highlights the effectiveness of Nash bargaining theory and privacy-preserving algorithms in optimizing social welfare and economic interactions. Limitations include a focus on wind energy and simplified assumptions about energy storage. Future research should incorporate diverse renewable sources, dynamic modeling, and multi-community interactions.

The Antecedents and Consequences of Customer Participation in Community Group Buying: A Systematic Literature Review and Future Agenda

Community group buying (CGB) has shown exponential development recently because of the widespread use of social commerce and e-commerce. As a result of its popularity, the field has received increasing attention from academia, leading to a plethora of empirical studies to comprehend CGB and the elements that influence it. Therefore, reviewing the existing literature to identify potential gaps and future research opportunities becomes vital. Our study conducts a systematic literature review of CGB. We followed the PRISMA protocol, which generated 288 articles. Application of inclusion and exclusion criteria selected 41 studies for the detailed analysis. We analyzed the features of CGB from three perspectives: group leader, logistics, and localization, summarized five categories of antecedents (self-related, online-related, quality-related, operations-related, and risk-related), and identified two types of consequences (attitudinal, behavioral) of customers’ participation. Several research gaps are identified, and corresponding research directions in the future are uncovered. Finally, we discuss the theoretical contribution and limitations of the study.

LFL-COBC: Lightweight Federated Learning on Blockchain-Based Device Contribution Allocation

In the distributed cyber-physical systems (CPSs) within the industrial domain, the volume of data produced by interconnected devices is escalating at an unprecedented pace, presenting novel opportunities to enhance service quality through data sharing. Nevertheless, data privacy protection emerges as a significant challenge for data providers in wireless networks. This paper puts forward a solution integrating blockchain and lightweight federated learning, designated as LFL-COBC, which aims to tackle the issues related to data privacy and device performance optimization. We initially analyze multiple dimensions influencing the performance of computing devices, such as mining capacity, data quality, computational efficiency and local device deviation, which are crucial for augmenting user engagement. Based on these dimensions, we deduce a set of cooperation strategies for selecting the optimal committee members and rewarding the contributions of node devices equitably, thereby stimulating cooperation between users and servers. To intelligently and automatically detect device anomalies and alleviate the operational burden, a convolutional neural network (CNN) model is employed. Additionally, to address the escalating cost of customer participation and the potential data explosion issue, a near-optimal model pruning algorithm is designed. This algorithm can make the model obtained from the training of node equipment lightweight, thereby reducing the load of federated learning and the blockchain, as well as enhancing the overall efficiency of the system. The efficacy of our approach is demonstrated through numerical experiments on the HDFS and BGL public data sets. Experimental results indicate that the LFL-COBC scheme can effectively safeguard data privacy and optimize device performance concurrently, providing an effective solution for device anomaly detection in CPSs.

Integrating active demand into the distribution system using metaheuristic techniques

AbstractIntegrating non‐conventional renewable energy sources into distribution systems, alongside data science and enabling technological infrastructures, presents significant challenges, particularly in managing active demand. The rapid evolution of the electric energy system and increasing electricity demand highlight the need for reliable tracking and predictive methods to manage Distributed Energy Resources and digital infrastructure. These methods are essential for advancing carbon neutrality, democratizing environmental sustainability, and improving energy efficiency. Effective active demand monitoring requires understanding the transactional system concept, including digital infrastructure and decentralized demand. Although metaheuristic techniques are increasingly important in demand response integration, much research focuses on specific techniques rather than providing a comprehensive view of dynamic transaction integration for active demand. Technological advancements, like smart meters and communication systems, are shifting from basic consumption measurement to active customer participation. This article reviews key concepts in electrical distribution systems, such as active demand, DERs, and transactive systems. It examines prevalent metaheuristic techniques, emphasizing their role in integrating and predicting active demand and DER behaviors. Additionally, the study presents a methodology serving as a roadmap for efficient DER integration and the transition to active demand and transactive electricity systems, addressing gaps in the current literature.

The Role of Functional and Emotional Value Co-Creation Within Sharing Economy Platforms on Repurchase Intention

Repurchase Intention is part of consumer behaviour that aspires for repeat purchases on the products or services of an organization. Consumers begin with a consideration on the necessities to purchase. Continuing this, consumers then decided on how many products will be purchases. The aim of this paper is to investigate and examine the role of functional and emotional value creation in the relationship between customer ethical perceptions and social support sharing economy platform with repurchase intention. This paper selects 402 consumers using sharing economy platforms in Indonesia and tests the regression relationships of the five constructs using Structural Equation Model with the AMOS 24.00 tool. This finding indicates that social support and consumer ethical perception showed an important antecedent towards Functional Value Co-Creation and Emotional Value Co-Creation and that the two has a positive impact of Repurchase Intention. This suggests that Functional Value Co-Creation and Emotional Value Co-Creation possess an important role as a mediator between social support and consumer ethics perception with Repurchase Intention. With a literature review related to consumer behaviour, consumer ethics, value co-creation, and sharing economy platforms, this paper proposes a unique analysis on the relationship roadmap for customer participation and consumer ethics with Repurchase Intention

The Impacts of Frontliners’ Physical Attractiveness on Customer Participation in Resort Hotels: A Conceptual Paper Contribute to SDGs

Objective: This conceptual paper proposes a model to identify how resort hotel consumers’ participation intention and appreciation relate to their impressions of service frontliners. By deeper understand consumers participation to promote decent work and economic growth, and sustainable development goals (SDGs). Theoretical Framework: The main concepts and theories underpinning the research are presented, with the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) theory serving as the foundation. This paper provides a research framework that investigates the direct relationship between hotel frontliners' physical attractiveness (Stimulus) and consumer participation intention (Response), with consumer appreciation (Organism) acting as a mediator. Physical attractiveness in this study is represented by three dimensions: dressing, health, and facial attractiveness. Method: The conceptual model was developed based on existing theories, through a review of literature from psychology, sociology, and service marketing. Research Implications: The practical and theoretical implications of this research are discussed. This conceptual paper offers a tool for researchers to explore consumer behaviours in relation to service frontliners’ physical attributes. The knowledge exploration will contribute to SDG8, decent work and economic growth. Originality/Value: This study addressed the underlying process between physical attractiveness and consumer participation intention and identified consumer appreciation as a mediator between frontliner attractiveness and consumer participation.

Customer Participation and NPD Process Effectiveness : The Perspective of Marketers

Customer Participation and NPD Process Effectiveness : The Perspective of Marketers

Antecedents of Customer Participation on Sharing Platforms: A Meta‐analysis

AbstractGiven the substantive influence of the digital revolution on the sharing economy, it is timely and relevant to ask why some sharing platforms (e.g. Airbnb and Uber) achieve significant success while others fail. To determine which factors encourage customers to participate in sharing goods and services on sharing platforms, and when they do so, this study conducts a meta‐analysis of empirical findings from 192 independent samples, extracted from 167 studies involving 171,344 customers. As the results clarify, customer‐related factors (customer motives, customer competence, customer satisfaction and subjective norms) are key antecedents. However, platform‐related factors (service quality of the platform, trust in the platform, performance expectancy and effort expectancy) and service‐provider‐related factors (service quality of the provider, trust in the provider and provider gender) also exert meaningful effects. To assess the generalizability of these antecedents, the meta‐analysis includes contextual moderators, namely customer type (previous provider experience), provider type (private/professional supply), platform characteristics (rivalry on the platform, prestige of ownership and services/goods) and exchange type (for‐profit/non‐profit and ownership transfer). The findings advance the literature on the sharing economy and provide specific guidance for platform managers about when to focus on certain antecedents.

Understanding Customer Readiness for Digital Gamification

ABSTRACT Digital gamification has been studied extensively in different contexts across information systems and digital marketing. Interestingly, scholarly studies in information systems/marketing regarding the benefits of digital gamification are mixed, with several research works reporting negative outcomes. Our study attempts to resolve these contradictions and explain why digital gamification failed in certain instances—the target customers were not ready. The present study, done in the USA covering 446 usable responses, adds to the extant literature in many ways. First, we throw light on gamified engagement programs and the mediating role of customer readiness and consequent outcomes. Our results reveal that simplicity and information quality are other important dimensions of gamified engagement programs, in addition to intrinsic and extrinsic game dynamics, for achieving adequate customer readiness. Additionally, customer participation makes the greatest contribution to company engagement, followed by program loyalty and program satisfaction. We conclude with the study’s implications on different fronts.

Cross-selling challenges and opportunities: navigating managerial expectations, emotional exhaustion, and sales performance

ABSTRACT This study investigates how perceived formal managerial cross-selling expectations impact salesperson emotional exhaustion and performance, with a focus on the moderating effects of perceived managerial customer orientation and customer participation expectations. Rooted in the Job Demands-Resources framework, it treats perceived formal managerial cross-selling and customer-orientation expectations as job demands, and perceived managerial customer participation as a job resource. The study comprises one qualitative and two quantitative studies. Exploratory qualitative interviews with 7 salespeople provided insights provided insights into their perceptions of managerial expectations. Study 1 (237 salespeople) explored relationships between perceived formal managerial cross-selling expectations, emotional exhaustion, and salesperson performance. Study 2 (253 salespeople) investigated the moderating roles of perceived managerial customer orientation and customer participation expectations. Findings highlight emotional exhaustion as a mediator between formal managerial cross-selling expectations and salesperson performance. This mediation effect is contingent on the presence of managerial customer-orientation expectations and customer participation. The research emphasizes the importance for managers to carefully consider heightened customer-orientation expectations, suggesting moderation, especially in cross-selling. This study offers practical insights for professionals in the marketing and sales field navigating the complexities of cross-selling to enhance sales performance.

How does supply chain collaboration improve innovation performance of SMEs? The roles of absorptive capacity and business environment

There is increasing awareness that customers and suppliers serve as key external information sources for the innovation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). However, existing research on the influence of customer participation (CP) and supplier participation (SP) remains inconsistent. This study addresses this gap by investigating how CP and SP affect different types of innovation performance of SMEs in China. Furthermore, by addressing the gap regarding the unclear mechanisms of CP and SP in SMEs’ innovation performance, this study explores the mediating role of a firm's absorptive capacity on innovation performance and the conditions under which absorptive capacity will be more effective. Based on a sample of 1861 SMEs in China, the findings highlight that CP positively impacts product innovation performance, with absorptive capacity acting as a partial mediator. Additionally, both CP and SP influence process innovation performance directly or through absorptive capacity. Meanwhile, the business environment moderates the effect of absorptive capacity on product innovation performance. These findings contribute to the theory of open innovation and offer valuable insights for SME managers, entrepreneurs, and scholars in enhancing innovation outcomes.

Enhancing new service development effectiveness: the role of customer participation and the moderating effects of empowerment and satisfaction

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of Customer Participation (CP) in the effectiveness of New Service Development (NSD) by examining the moderating roles of Customer Empowerment (CE) and Customer Satisfaction (CS). The research reduces the risk of failure of the NSD process and/or improves the NSD processes used by companies through the consideration of the results in the practical dimension.Design/methodology/approachThis study investigates the effects of CP at different stages of NSD using a quantitative approach. Data were collected through an online survey questionnaire. Smart PLS was used to analyse the data collected from 509 newsreaders and users of the news agency’s application.FindingsThe model confirmed that CE has an impact on the effectiveness of NSD in the idea generation and commercialization stages, but not in the development stage. Empowerment and customer satisfaction did not influence the three stages of NSD indirectly but directly. The results show that CP, CS and CE do not always have a direct or indirect effect on the development of new services. Therefore, in order to design new service development projects, media news companies need to determine the level of user cooperation.Research limitations/implicationsThe lack of objective data, especially on company performance, forces researchers to use questionnaires to analyse NSD effectiveness. Another limitation is that newspaper users answered the questionnaires, which creates “common method variance.”Practical implicationsResearchers on NSD effectiveness must use questionnaires due to a lack of objective data, especially on company performance. Another limitation is “common method variance” from newspaper users answering questionnaires.Originality/valueThis paper is a response to a perceived need for an examination of how new service development can be successful and effective.

The effect of corporate social responsibility on customer engagement and citizenship behavior

AbstractDue to the hybrid‐competitive market and the economic crisis, consumers are more ethically concerned about companies failing to adhere to environmental and human rights standards. Thus, companies have implemented corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives to improve their ethical performance and establish the groundwork for sustainable growth and competitive advantage. Relationship marketing orientation (RMO) contributes to strengthen customers relationships and value co‐creation. Drawing from the stakeholder theory, this study aims to examine how CSR initiatives, that is, customer‐oriented and employee‐oriented, affect customer participation behavior (CPB) and customer citizenship behavior (CCB) in the banking sector. The main findings highlight a significant correlation between the CSR initiatives and customer value co‐creation behavior. Finally, by triangulating CSR, RMO, and value co‐creation, this study aims to provide more insights on RMO and CSR strategies for academicians and practitioners.

Customer Participation in New Product Development: The Contingent Effects of Product Development Proficiency and Task Uncertainty

In the literature on new product development, the positive effect of customer participation on the success of new products is under debate. Based on the contingency theory, explanations on inconsistent findings about this effect may be found. Therefore, drawing on the open innovation concept, this study considers customer participation as a success factor of new product development by reexamining its effect on new product development performance and hypothesizes the contingent role of product development proficiency (marketing and technical) and task uncertainty. To this end, survey data from 186 Iranian manufacturing firms are gathered, and research hypotheses are tested using structural equation modeling. The results indicate customer participation and NPD performance to not have a clear/unidirectional relationship. However, findings substantiate that this relationship becomes positive and significant in the conditions of high product development technical proficiency and task uncertainty. Finally, product development marketing proficiency was found to have no significant role in the relationship between customer participation and new product development performance. This study extends several streams of research in the new product development literature and proposes recommendations to managers of firms.

How CSR communication and value co-creation shape consumer well-being and brand love in the post-COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from the UK

PurposeDrawing upon the service-dominant logic (S-D logic) and elaboration likelihood model (ELM), this paper provides an integrative model to investigate how argument quality and source credibility of CSR communication affects customer value co-creation behavior, resulting in increased brand trust. Additionally, it unveils how brand trust and the perception of COVID-19 risk influence both brand love and subjective well-being.Design/methodology/approachThe data of this study were collected through survey questionnaire from 304 coffee shop customers using convenience sampling and tested using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique to validate its model.FindingsThe research findings confirm the positive association between source credibility and customer value co-creation (i.e. customer participation and citizenship behavior). By contrast, argument quality is revealed to have a significantly positive effect on customer citizenship behavior (CCB) but a non-significant effect on customer participation behavior (CPB). Additionally, the study identifies that customer value co-creation behavior significantly promotes brand trust. Finally, findings indicate that brand trust and the perception of COVID-19 risk significantly influence brand love and subjective well-being.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature on CSR communication and S-D logic and provides new insights for marketers and advertisers to manage brands in the post-pandemic scenario through CSR communications. Furthermore, this study theoretically extends the ELM model to the CSR communication research. Finally, this study expands the relevant literature by clarifying the relationships between the perception of COVID-19 risk, brand love and subjective well-being.

Gen Z's Path to Brand Loyalty in Photo Studios: The Influence of Brand Experience, Community, and Engagement

The photography industry, particularly photo studios, is undergoing a significant transformation due to the development of digital technology and social media. Generation Z, as a digital generation, interacts with photography in unique ways, making brand community, brand experience and customer engagement increasingly relevant for building strong relationships with photo studios. This study aims to determine and analyze Generation Z's loyalty to photo studios, focusing on the mediating role of customer participation behavior and customer citizenship behavior. This study uses a quantitative approach using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to test the relationship between latent variables. Data was collected through questionnaires distributed to Generation Z consumers in Indonesia. The findings show that brand experience and customer engagement significantly increase customer participation and citizenship behavior, which in turn strengthen customer loyalty. However, brand community does not directly influence citizenship behavior or customer loyalty, highlighting the need for a comprehensive approach in building customer loyalty. These results have important implications for photo studios, indicating that creating positive brand experiences and increasing customer engagement are critical to fostering customer loyalty, especially among Generation Z. Photo studios should focus on improving these areas to build a stronger and more loyal customer base.

The Role of Logistics Innovation in Enhancing Supply Chain Efficiency: A Case Study Analysis

This paper delves into the role of logistics innovation in enhancing supply chain efficiency and demonstrates through case studies the positive impact of logistics innovation on cost control, customer service, environmental sustainability, and corporate competitiveness. The study finds that by introducing automation and information technology, companies can significantly improve the speed and accuracy of logistics operations, reduce operational costs, enhance customer satisfaction, promote environmental sustainability, and enhance market competitiveness. The research also proposes application suggestions for logistics innovation in supply chain management, including continuous investment in technological innovation, strengthening data analysis capabilities, promoting green logistics practices, strengthening customer participation, and establishing a flexible supply chain. Finally, the study points out the limitations of the research and provides suggestions for future research directions.

The Impact of Live Streaming of Fresh Agricultural Products on Consumers' Purchase Intention-Consider the Regulatory Role of Policy Support

To understand the influence of fresh agricultural products online live on consumer purchase intention, based on SOR (Stimuli-Organism-Response) theory framework, with convenience, interactivity, anchor prestige, task fit as a stimulus variable, to customer participation as a psychological latent variable construction theory model, based on the questionnaire data, using the structural equation model of measurement model consistency, reliability, convergence validity and validity test, and explore the role of the latent variables, with path coefficient as an observation index analysis of the model results. The research results show that convenience, interactivity, anchor reputation and task fit have significant positive effects on customer participation, among which the biggest influence is convenience; in the process of convenience and interaction on customer participation, policy support plays a positive regulating role, in the process of anchor reputation and task fit on customer participation.

Mechanism of Quantified-Self Consciousness in Customer Participation Behavior: Based on Self Concept Theory

The era of big data has driven quantified-self activity to become a common mass-life practice, yet there is a necessity of research on how to navigate through this problem now that quantified-self activity often produces results that are contrary to the original intent and creates data anxiety. Therefore, understanding the psychological dimension of the quantified-self would give new perspectives on individual and organization oriented positive outcomes. This study proposed the concept of quantified-self consciousness (QSC) based on the psychological dimension and investigated how customers' QSC influences their participation behavior in online contexts. Utilizing self-concept theory, this study incorporate extroversion and tie strength as moderating variables to refine the framework from both individual and organization perspectives. The results informed that QSC positively influences customers' information, task, and personal interactive behavior and is mediated by the variable arousal. At the individual level, customers with extroversion were more inclined to join in participation behavior, whereas at organization level, tie strength in the online community only moderated the path of QSC acting on task interactive behavior. These findings provide positive implications for how customers should act in the face of quantitative information to alleviate the anxiety and aversion associated with information overload, and provides companies with concrete strategies for managing online marketing.

The effect of customer participation on brand preference: Do hotel brand type and star rating matter?

Drawing on value co-creation theory, this study proposes a novel model that incorporates the hotel brand type and star rating into the “customer participation—customer brand engagement—brand preference” model to explore their impacts on the formation of customer brand preferences. Data collected from 330 hotel patrons were analyzed to test the proposed model. The results suggest that customer participation positively affected three dimensions of brand engagement, viz., cognitive engagement, affective engagement, and behavioral engagement, which in turn positively influenced brand preference. Contrary to expectation, hotel brand type and star rating weakened the relationships between affective engagement and brand preference. This study enriches the discussion on the determinants of brand preference and describes its formation path. Implications, as well as future research opportunities, are offered.