Analysis of perceived benefits and potential costs to users in co-creation

: examining users that opt out of co-creation

Abstract

Successful customer co-creation results in higher firm profitability and greater efficienc ies. Firms strategically increase customer co-creation activities to generate novel solutions that would otherwise go uncaptured. Despite the benefits of co-creation, the literature leaves the users’ attitude and profile unexplored and wholly overlooks possible cost to users in participation. This thesis aims to better understand the differences between users that opt in and out of co-creation by analyzing potential costs of participation (in terms of time, risk and effort) and analyzing the perceived benefits that influences and (de)motivates users to co-create. The perceived benefits tested include hedonic, utility and individualism benefits, and user perceptions of fairness in value distribution. Demographic variables were tested for profile building purposes. Independent-samples t-test and Chi-square tests were employed to compare and contrast users’ likelihood of participation and evaluate mean scores of each variable. Data was collected through an online questionnaire was administered to 231 participants. Results determined that the perceived benefits are statistically significant thus effect users’ likelihood of participation and that the higher the perceived cost in participation, the less likely a user is to participate. These findings hold implications for how firms should approach co-creation design and how they should structure marketing communications to increase participation rates.

Date of Award	19 Oct 2016
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Cláudia Isabel de Sousa Costa (Supervisor)