Co­-creation still an innovative new product development approach?

: the impact of customer-company identification and age

Abstract

The co-creation concept was introduced at the beginning of the 21st century. Previous research stated the perceived innovation ability of co-creation in the 2010’s. Therefore, this paper examined whether this perception is still valid. Further, we are investigating the impact of customer-company identification on the perceived innovation of co-creation. Then we assess the effect of age on perceived innovation ability and customer-company identification, as well as if co-creation is still leading to favoured behavioural intentions. Our results showed that co-creation is perceived as innovative. Customer-company identification has a mediating effect on co¬creation and perceived innovation ability. Age had no effect on the innovation perception of co-creation and on the connection between customer company identification and perceived innovation ability. Due to the innovation perception, consumers still have a higher purchase intention, willingness to pay and willingness to recommend towards co-created products, compared to non-co-created products. Nevertheless, co-creation is still an effective innovation approach that companies should consider in their innovation strategy. Customer-company has a positive effect on co-creation. However, we recommend more investigation of age to gain a deeper understanding how this factors might impact the perception of co-creation.

Date of Award	24 Jan 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Cláudia Costa (Supervisor)