Who is co-creating?

: the importance of the co-creator in product preference

Abstract

Nowadays markets are much more competitive therefore companies are trying to find new sources of differentiation. Co-creation is a new trend in the business market being a simple method of engaging consumers in the new product development process. This thesis sets to explore the perceptions of consumers of co-created products. Also it will be tested if this perception changes regarding the co-creator. The influence of co-creators on consumer´s perceived product value was studied by measuring its quality, recommendation, willingness to pay and willingness to buy. This was accomplished through face-to-face and online questionnaires. The hypotheses were tested using a 4x1 between-subject experimental design in which the same questionnaire and product were applied however the respondents were randomly assigned to one of the four co-creators scenarios. Those co-creators were occasional users, professional users, external supplier and internal staff being the first two consumers and the last two company related. Results showed that respondents value the most the products co-created by users, being the occasional user the co-creator with the best impact on product perception. Exploring this topic is of most importance not only to companies when defining their strategy on new product development, but also regarding its communication to the market.

Date of Award	10 May 2016
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Cláudia Isabel de Sousa Costa (Supervisor)