Co-creation: Customer Integration in Social Media Based Product and Service Development

Due to the rising level of global competition as well as a fast-growing number of innovations organizations are nowadays forced to find new ways to attract, gain and sustain loyal customers in order to stay competitive. Co-creation, the active involvement of customers in the process of new product and service development, has been identified as a reliable source of competitive advantage; however for most companies it still represents a challenge to find customers that are willing to openly cooperate and share their ideas and knowledge. This paper examines four different types of benefits derived from the Uses and Gratification approach motivating customers to participate in online co-creation activities. A pilot questionnaire and its practical applicability are being tested, confirming that customers’ participation is in fact stimulated by the four identified types of benefits and indicating that co-creators differ in their motivational levels. Finally, some recommendations on how to adapt the questionnaire for future research are given