Engaging Customers : How e-commerce companies can use customer involvement to create a superior online shopping experience

Topic: Co-creation of experience Research gap: The number of papers focusing on customer involvement and customer experience has increased significantly in recent years. However, there is a lack of studies on how companies can use customer involvement for creating a better customer experience jointly with customers, which Prahalad & Ramaswamy (2000, 2003, 2004) refer to as the co-creation of experience. Purpose: By this paper we want to develop an understanding of how e-commerce companies can use customer involvement to create a superior online shopping experience. Theoretical basis of our paper: Customer involvement (e.g. von Hippel); experience co-creation (Prahalad & Ramaswamy) Methodology: We conducted in-depth interviews with nine Swedish, Norwegian and Chinese e-commerce companies from different industries to collect data on how they use customer involvement and/or co-creation. The interviews were semi-structured interviews which consisted mostly of open-ended questions. In order to be able to identify patterns and learn about the nature of how companies involve customers, a qualitative multi-case study design was used. Findings: The main findings are that some e-commerce companies have already realized the importance of the customer experience and also already involve their customers in various forms for co-creating experience. However, none of the companies completely fulfils the criteria of experience co-creation as defined in the theoretical articles by Prahalad & Ramaswamy (2000, 2003, 2004). Practical implications: E-commerce companies have many options to provide a better online shopping experience by involving customers as co-creators. Research limitations: Due to the sample size and the fact that a convenience sample was chosen, the results cannot be generalized. Originality/value: This study can provide insights into opportunities for the co-creation of experience in the case of e-commerce companies. Keywords: Customer involvement, Experience co-creation, Experience, E-commerce, Innovation community