Co‐creation and co‐design in pop‐up stores: The intersection of marketing and design research?

Abstract

Co-creation as a concept and process has been prominent in both marketing and design research over the past ten years. Referring respectively to the active collaboration of firms with their stakeholders in value creation, or to the participation of design users in the design research process, there has arguably been little common discourse between these academic disciplines. This article seeks to redress this deficiency by connecting marketing and design research together-and particularly the concepts of co-creation and co-design-to advance theory and broaden the scope of applied research into the topic. It does this by elaborating the notion of the pop-up store as temporary place of consumer/user engagement, to build common ground for theory and experimentation in terms of allowing marketers insight into what is meaningful to consumers and in terms of facilitating co-design. The article describes two case studies, which outline how this can occur and concludes by proposing principles and an agenda for future marketing/design pop-up research.

Design and marketing: Intersections and challenges

“…Overdiek and Warnaby (2020) set out from the observation that although the concept of co‐creation is covered in both the marketing and the design literature, there is surprisingly little connection or overlap between the two streams. Whereas co‐creation in marketing refers to firms' active collaboration with their stakeholders in value creation, co‐creation in design refers to design users participating in the design (research) process.…”

“…Whereas co‐creation in marketing refers to firms' active collaboration with their stakeholders in value creation, co‐creation in design refers to design users participating in the design (research) process. Overdiek and Warnaby (2020) identify pop‐up stores as a context in which both phenomena occur. The consumer/user engagement observable in pop‐up stores gives marketers insight in what is meaningful to consumers and facilitates co‐design.…”

Enhancing brand experience in the online social media network context: a contingency perspective

“…Previous researches in online social media networks indicate co-creation and its ability to influence brand experience (Merrilees, 2016;Nysveen and Pedersen, 2014;Ramaswamy and Ozcan, 2016;Dean et al, 2016;Spena et al, 2012;Mingione et al, 2020;Overdiek and Warnaby, 2020;Nobre and Ferreira, 2017). Thus, influencing elements of the co-creation process, i.e.…”

Here today, gone tomorrow: Pop-up stores’ ephemerality and consumer behavior

“…Pop-ups are aesthetic and utilize special imagery to exude novelty (Robertson et al, 2018). Moreover, they are inviting and allow visitors to have extraordinary, customized interactions and experiences with the brand (Klein et al, 2016;Niehm et al, 2006) through elements such as innovative technologies and digital installations (Overdiek & Warnaby, 2020;Shi et al, 2019). Due to their unexpectedness (Robertson et al, 2018), they catch the attention of consumers and further surprise and excite them (Kim et al, 2010;Lowe, Maggioni, & Sands, 2017;Niehm et al, 2006;Robertson et al, 2018).…”

“…In pop-ups, sales representatives do not only inform customers about the products but may also exchange experiences with them (Kim et al, 2010), thus facilitating consumer engagement with the brand (Lowe et al, 2017;Picot-Coupey, 2014). This firm-customer interaction plays an important role in value co-creation (Overdiek & Warnaby, 2020). A model of extraordinary staff service quality is the Lidl pop-up store, where experts served visitors wine in a darkened room (Abernethy, 2019).…”