Engaging Customers in Coproduction Processes: How Value-Enhancing and Intensity-Reducing Communication Strategies Mitigate the Negative Effects of Coproduction Intensity

Abstract

Co-production offerings, in which customers engage in the production of goods and services, are ubiquitous in everyday life (e.g., ready-to-assemble products, self-service technologies).However, while previous research has predominately identified beneficial aspects of coproduction in contrast to traditional firm production, the pivotal role of co-production intensity within co-production processes has largely been neglected. Furthermore, little is known about strategies that firms can employ to positively influence customers' perceptions of co-production processes. Drawing on a large field experiment with 803 customers engaging in actual coproduction processes, the current study makes a first attempt to address these research voids.Results show that co-production intensity negatively affects customers' satisfaction with the coproduction process. Further, the study offers first insights into how firms can mitigate these negative effects by employing corporate communication strategies that either emphasize specific co-production value propositions (value-enhancing communication strategies) or highlight additional co-production service supplements (intensity-reducing communication strategies). The findings of the study offer important theoretical and managerial implications.

The consumer production journey: marketing to consumers as co-producers in the sharing economy

“…Therefore, a second potential strategic marketing resource for firms in consumer co-production networks is their ability to activate and engage consumers in the value creation process (Atakan et al 2014;Haumann et al 2015;Ranjan and Read 2016). Such consumer activation is especially important for firms in markets with highly heterogeneous and fluid consumer needs, where consumers could quickly change their preferences over time and across contexts and easily switch between firms.…”

When Do Customers Get What They Expect? Understanding the Ambivalent Effects of Customers’ Service Expectations on Satisfaction

“…In research on service design, co-creation of service innovations of customer and service providers assumes an increasingly prominent role (Haumann et al 2015). When inspecting service co-creation in the light of our findings on customers' expectations, interesting insights for this literature stream emerge: while naturally service co-creation should raise customers' expectations towards the service performance, simultaneously, co-creation increases customers' involvement with the service as well as their ability and motivation to evaluate the service, countering a placebo effect.…”

Does communicating the customer’s resource integrating role improve or diminish value proposition effectiveness?

“…More specifically, expected effort negatively affects customers' attitude toward the service, because expected effort involves mental or physical costs, and thus poses the negative or cost side of the value trade-off (Woodruff and Gardial, 1996). Customers generally view effort as a cost factor that should be minimized when obtaining and using a product or service (Haumann et al, 2015). Expected benefits, on the other hand, are the positive side of the value trade-off (Woodruff and Gardial, 1996) and are thus positively related to customer preferences (Haumann et al, 2015).…”

“…Customers generally view effort as a cost factor that should be minimized when obtaining and using a product or service (Haumann et al, 2015). Expected benefits, on the other hand, are the positive side of the value trade-off (Woodruff and Gardial, 1996) and are thus positively related to customer preferences (Haumann et al, 2015). This leads to the following hypotheses:…”