5, The participating customers

(This series of posts is based on my literature review – ask me for sources in the comments.)

Much of the co-creation literature acknowledges extension and evolution of the customer’s role in the past decades. This went from simple consumer through partial employee to strategic resource.

But despite this central role, there is very little talk about segmenting customers from a co-creation perspective. Or motivating them to participate. Or managing them in the long term. Or compensating them for their efforts. Even where an HR perspective to customer engagement is explored, it is more from a “what customers can do for the company”, rather than a “what the company can do for customers” perspective.

There is ambiguity in terms of customers’ readiness for co-creation. Some claim that customers want to be involved, and communities develop on their own even without company’s “approval” or involvement. Others claim that customers themselves need guidance, and need to be actively attracted, inspired and supported to participate. But there is no guidance on how to proceed if these two extremes are present at the same time (which in my opinion is most often the case).

Customer’s heterogeneity is mentioned, but left largely unexplored – apart from the fact that engagement platforms should accommodate different levels of maturity, different levels of participation, and involvement in either specific situations, or the entire service process.