Co-creation with customers and suppliers: an exploratory study

Abstract

Purpose Co-creation along the new product development (NPD) seems the winning approach in nowadays market. The purpose of this paper is to explore the collaboration and interaction flows between suppliers and customers in co-creation initiatives devoted to NPD. Design/methodology/approach After developing a classification of demand-side and supply-side involvement in co-creation along the NPD process, 13 cases of co-creation in the consumer goods industry, within the Italian context, have been analyzed. Findings Three patterns of co-creation have been identified: supplier-driven approach: companies co-creating with suppliers in multiple NPD phases, while involving customers only in one; customer-driven approach: companies involving customers in multiple phases, while engaging suppliers only in one and firm-driven approach: companies involving both customers and suppliers in one single phase. Further, the locus of relevant knowledge drives to different co-creation approaches. Research limitations/implications The work contributes to extant literature by: providing a classification of demand-side and supply-side involvement in NPD; empirically investigating the interaction flows between customers and suppliers in co-creation initiatives along the NPD; highlighting the factors potentially affecting a concurrent involvement of customers and suppliers in NPD. Practical implications The findings can help to efficiently and effectively design and manage the relation with both suppliers and customers in co-creation projects devoted to NPD. Originality/value The involvement of suppliers and customers in co-creation initiatives has been so far analyzed only separately in literature. This study opens a new stream of research, stressing how the evolution of the market, toward a more participative one, spurs the need to investigate the collaboration and interaction flows between the two actors.

Co-Creating Value in Sustainable and Alternative Food Networks: The Case of Community Supported Agriculture in New Zealand

“…A final point concerns the application of the framework of co-creation in CSA consumption patterns, which is innovative in comparison to traditional food industry practices [100,101], with their top-down perspective of the company to the consumers. In sharp contrast, the strength of the CSA format, as reported by consumers and producers in the present research, lies in the way that co-creation is expressed-as a full engagement of the actors in all the activities, so that the consumer can really understand what happens when choosing this food model and can feel deeply attached to it, investing a part of their identity as consumers.…”

Co-creation in new product development: Which drivers of consumer participation?

“…11 As a result, co-creation literature is burgeoning. Rich pieces of research have broadly discussed topics such as (i) the potential beneficial effects of co-creation for companies [12][13][14][15] ; (ii) cases of success in co-creation 6,16,17 ; (iii) managerial approaches and practices to run co-creation activities. 13,[18][19][20] Just recently, yet, literature has focused its attention on the consumer-level variables affecting co-creation processes.…”

Determinants of product innovation in food and agribusiness small and medium enterprises: evidence from enterprise survey data of India

“…Production innovation and new product development are a continuous phenomenon for food and agribusiness firms because it helps determine the competitiveness of the firms in current rapidly changing consumer markets (Busse and Siebert, 2018;Dhamvithee et al, 2005;Fouad et al, 2018;Martinez and Briz, 2000;Suwannaporn and Speece, 2000). In today's business environment, new product development and innovation are largely consumer-driven and market-driven, and most organizations prefer a co-creation process for developing new products by involving the customers and suppliers (Antikainen and Niemelä, 2014;Bettiga and Ciccullo, 2018;Filieri, 2013;Hoyer et al, 2010;Jaeger et al, 2003;Siro et al, 2008;Søndergaard, 2005).…”