Toward an understanding of meaning creation via the collective co‐production process

Abstract

Co-production has been traditionally studied in the context of industrial and service markets. This study investigates the consumer's search for meaning and fulfillment via one type of co-production, collective co-production. The case study method was utilized to examine knife making from kits. The findings unpack a three-part co-production process (design, production, and consumption) that results in significant identity ramifications for consumers. During the design stage of knife making, the informants shaped their self-concept through social inspiration, creative self-expression, and identification with the primal sense of self. The production stage provided internal validation of the self-concept through a pseudochallenge that was achieved through learning activities. The consumption stage provided external validation of the self-concept as the informants shared their co-production experience with others. Theoretical implications are discussed.

Collaborative consumption: determinants of satisfaction and the likelihood of using a sharing economy option again

“…The first component in the framework is the variable community belonging. Research has been emphasizing the emerging role of collective co-production (Peters et al, 2012) and community belonging (Närvänen et al 2013) on consumption behavior. Community memberships or the aspiration to be part of a group or community is argued to be one determinant of practicing sharing or collaborative consumption activities (Ostrom, 1990;Nelson and Rademacher, 2009;Galbreth et al, 2012).…”

Technology-Based Self-Service and Its Impact on Customer Productivity

“…Customers who had their productivity gained by TBSS would continue to participate as the co-producer of the service. The role of the customer as a coproducer in the service industry has been thoroughly discussed (e.g., Groth, 2005;Hsieh, Yen, & Chin, 2004;Peters, Bodkin, & Fitzgerald, 2012;Prahalad & Ramaswamy, 2004) the discussion regarding productivity from the customer's perspective is still in its rudimentary phase.…”

Substantiating Byzantium: The role of artifacts in the co‐construction of narratives

“…Its main contribution is to the evolving knowledge domain of servicesapes. Consumer participation in servicesapes through co-creation is well documented in marketing and consumption literature Sherry, 1998aSherry, , 1998bPeñaloza, 1999;Kozinets et al, 2004;Chronis et al, 2012;Peters et al, 2012;Tumbat and Belk, 2013). Narratives have been also acknowledged as an essential ingredient structuring consumption experiences.…”

“…These environments have been also seen as stages where consumers participate by playing roles and enacting their fantasies and dreams Kozinets et al, 2004). The notion of co-constructed marketplace experiences found ample research following in a variety of consumption studies including the coconstruction of tourism experiences (Chronis, 2005a;Chronis et al, 2012), the collective co-production of meaning in knife-making from kits (Peters et al, 2012), and the co-construction of mountaineering in performanscapes (Tumbat and Belk, 2013) among others.…”