Converting IT-Enabled Customer Power into Relational Value of IT-Enabled Co-Creation

Information technology, especially social media, has fundamentally changed the way of firm-customer interactions and has shifted more power to customers. Although an increasing number of firms are aware of increased customer power and the importance of co-creation, how to convert customer power into value of co-creation is unclear. In order to fill this gap in the literature, drawing on social exchange theory, this research develops research hypotheses to examine the relationships among IT-enabled customer power, IT-enabled co-creation efforts, and relational value. A Web-based survey is then conducted in the context of the travel service. This research is expected to contribute to the literature by identifying two types of IT-enabled customer power (self-oriented power and other-oriented power) that drive the firm to engage in IT-enabled co-creation efforts and examining the impact of IT-enabled co-creation efforts on relational value. This research believes that the research results will help firms to understand how to integrate different types of IT-enabled customer power into IT-enabled co-creation process and further create relational value.