Customers as Resource Integrators: Styles of Customer Co-creation

Research Paper Purpose Drawing from S-D logic this paper builds on the proposition of customers as resource integrators, identifying six styles of customer co-creation, and linking customer cocreation styles to outcomes. Design/methodology/approach A theoretical framework is proposed linking customer co-creation styles to outcomes. The research is based on twenty in-depth interviews and four focus groups of patients across a wide range of cancers, gender and length of treatment with oncology patients at two different clinics. Findings Six styles of co-creation are identified. They are “Team Manager”, “Isolate Controller”, “Partner”, “Spiritualist”, “Adaptive Realist” and “Passive Compliant”. Individuals who exhibit an “Adaptive Realist” style tend to demonstrate high quality of life, on psychological, existential and support dimensions. In contrast, the lowest quality of life was evidenced by those exhibiting “Passive Compliant” and “Isolate Controller” styles. Practicality Our findings provide insights into which customer co-creation styles offer greatest patient outcomes. Research limitations/implications The present research provides a starting point for further research on modelling the relationship between customer co-creation styles and outcomes. Originality/value This is the first study to operationalize co-creation, relating co-creation to coproduction, and demonstrating a direct relationship between co-creation activities, cocreation styles and outcomes. Furthermore, the research develops theory, building on S-D logic.