Driving users' behaviours and engagement in co-creating services

Purpose

This paper investigates factors that determine users' behaviours during services co-creation, as well as those that influence their engagement in such efforts.

Design/methodology/approach

Study 1 relies on partial least squares structural equation modelling and between-subjects, scenario-based experiments with 633 participants to examine users' co-creation behaviours. Study 2 uses interactive research workshops with 38 design professionals to analyse the drivers and inhibitors of users' co-creation engagement and the likelihood of different user types to engage in it.

Findings

Dispositional and demographic factors can predict users' behaviours during services co-creation. A proposed framework details drivers and inhibitors of users' engagement in co-creation, and a typology predicts the likelihood of different users to engage in co-creation, based on their traits and demographics. This likelihood to co-create, according to traits, then can be predicted according to elemental, compound and situational traits.

Practical implications

Service providers and service designers can use these findings to design better co-creation activities for various users, build a conducive working environment and select suitable participants for co-creation activities.

Originality/value

The current study addresses the dearth of research pertaining to how to encourage users to co-create services and drive their engagement in such efforts.