Dominik Mahr

Uncovering Collaborative Value Creation Patterns and Establishing Corresponding Customer Roles

Research on value creation traditionally has focused on value created by the company, though customers increasingly serve as active partners, able to create value with firms in a collaborative manner. Despite interest by both scholars and managers, existing research has not yet clarified the interdependencies of service offerings and customer role patterns. This article explores value creation rooted in three generic offerings (configuration, solution, and network) and identifies differences in their prerequisites, customer activities, challenges, abilities, ability enhancers, and perceived benefits that arise in collaborative value creation (CVC). Data from 105 collaborations, collected through in-depth interviews, support the qualitative and quantitative analyses that reveal distinct patterns in customers’ value creation for each service offering. A categorical principal components analysis, combined with cluster analysis, identifies five customer roles: bargain-hunting independent, comprehensive help seeker, engaged problem solver, technology-savvy networker, and self-reliant customizer. Our theoretical contribution includes the identification of customer roles across generic offerings and empirical evidence that customers perform multiple roles when engaging in CVC processes. Our findings provide managers engaged in CVC with recommendations on criteria for segmenting customer groups, on the role of the service provider in various value creation processes, and on tailored communication strategies to attract customers.

Coordinating online health communities for cognitive and affective value creation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework investigating patterns of online health communities. In particular, the study draws on coordination theory to identify four community configurations. Their distinct features determine communities’ capacity to internalize and externalize knowledge, which ultimately determines their value creation in a service context. Design/methodology/approach – The authors apply qualitative and quantitative techniques to detect similarities and differences in a sample of 50 online health communities. A categorical principal component analysis combined with cluster analysis reveals four distinct community configurations. Findings – The analysis reveals differences in the degrees of cognitive and affective value creation, the types of community activities, the involved patients, professionals, and other stakeholders; and the levels of data disclosure by community members. Four community configurations emerge: basic information provider, advanced patient knowled...

“Too Close for Comfort”: The Negative Effects of Location-Based Advertising

The expanding presence of mobile devices offers marketers a new advertising channel for reaching consumers. Whereas both real-world practice and academia hail the advantages of personalizing advertising messages with location information, this research probes its negative effects. An exploratory field study that places ads on a social network reveals a sharp drop in advertising effectiveness when an online ad includes location information. To explain these results, a subsequent experimental study demonstrates how location-based personalization can trigger feelings of vulnerability, which hamper online advertising effectiveness.

Making omnichannel an augmented reality: the current and future state of the art

Purpose This paper aims to explore the current and future roles of augmented reality (AR) as an enabler of omnichannel experiences across the customer journey. To advance the conceptual understanding and managerial exploitation of AR, the paper aims to synthesise current research, illustrating how a variety of current applications merge online and offline experiences, and provides a future research agenda to help advance the state of the art in AR. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on situated cognition theorising as a guiding framework, the paper reviews previously published research and currently deployed applications to provide a roadmap for future research efforts on AR-enabled omnichannel experiences across the customer journey. Findings AR offers myriad opportunities to provide customers with a seamless omnichannel journey, smoothing current obstacles, through a unique combination of embedded, embodied and extended customer experiences. These three principles constitute the overarching value drivers of AR and offer coherent, theory-driven organising principles for managers and researchers alike. Originality/value Current research has yet to provide a relevant, conceptually robust understanding of AR-enabled customer experiences. In light of the rapid development and widespread deployment of the technology, this paper provides an urgently needed framework for guiding the development of AR in an omnichannel context.

The Effect of Review Writing on Learning Engagement in Channel Partner Relationship Management

To develop the knowledge and skill sets of channel partner firms, manufacturers increasingly introduce learning programs as part of their relationship management strategies. However, the engagement of channel partners in these programs tends to be low. The current research, conducted in collaboration with a Fortune 100 information technology company, examines ways to strengthen learning engagement. In accordance with self-regulated learning theory, the authors propose and demonstrate that when channel partners write reviews of a learning module that they attended, beyond providing ratings, they are better able to reflect on the relevance of their learning experience and are further engaged in learning activities. The audience and focus of these written reviews determine the engagement of the channel partner sales personnel; therefore, review writing is a valuable, informal mechanism to motivate them. These effects are moderated by characteristics of both the channel partner (salespersons learning orientation and identification with the manufacturer) and the relationship with the manufacturer (length and exclusivity).

“Does it Pay off to Introduce my Partner?” The Role of Stakeholder Cocreation in Consumers’ Willingness to Pay

Firms cocreate new products and services by interacting with multiple types of external stakeholders (Chesbrough, Vanhaverbeke, & West, 2008; Hoyer, Chandy, Dorotic, Krafft, & Singh, 2010; Mahr & Lievens, 2012). For example, Nivea’s Black and White was developed by tapping into consumers’ ideas about the most important features of a deodorant. Yet rather than using traditional market research, Nivea relied on input from consumers, through online communities, during the development process. Research has examined the cocreation phenomenon from a firm perspective quite extensively (Mahr, Lievens, & Blazevic, 2013; Nambisan & Baron, 2009; Payne, Storbacka, & Frow, 2008). However, research that examines whether cocreation with external stakeholders during the innovation process influences consumer attitudes and behavior remains scant (Fuchs, Prandelli, Schreier, & Dahl, 2013; Schreier, Fuchs, & Dahl, 2012; Troye & Supphellen, 2012).Yet, such insight could help managers make decisions on whether and how to communicate about the firm’s cocreation activities.