Per Kristensson

Key strategies for the successful involvement of customers in the co‐creation of new technology‐based services

Purpose – The aim is to propose a conceptual framework consisting of research propositions concerning the key strategies required for the successful involvement of customers in the co‐creation of new technology‐based services.Design/methodology/approach – The methodology involves a single case study from which data are derived and analyzed using the grounded theory methodology of “constant comparative analysis.” User‐generated ideas for future mobile phone services are collected from four user involvement projects and analyzed at several workshops attended by senior managers from telecommunications firms.Findings – Seven key strategies are identified as being essential for successful user involvement in new product development. Each strategy is described and illustrated in relation to existing theory and presented as a research proposition.Research limitations/implications – The exploratory nature of the research means that the findings are tentative and need to be confirmed in other settings by other res...

Managing User Involvement in Service Innovation: Experiments with Innovating End Users

Although user involvement is frequently practiced in companies, the research findings regarding its benefits for innovation are contradictory. This article experimentally assesses the contributions made by users in comparison with professional service developers and examines how the implementation of user involvement affects the outcome. During periods of 12 days, three different groups were assigned the task of generating ideas for end user telecom services. One group consisted of professional de signers, whereas the other two consisted of ordinary users. The users in one of the groups coped with idea creation by themselves, whereas the other group consulted a service design expert at two controlled meetings who provided feedback regarding technical feasibility. Involving users makes the ideas more original, holding a higher perceived user value, but the users’ideas are less producible on aver-age. The outcome was also affected by how user involvement was implemented. Scholarly and managerial implications conclude the article.

Value in use through service experience

Purpose – The aim of this article is to propose a framework for a new perspective on the total service experience, which dimensions influence it, and how a service experience is linked to value in use.Design/methodology/approach – The article is conceptual and suggests a new theoretical frame of reference describing value in use through service experience in technology‐based services.Findings – According to this article, a service experience is the total functional and emotional value of a consumed service. The service experience is unique to every individual customer and the service consumption situation. Value in use is the cognitive evaluation of the service experience.Research limitations/implications – The framework is discussed in the context of technology‐based services and will provide a basis for future research. Empirical studies are called for concerning service experiences in different kinds of service contexts.Originality/value – This article contributes a new framework, illustrating the serv...

Idea Generation Customer Co-creation versus Traditional Market Research Techniques

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to understand the differences between proactive and reactive market research techniques during the development of new market offerings. The study focused on the financial and innovative performance of traditional market research techniques, such as focus groups and in-depth interviews, in comparison to more co-creation-oriented techniques that are designed to capture customers value-in-use. Design/methodology/approach - The study was a two-stage process. Study I, an empirical investigation of 195 development projects in European companies, examined how these companies use different market research techniques and how this relates to the profit margins of new products and services. Study II designed an experiment with 50 users of a consumer good and evaluated the contribution of different market research techniques, based on the degree of originality and customer value. Findings - Significant differences were found, in terms of both content and originality, between the technique based on customer co-creation and the two traditional market research techniques (Study II). These findings can help to explain why the relationship between the use of market research techniques and profit margin (Study I) is stronger for co-creation techniques than it is for traditional market research techniques. Originality/value - Despite empirical evidence that the application of market research techniques based on co-creation can lead to original ideas, there is a lack of valid studies regarding how co-creation techniques perform in relation to more traditional methods of collaboration with customers.

Customer co-creation in service innovation : a matter of communication?

Purpose - Customer co-creation is becoming increasingly popular among companies, and intensive communication with customers is generally seen as a determinant of the success of a new service or pro ...

Developing successful technology‐based services: the issue of identifying and involving innovative users

Purpose– The aim of this paper is to explore the identification of innovative customers and the effectiveness of employing such customers to generate new service ideas in a technology-based service setting.Design/methodology/approach– The first study reported here employs the “technology readiness” (TR) construct and involves telephone surveys with randomly selected Swedish consumers. The second involves a field experiment.Findings– Findings from Study I suggest that the TR is a useful tool for identifying users who exhibit both innovative attitudes and behaviors. The results from Study II show that users with a high TR are highly creative as reflected by the quantity and quality of new service ideas.Research limitations/implications– The sample size for Study II was relatively small and making empirical generalizations with confidence should await results from studies involving larger samples. However, in sum the research demonstrates that TR appears to be an effective tool for identifying innovative customers who would be both willing to participate in new service development and capable of generating creative ideas.Originality/value– Service businesses interested in using customers to help generate new ideas could benefit from this research.

Users as a hidden resource for creativity. Findings from an experimental study on user involvement

Users as a hidden resource for creativity : Findings from an experimental study of user involvement

Service Innovation and Customer Co-development

Customer co-development is a core concept to understand service innovation . Our point of departure is that there is an untapped business potential from customer co-development, i.e. integration of customers, throughout the service innovation process. From a service logic perspective, the customer has an important role both in service production and service innovation. Most of the focus thus far has been on the role of the customer in production. We argue that there should be a relationship between the role of the customer in service production and the potential role of the customer in service innovation. When there is a change in the process of service production it ought to be followed by a change in the service innovation process. Customers can be integrated as interpreters and translators during various phases of the service innovation process. Companies must be able to understand and manage various customer roles as they complement one another; close and in-depth integration of customers throughout the innovation process is important but at the same time also challenging.

Linking service design to value creation and service research

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework for understanding service design and how service design relates to central concepts within service marketing. Design/methodology/approa ...

The Creative Product and the Creative Processes in Virtual Environments

The effects of information technology on the creative performance in groups and individuals were examined. An experimental 3 2 design was used in order to assess the effects of computer-mediated and face-to-face interaction on creative performance. Forty-eight groups, divided into individuals or small three-person groups, worked on a heuristic task during three sessions. Creativity was operationalized in terms of the creative product and the creative process. The results regarding the creative product indicated that small groups had a higher flexibility than individuals. The small groups also proved to have significantly more incubations. Regarding the creative process, the face-to-face group showed a better flow, and this was especially valid in respect of the preparation phase. This study suggests that, providing there is a fully understood and well-prepared problem, attained or strengthened through face-to-face interaction; GCSS may serve as an important arena for exchanging and developing ideas.