Making a face: Graphical illustrations of managerial stances toward customer creativity

• Published in: Australasian marketing journal Vol. 20; no. 1; pp. 9 - 15
• Main Authors: Campbell, Colin L., Berthon, Pierre R., Pitt, Leyland F., McCarthy, Ian, Plangger, Kirk
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Elsevier Ltd 01.02.2012; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: Business models; Consumer behavior; Consumers; Consumption; Creative customers; Creativity; Customers; Diagnostics; Experiments; Firm stance; Innovations; Marketing; Proprietary; Social networks; Strategic response; Studies; Technological change; User generated content; Strategic response; Firm stance; Diagnostics; Creative customers
• ISSN: 1441-3582; 1839-3349
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ausmj.2011.10.009

Creative consumers – consumers who adapt, modify or transform a proprietary offering – represent an intriguing paradox for business. On the one hand they can be a black hole for future revenue, with breach of copyright and intellectual property, while on the other hand they represent a gold mine of ideas and business opportunities. This problem is central to business – business needs to both create and capture value; the problem is that creative consumers demand a shift in the mindsets and business models of how firms both create and capture value. We develop a typology of firms’ stances to creative consumers based upon their attitude and action towards customer innovation. We then consider the implications of the stances model for corporate strategy, and examine a three-step approach to dealing with creative consumers, namely, awareness, analysis and response.