2 . Theoretical Framework 2 . 1 . Customer role in value creation

Abstract

Understanding the value creation phenomenon has become a key success factor for firms to compete in the marketplace at the moment. In this sense, there is a current debate about the role of the customer in value configuration, as it seems that consumers’ behaviour is changing from a passive status to a more proactive attitude. Several academics are supporting the customer participation in value creation as a new source of competence, and a mean to generate greater customer involvement and also meaningful relationships with the firm (Firat & Venkatesh, 1993; Prahalad & Ramaswamy, 2004; Vargo & Lusch, 2004; Vargo & Lusch, 2008; Vargo, Maglio & Akaka, 2008). These perspectives, which stem from the consideration of value as experientially determined (Higgins & Scholer, 2009; Hirschman & Holbrook, 1982; Holbrook, 1994), are especially relevant in the online environment, where there is no physical presence, so other tools are needed to promote customer involvement in value creation through participation. In this sense, personalization and interactivity have been considered as key variables to mitigate the disadvantage of no physical presence in the online environment. These variables are also reckoned to have influence on value generation (Edvardsson, Tronvoll & Gruber, 2010; O’Hern & Rindfleisch, 2010; Yoo, Lee & Park, 2010). An emerging concept related to online environments and the social web is the concept of engagement. This concept has been adopted for practitioners and it is believed to deliver competitive advantage and creation of “loyalty beyond reason” (Roberts, 2005). Current academic research has conceptualized engagement as “a cognitive and affective commitment to an active relationship with the brand as personified by the website of other computer-mediated entities designed to communicate brand value” (Mollen & Wilson, 2009). Engagement has been related to value creation processes, being established a positive relationship between them (Higgins, 2006; Higgins & Scholer, 2009; Scholer & Higgins, 2009). This new focus in engagement related to experiential states is still underdeveloped in the academic literature. The present paper aims to offer first insights about how the customer’s role in value creation during the online purchase experience affects customer intentions to participate in value configuration and the development of engagement with the firm. Building on Holbrook’s theory of consumption values, we propose that personalization as an intrinsic source of value and interactivity as an extrinsic source, are key dimensions to determine customer value creation in online environments. Furthermore, we study how the purchase experience prompted by personalization and interactivity influences in future participation intentions and also, to generate deeper customer engagement with the brand and the firm.