Abstract

Development of new products or services was originally under exclusive control of product or service suppliers. With maturation of consumers, first in the industrial sector but today also in the consumer goods sector, the situation has changed. Many new ideas for product improvement or even completely new products come from their users who possess extensive product knowledge or expertise in a specific area. Companies are increasingly trying to actively tap this potential in a process called open innovation.

Companies’ efforts to integrate (potential) customers into the product development can best be observed on the internet. On a number of websites special tools are implemented which capture users input related to early or later phases of product development. In other cases, companies initiate or support virtual communities organized around a theme that relates to their offerings. For these reasons, an online survey of internet users with respect to their experiences and attitudes towards co-creation was conducted. The results show that there is a big, still untapped potential for involvement of users in co-creation.

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