Despite the growing enthusiasm about social media’s revolutionary potential, there is a lack of research on the possible business-side benefits. The authors maintain that in order to realize social media’s business potential, it is essential to identify the roles in which customers can participate in value co-creation. This study explores consumer participation enabled by social interaction technologies in the context of the newspaper and magazine industry. A qualitative analysis of 31 interviews with the publishers of the leading Finnish newspapers and magazines was conducted. A typology of six different roles of online consumer participation was developed: namely, agent, commentator, tester, debater, content producer, and messenger. The more company-driven types of participation (agent, commentator, and tester) can be integrated with product development support and learning from customers, the more consumer-driven types (debater, content producer, and messenger) are able to provide brand support and options for value co-creation.
Lifecycle Management
