Co-Creation Models

2.1.3 Co-Creation Models

Since co-creation is an emerging concept and create value both to firm and

stakeholder, several co-creation models are generated by scholars. Prahalad &

Ramaswamy (2004) present four building blocks of co-creation named DART (Figure

2.4 & Table 2.3). DART are dialogue, access, risk assessment and transparency. Each

building block is essential to be considered in the process of value co-creation and with

combination of four building blocks in different way, they can create different new and

important capabilities to the firm. Prahalad & Ramaswamy (2004) pinpointed the most

challenging issue is the point of interaction between consumer and firm, that is where

the co-creation experience occurs and where value is co-created. Interaction provides

the opportunities for collaboration and negotiation, explicit or implicit, between them.

which focuses issue that both the consumer and firms interested. Also, firm should

ensure the availability of information and tool for consumer to access both sides

knowledge such as websites. Consumer can experience value not only by ownership of

the service or product but the accessibility to experience at multiple points of interaction

with firm and while firm can broadens their business opportunities. Risk-return stands

for risk assessment that firms should make use of active dialogue on the risks and

benefits involved in using products and services to create a new level of trust between

them. Consumers would demand more information about potential risks of goods and

services when they become co-creators of value and bear their responsibility. Firm

should enhance the transparency in co-creation between consumer and firm keep

information about products, technologies, and business systems open. This would

enable both firm and consumer able to extract the values they want and create the trust

between them.

Figure 2. 4 Co-creating Value through Experiences (Prahalad & Ramaswamy, 2008)

Table 2. 3 The DART Model (Prahalad & Ramaswamy, 2008)

DIALOGUE ACCESS

Dialogue means interactivity, deep engagement, and a propensity to act-on both sides. Dialogue creates and maintains a loyal community.

Access begins with information and tools. Access can also involve

on-demand resources such as computing.

Access can also transform the capacity for self-expression.

TRANSPARENCY RISK-RETURN

Firms should no longer assume opaqueness of prices, costs, and profit margins. Information about products, technologies, and business systems becomes more accessible, creating new levels of transparency becomes

Risk Assessment refers to evaluate the probability of harm to the consumer. The move to co-creation intensifies the risk and the trade-off between risks and benefits.

New locus of value creation Co-Creative

Based on the DART model concept, Ramaswamy (2009) further expand his studies

on co-creation with another scholar, Gouillart, who is the founder of the Experience

Co-Creation Partnership. In 2009, they create a co-creation diamond model to

demonstrate how to adopt co-creation in the firm and how the firm can expand

conventional value creation by co-creation. According to Ramaswamy(2009), the

co-creation diamond model involves four dimensions as shown in Figure 2.5. It

classifies firm have to adopt co-creation practice by considering on four dimensions,

global network and communities of individual (Who), human experience environments

(Why), interaction anywhere in the system (Where) and engagement platform (How).

By successfully put the four dimension of co-creation into practice, firm can receive the

new expanded “WHAT” with transformed products and services, firm and its activities,

business and management processes, firm and its employees and leverage the new value

from all of them. The co-creation diamond model further broadens the understanding on

how conventional firms adopt co-creation to expand their value creation.

Figure 2. 5 Co-Creation as Expanding Conventional Value Creation (Ramaswamy & Gouillart, 2010)

This model further modified by same authors in 2010, establishing the core four

principles of co-creation. The four core principles are network relationships, experience

mind-set, context of interactions and engagement platforms as shown in Figure 2.6

(Ramaswamy & Gouillart, 2010).

Human Experience Environments

Figure 2.6 The Core Principle of Co-Creation (Ramaswamy & Gouillart, 2010)

With emerging technology development in today’s virtual business environment,

Fuller (2010) develop a virtual co-creation framework from a consumer perspective to

view co-creation from the eye of consumer. The basis of the framework was drawn from

the social exchange theory from Anderson et al in examining the reason why consumer

wants to exchange and collaborate with firm. It integrates five dimensions about what

consumer would consider in virtual co-creation. The five dimensions are content/task

(What), process/tools (How), partner (With Whom), motives (Why) and personal

characteristics (Who) (Figure 2.7). The framework is similar as Ramaswamy (2009)

Individuals

Lower Risks & Costs for Enterprises 

Lower Risks & Costs for Enterprises 

co-creation diamond model. The main difference of this model is viewed from

consumer perspective while co-creation diamond model is viewed from firm perspective.

The study also divides consumer personal characteristics into four groups: curiosity,

intrinsic, need and reward to examine their motives to co-create.

4) Motives: Why?

-Curiosity

-Dissatisfaction with existing products

-Intrinsic interest in innovation -To gain knowledge

-To show ideas

-To get monetary rewards

5) Personal Characteristics:

3) Partner: With whom?

-Interaction with other

To summarize past studies on co-creation, the concept of co-creation is still

emerging and the definition is still modifying to make it clearer by scholars. Generally,

the definition of co-creation made by Ramaswamy & Gouillart (2010) can be referred to

involve both a profound democratization and decentralization of value creation, moving

it from concentration inside the firm to interactions with its consumers, consumer

communities, suppliers, partners, and employees, and interactions among individuals

and firms can require it to develop new capabilities.

Past literatures also emphasizes on different constructs on stakeholder (Kambil &

Friesen, 1999; Prahalad & Ramaswamy, 2000; Bettencourt & Ostrom, 2002; Prahalad &

Ramaswamy, 2004;  Etgar, 2008; Fuller, 2010; Ramaswamy & Gouillart, 2010),

process/tools (Thomke & Hippel, 2002; Fuller, 2010; Ramaswamy & Gouillart, 2010),

task and content (Kambil & Friesen, 1999; Prahalad & Ramaswamy, 2000; Nambisan,

2002; Bettencourt & Ostrom, 2002; Prahalad & Ramaswamy, 2004; Etgar, 2008; Fuller,

2010; Ramaswamy & Gouillart, 2010), co-creation experience (Prahalad &

Ramaswamy, 2000; Nambisan, 2002; Prahalad & Ramaswamy, 2004; Ramaswamy &

Gouillart, 2010), firm’s motivation(Kambil, & Friesen, 1999; Prahalad & Ramaswamy,

2000; Thomke & Hippel, 2002; Prahalad & Ramaswamy, 2004;, Ramaswamy &

Gouillart, 2010, Fuller, 2010), and firm’s risk and cost (Kambil, & Friesen, 1999;

Prahalad & Ramaswamy, 2000; Thomke & Hippel, 2002; Prahalad & Ramaswamy,

2004; Etgar, 2007, Ramaswamy & Gouillart, 2010).

Table 2. 4 Main Constructs of Past Studies of Co-creation