Customer creativity and willingness to contribute to co-creative innovation in online communities

The benefits of co-creating with customers for innovation are widely acknowledged within service marketing and innovation literature (e.g. Trischler et. al., 2017; Gustafsson et al., 2012 and Chan et al., 2010). However, as more organizations utilise customer resources in the co-creation of innovation, there is competitive pressure to enable customers to perform better as creative agents. Yet, little is known about how to activate and leverage customer creativity · to enhance the co-creation of innovation, particularly within online communities. Research recognises the complexities regarding co-creation with customers for the purpose of innovation (e.g. Gemser and Perks, 2015; Mahr et al., 2014; Trischler et al., 2017). These complexities are apparent, as managers must manage for the individual, socio-cultural and environmental factors that facilitate meaningful new ideas through individual and collective creativity within online communities (Amabile and Conti, 1997).Therefore, activating the link between customer creativity and co-creation for innovation requires a deeper understanding of the conditions that drive such pursuits.