ABSTRACT
Contemporary markets are increasingly interconnected, with actors no longer seen as part of linear value chains, but existing in networks of service systems where interaction, collaboration and experience sharing take place (Jaakkola, Helkkula and Aarikka-Stenroos, 2015; Lusch and Vargo, 2014; Chen, Drennan and Andrews, 2012). In such markets, traditional boundaries between the roles of ‘customer’ and ‘provider’ are losing clarity, highlighted by the emergence of concepts such as prosumers and post-consumers (Carù and Cova, 2015; Cova and Dalli, 2009). Customers are not satisfied with the limited role of a buyer, receiver and user of a firm’s offering at the end of the value chain, but proactively engage in crafting the offering according to their personal needs and wants, and seek to also engage other stakeholders (such as other consumers, communities, firms or government organisations) in the service system to contribute their resources towards common aims (Jaakkola and Alexander, 2014). Examples include customers rating products and services in various online marketplaces, co-creating experiences in brand communities, co-designing and innovating products and services, and arranging boycotts against firms and products perceived as doing harm (e.g. Carù and Cova, 2015; Fournier and Avery, 2011; Füller, 2010; Libai et al., 2010). To capture the various customer activities and behaviours beyond the traditional role of a buyer and user that affect the firm, an overarching concept customer engagement (CE) has been introduced (Brodie, Hollebeek, Jurić, and Ilić, 2011; Van Doorn et al., 2010).
