The behavior of consumers and tourists has changed.
From the idea of only buying products, it shifted towards playing an active role in the consumption process. Consumers got more and more active and involved in the consumption of their own products and services.
How it was:
In the 90s, people have merely bought manufactured products and services.
… how it is now:
This changed into a growing pursuit of interactive consumption experiences. In the past decade, society has undergone a transformation towards the centricity of individuals and their human experiences in quest for personal growth.
The shift of society and industries:
Global competition, challenging markets and dynamic technologies led to a shift of society and industries. Businesses have recognised their opportunities. The central idea companies want to achieve is the consumer as the co-creator of his or her consumption experiences.
The result: a ‘prosumer society’
It originated a ‘prosumer society’, distinguished by consumers who are actively involved not only in the consumption, but also in the production of products, services and experiences.
- Co-creation,
- co-production
- crowdsourcing and
- open innovation
are just a few buzzwords we here often. These concepts all describe the integration of the customer as a key resource in consumer-oriented innovation processes.
The consumer now has multiple roles, as a participant of the crowd, co-producer of the products and services, and co-creator of value and experiences.
What was the trigger for such a change?
The possibilities for consumers and companies to engage and co-create in consumption process have been particularly driven by technology. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have transformed the role of consumers in product and service development, consumption and experience. The Internet and Web 2.0 platforms have become a catalyst of change that has not only impacted on the way businesses and consumers interact but has fundamentally transformed the way how and by whom tourism products, services and experiences are designed, created and consumed. Social media and networking tools have opened up many opportunities to engage consumers along the service value chain.
Consumers play the key role!
There is no difference any more. The role between companies and consumers has changed. Consumers use their new power and share their opinions, complain, negotiate, endorse, interact and co-create experiences. Consumers want to contribute with their own resources. They want to transform a simple service encounter into an experiential and valuable experience.
Consumers always come first …
The key to this process is the adoption of a co-creation philosophy. A philosophy that puts the consumer first.
The main chance for tourism businesses is to identify original, unique and innovative co-creation processes and initiatives that involve the consumer.
In this book chapter by Dr. Barbara Neuhofer 2016, she creates a bridge between #innovation, #co-creation and #technology. A classification of technology-facilitated co-creation processes in the context of tourism is developed and relevant implications for current tourism research and practice are drawn out.
Here is the full reference to cite this work:
Neuhofer, B. (2016) Innovation through co-creation: Towards an understanding of technology-facilitated co-creation processes in tourism. In: Egger, R., Gula, I., Walch, D. (eds.) Open Tourism: Open Innovation, Crowdsourcing and Collaborative Consumption challenging the tourism industry. Vienna, Springer, pp.17-33.
If you are interested download and read the article on:
Link to the publisher: Springer
Link to Reserach Gate/Academia: Research Gate and Academia
