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Trying to prosume: toward a theory of consumers as co-creators of value

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Abstract

One important aspect in the service-dominant logic in marketing is the role of customers as co-creators of value. This role typically involves producing products for own consumption, i.e. what Toffler referred to as “prosumption.” This study explores the motivational mechanisms underlying people’s prosumption propensity. A theoretical framework that incorporates ideas from value research and attitude theory, specifically the “theory of trying” (Bagozzi and Warshaw in Journal of Consumer Research 17:127–140, 1990), is developed and tested in the empirical context of food prosumption. The results based on a survey of 380 households show that global values influence domain-specific values in food prosumption, and domain-specific values then affect attitudes, self-efficacy, and on-going behavior before ultimately shaping intentions to engage in prosumption in the future.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stord/Haugesund University College, Bjørnsonsgate 45, 5528, Haugesund, Norway

    Chunyan Xie

  2. Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, 701 Tappan St., Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-1234, USA

    Richard P. Bagozzi

  3. Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration, Breiviksveien 40, 5045, Bergen, Norway

    Sigurd V. Troye

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  1. Chunyan Xie
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Xie, C., Bagozzi, R.P. & Troye, S.V. Trying to prosume: toward a theory of consumers as co-creators of value. J. of the Acad. Mark. Sci. 36, 109–122 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-007-0060-2

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