The Customer as Co-Producer

The customer as co-producer
Solveig Wikström - School of Business, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

Introduction
A look at what is happening in the world of business today shows that the focus of business development is now gradually moving away from products and factories. Instead, interest is concentrated on the various processes taking place around the customer. This orientation is not new. Concepts such as “customer orientation”, “close to the customer”, “customer segmentation” and “niche marketing” are well-known and much tested, along with ideas about “direct marketing”, “database marketing” and so on. The common denominator in all these concepts is a greater focus on the customer. Another step forward is the conception of the customer as co-producer.
The phrase itself – the customer as co-producer – occurs increasingly often in the literature (Davidow and Malone, 1992; Grönroos, 1990; Gummesson, 1991; 1993; Pine, 1993; Toffler, 1980; 1983), and we have to ask ourselves whether this is simply a variation on earlier attempts to reach the customer, or whether a pattern of action is emerging that is different, involving real rethinking and even new thinking. The most important point, of course, is how much extra value is this procedure capable of producing, and how much commitment and action is required of both the parties involved. And naturally the question also arises: how wide is the range of this new business logic? Is it restricted to industrial markets with few buyers and sellers and a well-established interactive way of working, and to service markets where the customer by definition is part of the production process? Or could it be applied to consumer markets as well?
In this paper the focus is on the co-production logic applied to consumer markets, and relating this to the experience and knowledge gained from industrial markets.
If we want to identify the basic ingredients in this idea of the customer as co- producer, we should perhaps

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