Co-creation in new product development: Which drivers of consumer participation?

The present study investigates co-creation in new product development by providing a conceptual background in the psychological factors favoring consumer participation in company processes. The work explores the consumers’ profiles willing to participate in co-creation, through the identification of their personality traits, key motivations, and barriers. Two product typologies are investigated, namely high-tech and high-touch products through survey research on a sample of Italian consumers. Results from structural equation modeling show that consumers’ personality traits affect the perceived motivations and barriers to co-create, in turn shaping their willingness to co-create. Furthermore, consumer willingness to co-create varies depending on the product typology. Under a managerial viewpoint, the research study provides practitioners with keys to design targeted co-creation activities, fitting with the specific product typology and audience, and to devise the most suitable participation incentives to offer.