Empowering Consumers Online

Recent rapid developments in information and communication technology now allow firms to integrate consumers much more closely in the value creation process. Firms such as Dell and Nike allow their customers to tailor products to their own taste. Other firms such as Amazon rely heavily on consumer input like product ratings and reviews to provide in-depth information about the products that they sell. To be successful these new business models often use non-conventional marketing channels, and strongly rely on the Internet to interact with consumers.

In this research domain two key questions will guide our analyses: (1) How best to support individual consumers in terms of improving their decision-making and enhancing their consumption experiences, and (2) How to activate consumers to become value creators in the supply chain.

Related PhD Projects

Dimitris Tsekouras, Erasmus University Rotterdam, project: “Consumer Co-creation in the Supply Chain.”

Clemens Köhler, Maastricht University, project: “Consumer Costs and Benefits of Recommendation Agents,” jointly supervised with Ko de Ruyter and Els Breugelmans.

Marjolein van Harmsen-van Hout, Maastricht University, project: “Consumer Communication Networks,” jointly supervised with Jean-Jacques Herings.

Co-Authors Working on Related Topics

Stefan Stremersch, Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University, and Fuqua School of Business, Duke University

Gerald Häubl, School of Business, University of Alberta