Virtual Customer Environments: IT-Enabled Customer Co-innovation and Value Co-creation - Information Technology and Product Development - page 117

First, consider the outcomes related to CRM. Prior studies have shown that cus-
tomer involvement in production activities (customer co-production of products and
services) may lead to different types of psychological outcomes - for example, on
customer loyalty and on customer satisfaction (Bendapudi & Leone, 2003). These
findings can be extended to the VCE context too.
Customers may attribute their VCE experience (good or bad) directly to the com-
pany connected with that initiative. And, as such, this experience may shape their
perceptions about the company as well as the affiliated product or service (Nambisan
& Nambisan, 2008). In other words, customers who have a highly pragmatic expe-
rience in the VCE may feel that the related product is valuable or useful. Similarly,
a high degree of sociability experience in the VCE may lead the customer to con-
clude that the product (or service) embody similar social or community attribute
which they identify with. Thus, in general, it can be concluded that positive (nega-
tive) customer experiences lead to positive (negative) psychological outcomes with
significant implications for the company's CRM strategies and practices.
Importantly, it should also be noted that customers' experience may also shape
their product/service purchase intentions and decisions. Thus, beyond just attitudes
toward the company (or even the product/service), the experience in the VCE
may actually impact their future actions related to the product, with important
implications for product marketing.
The second set of outcomes relates to the innovation itself. It is likely that cus-
tomer participation in innovation activities may impact the three important outcomes
variables related to innovation - namely, innovation cost, time-to-market, and prod-
uct/service quality (or market effectiveness). For example, customers who perceive
positive interaction experience in the VCE may continue or even enhance their
level of participation or make more valuable contributions to the innovation process,
thereby affecting the cost, the time, and the quality of the innovation.
In addition to the above two sets of outcomes, managers will also need to care-
fully consider and manage the varied risks that the deployment of VCEs might
entail. While a VCE may accelerate the product-development process, it could also
lead to delays if the development process is not able to accommodate and manage
the additional process uncertainties. Similarly, inappropriate use of data gathered
from a VCE may lead to the development of a product based on the needs of a
highly vocal and visible set of online customers, but not necessarily representative of
the customer majority. Finally, inappropriate or excessive innovation process trans-
parency may be detrimental to the firm's market competitiveness as it may forewarn
competitors about new product developments. Hence, managers have to carefully
define the level of transparency and security needed in a VCE as well as the type of
customers they would like to share information with. Thus, all of these indicate the
potential for negative outcomes related to customer participation in innovation and
value creation in VCE and the need for companies to be aware of such outcomes
and manage the related risks.
Future studies should focus on empirically validating these and other potential
impacts of customer experience in VCEs in diverse industry and product/market
contexts. It is evident that the nature and degree of customer experience will vary