Boosting Customers’ Co-Creation in Open-Source Software Environments: The Role of Innovativeness and a Sense of Community

Abstract

The increasing need for continuous innovation has given rise to a substantial increase in co-creation initiatives. Since the co-creation of value involves customers participating in the creation of product offerings voluntarily and actively, this investigation tries to understand what drives customers to participate in these co-creation initiatives. To do so, this study employs a probabilistic sample of 683 users enrolled in Linux forums for open-source software distributions. The path analysis and bootstrap samples revealed that customers who exhibit a high innate innovativeness and feel that they belong in the online community show a greater motivation towards platform exploration and participation in co-creation. Moreover, the effect of this synergic interaction on their co-creation participation was partially mediated by the normative dimension of their intrinsic motivation, while the hedonic dimension was not a strong predictor of co-creation contributions. This study fills the voids in the existing literature by showcasing the relevance of personal characteristics, beyond individual motivation, in co-creation behavior.