Co-creating value with consumers through social media

Purpose This study aims to develop a process model to facilitate enterprises’ co-creating value with consumers through social media. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on the concepts of internet-based co-creation and collective action theory, this study outlines a five-stage model (Interact-Engage-Propose-Act-Realize, IEPAR) of utilizing social media to co-create with consumers, enriches the model through in-depth interviews with industry experts and briefly illustrates how it can be applied in practice using a service firm case. Findings This study clarifies the co-creation process in the social media environment. For each of the process’s five stages, the objectives to be accomplished by the social media operator and the means to complete the objectives are illustrated. Research limitations/implications This study illustrated the proposed model with a representative service firm. Future study may refine the model by gathering additional data from real implementations to improve its effectiveness in practice. Practical implications This study suggests how an enterprise can construct a consumer co-creation platform from a managerial perspective. The proposed model can serve as a reference that enterprises can implement to increase customer value through co-creation using social media. Originality/value Enterprises have begun to notice the power of serving as a platform for co-creating value with consumers. However, it is seldom related to literature. The proposed model of the co-creation process in the social media environment can supplement past research.