The consumer production journey: marketing to consumers as co-producers in the sharing economy

New digital technologies not only support consumers in better fulfilling their own consumption needs but also enable them to create greater value for other consumers. These new consumer co-production activities, collectively referred to as the sharing economy, require firms to rethink their role in the marketing value creation process. Firms need to define new marketing actions that create value for consumers who are also co-producers. To address this challenge, we propose a two-layered conceptual framework of consumer co-production networks and the individual consumer production journeys therein. These concepts expand the traditional production model and consumer journey, respectively, explicitly taking into account consumer co-production activities. Within the framework, we draw on household production theory combined with insights from institutional design theory and consumer behavior research to analyze how marketing can support consumers’ co-production activities. We discuss the managerial and consumer welfare implications of our analysis and outline new opportunities for further research.