Numerous terms have been used, often interchangeably, to describe the circumstances whereby consumers play a role in crafting the goods and services they ultimately consume. Chapter 1 answers the question “What is co-production?” by providing a review of the terminology relevant to this phenomenon. The perspectives of researchers hailing from a wide variety of disciplines are cited and summarized, providing a foundation for the three essays that follow.

Chapter 2 (Essay 1) demonstrates that increasing product customizability leads to heightened perceptions regarding both personal control and the variety offered by the configuration interface. More interestingly, however, the results demonstrate that these perceptions exert opposing influences on two distinct behavioral intentions. While perceived control is found to increase intentions to create an original product and decrease intentions to replicate a familiar product, the exact opposite is true for perceptions of variety which promote product replication and discourages creativity. Mediation tests reveal two instances of a relatively rare form of “inconsistent mediation” whereby a null effect of the initial variable is completely accounted for by the positive influence of one intervening variable and the negative influence of another. These finding highlight the complexity surrounding consumers’ response to co-production opportunities and may help resolve an apparent conflict in the literature between those who argue in favor of less vs. more choice.

In chapter 3, a second essay reports the results of three studies exploring the potential for customized products to induce placebo-like effects with regards to athletic, academic, and professional performance. For example, in study 3, when paired with information regarding the psychological effects of color, allowing students to customize the color of their exam resulted in significantly higher average scores (84% vs. 79%). All three studies point to increased confidence as the mechanism intervening between expectancies of customized products and individual performance. These findings contribute to the very limited amount of research regarding placebo effects in marketing contexts and also further our understanding regarding how these effects operate. Additionally, the results suggest that an important driver of demand for customized products might be anticipated increases in felt confidence.

The final essay of this dissertation, presented in chapter 4, examines the interaction between product performance and relational information processes in determining consumer commitment to the co-producing firm. The results demonstrate that, in terms of both affective and calculative commitment, relational information processes have the potential to completely counteract the effect of a negative outcome. Indeed, the results suggest that the greatest potential for building customer relationships may lie with individuals who have experienced a co-production failure. These findings highlight the need for firms to invest their resources in creating effective relational processes. This implication is especially relevant given research demonstrating that consumers may often co-produce products that perform worse than expected.