Influences of co-creation on brand experience The role of brand engagement

The purpose of this article is to study the influence of customer co-creation participation on customers' brand experience, brand satisfaction and brand loyalty. We apply a service logic approach in which co-creation participation refers to co-creation of customer value together with the brand, co-creation of new value with the brand and co-creation of value together with other customers within the context of the brand. The reasoning applied is that customers' co-creation with a brand - stimulating their engagement with the brand - influences brand experience, and through that, brand satisfaction and loyalty. A study among bank customers shows that co-creation participation positively influences sensory, affective, cognitive, behavioural and relational dimensions of a brand experience. However, influences of brand experience dimensions on satisfaction and loyalty are revealed to be complex as some of the dimensions influence satisfaction positively, while others have a negative influence. Furthermore, we show that the satisfaction and loyalty effects of co-creation participation are partially mediated by brand experience. Thus, there are both indirect and direct effects on satisfaction and loyalty from customers' co-creation participation. Implications point to the importance of carefully managing co-creation participation in order to gain competitive advantages. Companies should be careful about how brand experience is stimulated through co-creation because of the potential risk of negative effects on satisfaction and loyalty.