Enabling co-creation of e-services through virtual worlds

The recent penetration of the internet has provided a fertile ground for the rapid rise of e-services, and as a result, the e-services market is by its nature global and highly competitive. One of the keys to success is to anticipate and fulfil user needs through the constant development of new offerings. However, innovation is complex and characterized by a high failure rate - especially when customers have a diverse set of needs due to their being spread across the globe. Both theory and practice therefore recommend collaborating with users during the innovation process to overcome this challenge. Of interest is that recent developments within virtual worlds or the immersive internet offer unprecedented opportunities for firms to tap into the innovative potential of consumers and consumer communities for new service creation. Inspired by these opportunities and drawing upon theories of co-creation, our aim is to shed light on the opportunities and challenges that virtual worlds offer to support co-creation processes for e-services innovation. Using a design research approach, we developed a user-driven service innovation workshop within the virtual world of Second Life. We collaborated with the e-tourism start up called Travel for change, which develops an international web community for volunteer travellers who aim make a positive impact on underprivileged communities around the world. We discuss the setup of the research setting to highlight the opportunities presented by virtual worlds for organizations aiming to develop new services with customers during virtual co-creation workshops.

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