{"id":146,"date":"2011-08-22T11:13:32","date_gmt":"2011-08-22T11:13:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/obc.ninety10group.com\/?p=146"},"modified":"2022-06-22T07:17:03","modified_gmt":"2022-06-22T07:17:03","slug":"what-drives-co-creators-beyond-monetary-rewards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.footballthink.com\/what-drives-co-creators-beyond-monetary-rewards\/","title":{"rendered":"What drives Co-creators beyond monetary rewards?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Cover via Amazon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Monetary rewards as necessary condition and signal for ethics and commitment<\/strong><\/p>\n

In my last post I talked about the importance of monetary and rewards and non-cash prices in social business as it attracts extrinsically motivated people and it shows the company\u2019s attitude, recognition and commitment towards collaboration with external stakeholders. Attractive rewards signal that a business, company or organisation doesn\u2019t want to exploit consumers but appreciates the effort that participants invest and the (potential) value that their submissions can create.<\/p>\n

Social and Digital Co-creation experiences as sufficient condition<\/strong><\/p>\n

But everyone who has experience with co-creation<\/a> projects knows that the key for a successful co-creation project lies in attracting and engaging intrinsically motivated people. Thus, if we want to increase the value for Co-Creators we first have to understand what motivates Co-Creators besides monetary rewards. What are their underlying intrinsic motives and what do they expect from co-creation initiatives in terms of the process and the outcomes.<\/p>\n

I think Clay Shirky give some great insights into the role of intrinsic motivations on our behaviors. Clay Shirky<\/strong> has written a great book on \u201cCognitive surplus<\/strong>\u201d.<\/p>\n

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And I think the phenomenon of \u201ccognitive surplus\u201d explains pretty good what is happening in social media and why consumers are willed to participate in co-creation. In his book Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age and his TED Talk How cognitive surplus will change the world<\/a> he is making the point that \u201cpeople are now learning how to use more constructively the <\/em>free time<\/em><\/a> afforded to them since the 1940s for creative acts rather than consumptive ones, particularly with the advent of online tools that allow <\/em>new forms of collaboration<\/em><\/a>. But while social technologies enable creative activity, the underlying motives for <\/strong>work we do with our spare brain cycles aren\u2019t fueled by external rewards but by intrinsic motivation\u2014the joy of doing something for its own sake.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

The open source movement – with prominent examples like Wikipedia, linux or apache – is a great example that shows the power of intrinsic motivated people enabled and leveraged by social technologies. But why do consumers contribute to co-creation projects initiated by producers? In contrast to open source software where users immediately benefit from using their programmed code, consumers participating in virtual new product development will hardly ever be able to immediately benefit from using \u201ctheir\u201d innovation. If at all, the co-created products will be available on the market 6-12 months later at the earliest. Working on co-creation projects together with profit-oriented firms may further crowd-out voluntary participation. As motives depend on context, exploring who and why one engages in virtual cocreation projects initiated by producers is worthwhile.<\/p>\n

Recent research from Johann F\u00fcller (CEO of HYVE and assistant professor at the University of Innsbruck) shows consumers\u2019 motivations indeed determine their expectations towards the co-creation design. He highlights the differences between extrinsically and intrinsically motivated consumers as follows:<\/p>\n

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Proposed Impact of Motives on Expectations (Source: F\u00fcller 2010)<\/p>\n

Results show that consumers engage in virtual co-creation for several reasons. He identifies six main co-creation motives:<\/p>\n