Drivers of companies’ willingness to co-create B2B services

Co-creation, namely, the involvement of customers in the different stages of the new product development process, is increasingly viewed as an effective strategy to improve the new service success rate. However, many companies remain reluctant to co-create with customers. Therefore, one question arises: why are some companies willing to co-create whereas others are less disposed to do so? The findings of an empirical study among 175 service providers indicate that the main drivers of the willingness to co-create are the customer benefits expected by a company. The perception of these customer benefits is essentially influenced by relational factors such as the company’s prior use of collaborative tools and trust between partners.