Customers' and employees' willingness to join an engagement platform: An empirical study of Nike's Training Club

Abstract

Nowadays competition is more fierce than ever before. Therefore, it is of highest importance for a firm to create unique customer value. In order to do so, firms are seeking new ways to build relationships with their customers. The challenge is to find a way to create value for both the customer and the firm. From this perspective, value co-creation is an upcoming phenomenon. In order for co-creation to exist, interaction between the firm and the customer is a necessary condition. This interaction can be facilitated by the firm by the provision of an engagement platform. Such an engagement platform allows all stakeholders to interact and share their experiences, which in turn can lead to new sources of value for all parties involved. However, it is important to recognize that it is not mandatory for customers (or other stakeholders) to engage in such a platform. In other words, they are free to choose whether or not they want to join the engagement platform. Therefore, this master's thesis focusses on the factors that influence customers' and employees' willingness to join an engagement platform. More specifically, we examine Nike's engagement platform, named the 'Nike+ Training Club', and determine the factors that influence the willingness to use this training app, both for customers and employees.