Consumer-to-Consumer Online Sharing of Co-Creative Advertising Campaigns

Abstract

This thesis aims to increase understanding of what motivates consumer-to-consumer (C2C) sharing of co-creative advertising campaigns on social media platforms. Consumer use of the Internet has increased immensely, and affects organisations due to the growth of consumer-to-consumer interactions, such as word-of-mouth. Word-of-mouth is a powerful form of advertising because of consumer trust in their social media networks, therefore, it is crucial for organisations to increase C2C sharing as a form of advertising, and in particular, co-creative advertising campaigns.

To achieve this aim, this study used a grounded theory approach, to gather a comprehensive amount of data to discover theoretical propositions about the phenomenon. A total of ten unstructured depth interviews were conducted before theoretical saturation was reached.

The results of the study found that consumer motivations to share co-creations online were pride, and to connect with others, conceptualised by social media self-presentation, and a consciousness of others. Whilst consumer motivations to participate in co-creative advertising campaigns were escapism and self-interest.

The primary implication of these findings is understanding how organisations can influence consumer motivations to share co-creations online, hence, organisations advertising, by increasing personal connections that consumers can use to connect with others in consumer-to-consumer platforms online.