A creative consumer is defined as any “individual or group who adapt, modify, or transform a proprietary offering”
in a business journal article by Berthon, et al. While traditional
consumer
A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or uses purchased goods, products, or services primarily for personal, social, family, household and similar needs, who is not directly related to entrepreneurial or business activities. ...
s simply use and consume products and services, creative consumers not only use and consume them, but also change them in some way.
Examples include:
* The hacker
George Hotz
George Francis Hotz (born October 2, 1989), alias geohot, is an American security hacker, entrepreneur, and software engineer. He is known for developing iOS jailbreaks, reverse engineering the PlayStation 3, and for the subsequent lawsuit bro ...
unlocked the original
iPhone and hacked Sony's
PlayStation 3
The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on November 11, 2006, in Japan, November ...
, then gave away these hacks for free.
* Jose Avila made
FedEx furniture for his apartment exclusively from
Federal Express
FedEx Corporation, formerly Federal Express Corporation and later FDX Corporation, is an American multinational conglomerate holding company focused on transportation, e-commerce and business services based in Memphis, Tennessee. The name "Fe ...
boxes.
* Jim Hill, a devoted
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
fan, designed and delivered guided but unauthorized tours of
Disneyland
Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envision ...
.
In 2005, ''
The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...
'' published an article about the future of innovation, ‘The rise of the creative consumer’.
This article explained that some companies rely on identifying and leveraging the innovation potential of creative consumers. However, many companies may feel threatened or upset by the actions of creative consumers. Hotz, Avila and Hill all received negative, and in some cases threatening, reactions from the companies whose products and services they had repurposed.
Berthon, et al., proposed that companies can take four general stances on creative consumers.
These stances are determined by whether the company's actions toward these creative consumers are active or passive and whether the company's attitude towards creative consumers is either positive or negative.
The four stances are:
* Resist stance (active/negative): restrain consumer creativity
* Discourage stance (passive/negative): tolerate or ignore consumer creativity
* Encourage stance (passive/positive): don't actively facilitate consumer creativity
* Enable stance (active/positive): actively facilitate consumer creativity
See also
*
Prosumer
References
Bibliography
*{{cite journal, last1=Page, first1=Kelly L., last2=Pitt, first2=Leyland, title=Web 2.0, Social Media, and Creative Consumers: Special Issue, journal=Journal of Consumer Behaviour, date=1 November 2011, volume=10, issue=6, pages=i–iii, doi=10.1002/cb.390, language=en, issn=1479-1838, doi-access=free
Sales
Consumer behaviour