Beyond the expected benefits: unpacking value co-creation in crowdsourcing business models

This paper explores how value is co-created in crowdsourcing business models. We envision crowd contributors as a special kind of non-consumer multi-role stakeholder. Our model suggests that the value they derive from monetary rewards and other expected benefits of participation is mediated by experiential value and identity value. The latter is driven by contributors’ identification with a crowdsourcing platform as a virtual ‘space’ for co-creation, and by the peer identification with other contributors. Both experiential and identity value creation are positively impacted by perceived control, which reflects contributors’ perception of co-creation governance and fosters identification.