Customer participation in value co-creation: Can it develop corporate brand experience?

This research aims to investigate the impact of customer participation in value co-creation behavior on corporate brand experience in Retail sector of Malaysia. The data were collected from 711 Malaysian customers of top four Hypermarkets located in five states namely Penang, Perak, Selangor, Melaka and Johor. Structural Equation Modeling in AMOS was used for the data analysis. The study primarily investigated the role of four dimensions of customer participation behavior namely information seeking, information sharing, responsive behavior and personal interaction in developing corporate brand experience of the Hypermarkets. The research finds that information seeking behavior and responsive behavior significantly predicts corporate brand experience while information sharing behavior and personal interactions do not predicts corporate brand experience in Hypermarkets. The research argue that the brand experience is primarily indirect in nature where customers are exposed to brand related stimuli, therefore, information sharing and personal interaction with the service employees and fellow customers is not necessary for creating corporate brand experience. Nonetheless, information seeking through direct and indirect channels, and responsive behavior are necessary for building positive corporate brand experience. The research is unique in terms of its investigation and findings, as the researches on the role of customers in value co-creation from brand experience perspective generally and in Malaysian perspective specifically are limited. © 2015 American Scientific Publishers. All rights reserved.