When customers select the winner: How marketing ideation crowdsourcing contests can foster customer engagement

Abstract

Despite the pivotal role of winner-selection mechanisms in marketing ideation crowdsourcing contests (MICCs), there has been little research into whether and how the profiles of the judges who select the winner might affect customer engagement. This research therefore investigates how different winner-selection mechanisms might foster customer engagement during the ideation phase, as well as with the firm beyond the MICC. In a field experiment and an online experiment, the authors manipulate the judges’ profiles and demonstrate that when the voting process is open to all customers (vs. restricted to member–customers or managers), it is perceived as more legitimate and indicative of better customer orientation by the firm. Such openness enhances both the quality of submitted ideas and customers’ intentions to buy shares in the firm. These findings shed light on how firms should design MICCs to enhance customer engagement with both the ideation process and the firm in general.