When volunteers are also consumers: Exploring volunteers’ co-consumption experience in leisure contexts

• Published in: Journal of business research 2023-02, Vol.156, p.113508, Article 113508
• Main Authors: Sohier, Alice, Sohier, Romain, Chaney, Damien
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Co-consumption; Co-creation; Consumer experience; Events; Humanities and Social Sciences; Insider; Volunteering
• ISSN: 0148-2963
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.113508

Volunteers might function like partial employees, but in leisure contexts, they also consume the experience to which they contribute. The additional benefits, relative to those attained by a typical consumer, achieved through volunteers’ insider status remain unstudied though. The current qualitative study, conducted at a French music festival, reveals that volunteers’ experience involves three new consumption dimensions: community, privilege, and pride. Previous research on co-creation identifies situations in which consumers take the role of producers; the current study contributes to this literature stream by adopting an opposing, “co-consumption” perspective, in which producers (here, volunteers) take the role of consumers. Because they are producers in the first place, they are insiders with behind-the-scenes access, which ultimately defines their experience.