Enhancing customer perception of co-production knowledge sharing: navigating scepticism and leveraging prosociality to unlock active feedback behaviour in co-creation

Purpose Drawing on the reciprocity principle of social exchange theory situated within Service-dominant Logic, this study aims to examine how customers’ perception of knowledge sharing in co-production, their inherent scepticism and prosocial orientation relate to their willingness to co-create and provide feedback on services. The authors also explored the interplay between these factors to identify conditions in configurations comprising scepticism, which may help navigate its adverse effects. Design/methodology/approach The authors surveyed 556 online and offline mobile payment service users. They used a combination of partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to assess the relationships among variables, and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to identify configurations associated with feedback behaviour. Findings The study determined that customer perception of co-production knowledge sharing is positively associated with willingness to co-create and feedback behaviour. Additionally, prosocial orientation positively affects this relationship, while scepticism has an adverse effect. Willingness to co-create mediates the relationship between customer perception of co-production knowledge sharing and feedback behaviour. The fsQCA findings revealed configurations for potentially navigating doubts regarding feedback. To encourage valuable customer feedback, businesses may consider promoting a collaborative and supportive atmosphere, emphasising shared advantages or building trust even among hesitant and doubtful individuals. Originality/value This study uniquely examines how both prosocial tendencies and scepticism relate to customer feedback behaviour in co-creation by using a hybrid PLS-SEM/fsQCA approach to identify co-existing conditions in configurations comprising scepticism that may help navigate its adverse effects and leverage customer feedback for business improvement.