The effects of co-creation and word-of-mouth on content consumption - Findings from the video game industry

Video games offer users rich experiences that extend beyond the producers' original design, to include complementary products and services that are provided by online communities, namely, 'mods' (game modifications) and streaming (live-broadcasting). Notwithstanding their potential benefits, complementary products and services may also negatively affect gamers' experiences. To date, our understanding of how the interplay between firm-based and community-based platforms shapes consumers' experiences is limited. Our conceptual framework describes how co-creation (i.e. modding) and word-of-mouth (WoM; i.e. streaming) affect games' consumption. Our empirical study shows that co-creation: (a) directly increases game consumption and (b) indirectly affects consumption by driving WoM, which in turn increases game consumption. Additionally, two game characteristics - play mode (online multiplayer vs. offline single player) and plot (open-world vs. linear) moderate the relationships between co-creation, WoM, and game consumption. These findings inform our understanding of how consumption of firm-produced online content is affected by activities on community-based complementary platforms.