From Listening to Action : A case study on how businesses co-create with their customers through engagement in Swedish family owned retail businesses.

Sammanfattning: With the constant changes in society, the way companies market themselves has changed and customer engagement, relationships and transparency has become a more important factor. Significantly in how businesses should conduct their business to create as much value as possible. And through this ever-changing environment in which retail exists, flexibility and the need for responsiveness is key where co-creational strategies can help a long way in opening up companies to reach, create and maintain good relationships through communication. The qualitative research method of a case study with semi-structured interviews was conducted to gather empirical findings for this study. The interviews were conducted with five employees of a family owned retail business to obtain a full perspective and understanding of their work towards customer engagement and co-creation. The authors of this thesis have adopted a deductive approach in this thesis. The thesis conclusion shows several reasons why co-creation strategies could amplify engagement and how the company needs to be aware and acknowledge their customers, to further build relationships. Findings indicate that a more structured approach is needed for their social media communication platforms. Moreover, it is important to note that this research is conducted from the companies’ perspective. Lastly, it is important to recognize the dynamics and reputation of the family business, as local status and size influence the overall experience and view of the company.