Title: Crowdsourcing-based business model for online customer service: a case study

Authors: Jukka Majava; Kaisa Hyvärinen

Addresses: Industrial Engineering and Management, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 4610, FI-90014 Oulu, Finland ' Firstbeat Technologies Ltd., Life Science Center Keilaniemi, Keilaranta 16, 02150 Espoo, Finland

Abstract: Crowdsourcing has changed how people work and created new types of business models. Crowdsourcing can be utilised by outsourcing small organisational tasks that are usually performed in-house or building the whole business concept upon an unknown crowd. This paper presents how a literature based framework can be applied to develop an innovative crowdsourcing-based business model in online customer service. The relevant literature on crowdsourcing, business models, and customer services was reviewed. The business model of a start up firm was analysed in the empirical study. The key elements, challenges, and benefits of a crowdsourcing-based online customer service business were defined. The key challenges of the model include service quality, service availability, crowd motivation, client attraction, a balance between the crowd and client numbers, and platform-related challenges. The main advantages of the model include cost-effectiveness, an industry-specific crowd, service availability, competitive service quality, human touch, and a lower price point.

Keywords: business model; crowdsourcing; customer services; innovation; value creation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVCM.2022.122161

International Journal of Value Chain Management, 2022 Vol.13 No.1, pp.33 - 46

Received: 25 May 2020
Accepted: 06 Apr 2021
Published online: 11 Apr 2022 *