The Empowered Customer: User-Generated Content and the Future of Marketing

The boundaries that traditionally delineated the roles of consumers and firms are being blurred as users take on creative tasks that were previously managed solely by commercial firms. This paper argues that the user-generated content (UGC) created by these consumers represents a profound shift of power from firms to consumers. In order to better understand this changing landscape, as well as to distinguish the various types of UGC in which customers most commonly engage, and highlight the benefits and challenges associated with these types, we present a new UGC typology that takes into account the objectives that consumers pursue as well as the type of knowledge flow that is activated when consumers produce UGC. We draw on existing literature and use illustrative examples to explicate these UGC types and explore the implications of UGC for marketing thought and practice.