Consumers often engage with brands by participating in activities such as co-creating products and contributing ideas about product promotion. Such engagement enables consumers to be creative agents rather than mere end-users. However, it also places a burden on them, as it inevitably requires effort on the consumer part. This study investigates the impact of expected effort level (low vs. high) on consumers' inclination toward engagement, and its underlying mechanisms. Three experiments find that higher expected effort leads to lower intention to engage. This effect is mediated by the perceived probability of success and perceived value of engagement, and the two mediators operate in tandem. Effort levels negatively affect the perceived probability of success, which exerts a positive impact on the perceived value of engagement and then on willingness to engage. We also examine the moderating effect of consumer mindsets and find that chronic and situational consumer mindsets work differently. Specifically, primed mindsets have a significant effect, but enduring mindsets do not. This study contributes to the literature on engagement and expectancy–value theory by exploring consumer effort in a context where effort aids in implementing creativity.

中文翻译：

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消费者作为创意代理人：所需的努力如何影响参与意愿

消费者经常通过参与诸如共同创造产品和贡献有关产品促销的想法等活动来与品牌互动。这种参与使消费者能够成为创意代理人，而不仅仅是最终用户。然而，这也给他们带来了负担，因为这不可避免地需要消费者付出努力。本研究调查了预期努力水平（低与高）对消费者参与倾向的影响及其潜在机制。三项实验发现，更高的预期努力导致更低的参与意愿。这种效果由感知成功概率和感知参与价值介导，并且两个中介协同运作。努力程度对成功的感知概率产生负面影响，这会对参与的感知价值产生积极影响，然后对参与意愿产生积极影响。我们还研究了消费者心态的调节作用，发现长期和情境消费者心态的作用不同。具体来说，准备好的心态有显着的影响，但持久的心态没有。本研究通过在努力有助于实现创造力的背景下探索消费者的努力，为参与和期望价值理论的文献做出贡献。