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.