Küble , Raoul; Bu mes e , Alexa; Pae z, F iede ike; Kla mann, Ma in
A icle
How o ha ness he po en ial o use -gene a ed con en
o managemen decisions
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Schmalenbach Jou nal o Business Resea ch (2025) 77:407–418
How o Ha ness he Po en ial o Use -Gene a ed
Con en o Managemen Decisions
Raoul V. Küble · Alexa Bu mes e · F iede ike Pae z · Ma in Kla mann
Accep ed: 28 Augus 2025 / Published online: 1 Sep embe 2025
© The Au ho (s) 2025
1 The E ol ing Concep o Use -Gene a ed Con en
Almos one and a hal decades ago, Google’s CEO E ic Schmid poin ed ou ha
humankind c ea es and s o es mo e da a e e y single day han was gene a ed in he
p e ious h ee housand yea s combined (Schmid 2010). While he majo i y o hese
illions o by es o igina e om non-human sou ces such as machine senso s (which
hemsel es o en measu e and ack human beha io ), an e e -g owing sha e o da a
is ac i ely c ea ed by human use s h ough online channels and digi al en i onmen s.
Wi hin his da a, indi iduals (i.e., consume s) cons an ly sha e in o ma ion abou
which p oduc s, se ices, and b ands hey like o dislike, conside , es , o use.
Al hough e minologies such as use -gene a ed con en (UGC), use -c ea ed con-
en (UCC),o use -gene a ed da a can be aced back o p e-in e ne e as, such as
he 1980s (see, e.g., Kaplan and Haenlein 2010), he concep o UGC gained wide-
sp ead a en ion wi h he apid di usion o Web 2.0 echnologies. These echnologies
enabled use s no only o c ea e bu also o dissemina e con en easily h ough online
channels. A his poin , consume s began ac i ely sha ing in o ma ion abou hei
e e yday li es, including hei consump ion expe iences. While some a emp s ha e
been made o concep ualize UGC as a o m o elec onic wo d-o -mou h (eWOM),
i is impo an o no e ha UGC encompasses mo e han “posi i e o nega i e s a e-
Raoul V. Küble
Ma ke ing, ESSEC Business School, Ce gy, F ance
E-Mail: kuble @essec.edu
Alexa Bu mes e
Applied Quan i a i e Me hods, Kühne Logis ics Uni e si y, Hambu g, Ge many
F iede ike Pae z
Ma hema ics, S a is ics, and Applied Compu e Science, Hochschule Anhal , Be nbu g, Ge many
Ma in Kla mann
Ma ke ing, Ka ls uhe Ins i u e o Technology, Ka ls uhe, Ge many
K
408 Schmalenbach Jou nal o Business Resea ch (2025) 77:407–418
men s made by po en ial, ac ual, o o me cus ome s abou a p oduc o company,
which is made a ailable o a mul i ude o people and ins i u ions ia he In e ne ”
(Hennig-Thu au e al. 2004, p. 39). UGC does no necessa ily ha e o add ess p od-
uc s, b ands, companies, o se ices; i may also e lec a consume ’s gene al mood,
emo ions, opinions, o o he expe iences.
Kaplan and Haenlein (2010), d awing on an OECD (2007) de ini ion, highligh
h ee main c i e ia ha de ine UGC: (1) he con en is a leas pa ly publicly acces-
sible, (2) i e lec s some deg ee o c ea i e e o , and (3) i is c ea ed wi h non-
p o essional in en . Thei app oach was p ima ily d i en by he need o classi y he
g owing body o con en ac i ely c ea ed by use s on social media. Howe e , he
cha ac e is ics o UGC ha e since expanded h ough new echnologies (see, e.g.,
Küble and Hennig-Thu au 2025), use cases (see, e.g., Shi azi e al. 2013 demon-
s a ing how messenge apps can be used o ack use ’s sleeping pa e ns), and he
inc easing oppo uni ies o ace consume s’ digi al oo p in s in he online en i on-
men (see, e.g., Kosinski e al. 2013).
Whe eas Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) emphasize he impo ance o c ea i e e o ,
UGC in oday’s wo ld may also eme ge om non-c ea i e in e ac ions wi h digi al
echnologies. These in e ac ions s ill gene a e aluable da a ha can be le e aged
o p edic ele an ou comes. Fo example, Al ho e al. (2025) use s ep coun s
eco ded by sma phones o examine how a ci y’s a chi ec u al design in luences
physical ac i i y. Simila ly, sea ch engine que ies and Wikipedia access da a ha e
been employed o p edic lu ou b eaks o he numbe o COVID-19 in ec ions (see,
e.g., Skie a e al. 2020), while simple liking and ollowing da a on social media can
be used o in e pe sonal ai s, alues, and in e es s (Kosinski e al. 2013).
Gi en he in o ma ional po en ial o da a a ising om in e ac ions be ween use s
and digi al ouchpoin s, we p opose a b oade concep ualiza ion o use -gene a ed
con en . While use s may ac i ely c ea e con en (e.g., in he o m o social me-
dia pos s), hey can also passi ely gene a e equally in o ma ion- ich da a h ough
hei in e ac ions wi h pla o ms and echnologies. This da a, oo, can be ui ully
le e aged by bo h schola s and manage s.
We he e o e sugges ex ending he ini ial OECD (2007) de ini ion as ollows:
1. Publica ion: The con en o da a a e made accessible o o he s ia he in e ne , ei-
he explici ly (e.g., pos s, e iews, ideos) o implici ly h ough digi al pla o ms
(e.g., likes, ollows, sea ch que ies, o wea able da a ha pla o ms agg ega e and
display). Con en can ei he be di ec ly ob ained om he pla o m h ough access
poin s such as App P og amming In e aces (APIs) o h ough au oma ed da a ex-
ac ion ools such as c awle s o sc ape s.
2. C ea i e o In e ac ional E o : While UGC adi ionally e lec s delibe a e c e-
a i e e o , i can also esul om use s’ pu pose ul engagemen wi h digi al ech-
nologies, whe e ac ions such as sea ching, liking, o wea ing a connec ed de ice
gene a e da a aces.
3. Ou side P o essional Rou ines: UGC is ypically p oduced ou side o mal p o-
essional o ins i u ionalized p ocesses, eme ging om e e yday p ac ices o indi-
iduals as hey communica e, sea ch, sha e, o in e ac online.
K
Schmalenbach Jou nal o Business Resea ch (2025) 77:407–418 409
O e he pas decade, UGC has been inc easingly explo ed, moni o ed, and u i-
lized in business esea ch, also gi ing ise o se e al special issues. Ea ly wo k in
he ield ocused on unde s anding he mo i es behind why and how indi iduals
con ibu e UGC (see Fade and Wine 2012). Mo e ecen ly, a en ion has shi ed
owa d examining which me hods and ools can be employed o ex ac and e ine
in o ma ion om UGC (see, e.g., Vombe g e al. 2024).
Wi h he g ow h o UGC, new ools and me hods ha e become a ailable o
schola s, enabling hem o analyze UGC and ex ac aluable in o ma ion om i
(de Haan e al. 2024). Al hough UGC is o en cha ac e ized by i s uns uc u ed
na u e, ad ances in na u al language p ocessing as well as classi ica ion and objec
ecogni ion echniques om in o ma ion sciences now allow esea che s o ans-
o m uns uc u ed da a—such as ex , images, audio iles, o ideo—in o s uc u ed
o ma s ha can be inco po a ed in o he adi ional econome ic models commonly
used in business esea ch (see, e.g., Yildi im and Küble 2023).
2 How o Ha ness he Po en ial o Use -Gene a ed Con en o
Managemen Decisions
Recen p og ess in gene a i e AI, la ge language models (LLMs), ans o me a chi-
ec u es, and di usion models has made i easie han e e o ex ac insigh s om
uns uc u ed UGC—o en apidly and a low cos —by de i ing a iables such as
cus ome sen imen o b and men ions (see, e.g., Feue iegel e al. 2025; Ha mann
e al. 2023; Küble e al. 2020).
The apid ad ancemen o such ools holds e en g ea e po en ial. Eme ging de-
elopmen s in gene a i e AI echnologies open new a enues o le e aging UGC
o in o m decision-making be e and s eng hen business s a egies. While an in-
c easing numbe o s udies now ely on hese ools and da a ha es ed om online
sou ces—and hus inco po a e UGC—as ei he dependen o independen a iables
(see, e.g., Boege shausen e al. 2022, o a de ailed o e iew o UGC- ela ed e-
sea ch in ma ke ing), ela i ely li le esea ch has sys ema ically in es iga ed o
which domains UGC is mos sui able and how manage ial decision-making can e -
ec i ely d aw on his no el o m o da a, which is o en eely a ailable o bo h
schola s and p ac i ione s.
This special issue seeks o explo e he syne gies o new me hods and a ailable
UGC sou ces and o shed ligh on he ends, challenges, and oppo uni ies shaping
his e ol ing landscape.
3 Le e aging UGC o Business and Ma ke ing Resea ch
Figu e 1summa izes he s eps equi ed o unde s and be e he po en ial syne gies
be ween ecen ly de eloped analy ical ools and he as amoun o UGC a ailable
o business schola s and manage ial decision-make s.
The i s s ep is o es ablish a deepe unde s anding o he use cases and in o ma-
ional po en ial o e ed by he di e en sou ces o UGC. This equi es a sys ema ic
K
410 Schmalenbach Jou nal o Business Resea ch (2025) 77:407–418
Fig. 1 Le e aging UGC in Business and Ma ke ing Resea ch
e iew, syn hesis, and analysis o ecen wo k in he ield, which can hen be used
o highligh u u e applica ion a eas. Such an app oach p o ides clea pa hways
o ad ancing esea ch by iden i ying p omising domains, cla i ying which applica-
ion cases a e easible, and ou lining he ypes o insigh s and da a equi ed—bo h
analy ically and empi ically— o make hese applica ions iable.
In addi ion, a sys ema ic concep ual analysis o a ailable UGC sou ces is nec-
essa y o unde s and he ypes o con en use s c ea e, as well as how UGC bo h
in luences and is in luenced by consume decision-making p ocesses (see e.g. Hilde-
b and and Schlage 2019) and which ac o s d i e he p oduc ion o UGC (see e.g.,
Sh i e e al. 2013). Mapping hese UGC sou ces and linking hem o s ages o he
cus ome jou ney will allow esea che s o iden i y he mos sui able ypes o UGC
o speci ic esea ch objec i es, he eby guiding u u e wo k owa d mo e a ge ed
and impac ul applica ions.
While business esea ch has long bene i ed om es ablished ou ines o mea-
su ing (o en la en ) consume and cus ome a i udes using alida ed scales, UGC-
based esea ch emains in i s in ancy. In he case o la en a i ude measu emen ,
clea p ocedu es ensu ing cons uc eliabili y and alidi y ha e been de eloped
and e ined o mo e han hal a cen u y (see, e.g., Pe e 1979). By con as , UGC
esea ch s ill esembles a “wild wes ,” whe e schola s equen ly ope a ionalize con-
K
Schmalenbach Jou nal o Business Resea ch (2025) 77:407–418 411
s uc s (e.g., sen imen ) using he cheapes o simples ools a ailable, o en wi hou
su icien a en ion o cons uc alida ion o he po en ial eliabili y issues associ-
a ed wi h hei app oach (Be ge e al. 2020). As a hi d p io i y, i is hus impo an
o de elop clea guidelines on how o ans e he knowledge gained by decades o
psychome ic esea ch in o UGC ope a ionaliza ion and how o de elop alid and
eliable UGC measu es.
Wi h he wide a ailabili y o UGC—and he inc easing accessibili y o powe ul
gene a i e AI ools o i s analysis—e hical conside a ions ha e become mo e p ess-
ing han e e . La ge olumes o da a can now be easily le e aged o in e sensi i e
pe sonal in o ma ion. On he one hand, his can help o os e consume well-being
(see e.g., Dewende and Küble 2025) and help ulne able en i ies (see e.g., Skie a
e al. 2020; Sukhwal e al. 2023). On he o he hand, UGC may also be used in
ways ha con lic wi h use s’ own in e es s (see, e.g., Kosinski e al. 2013;O’Neil
2017;Jaine al.2016), o be le e aged o manipula e public opinions (Pauwels e al.
2025), dis ibu e disin o ma ion (Vosoughi e al. 2018), o a ec poli ical decision
making (Küble e al. 2025b). I is he e o e impe a i e no only o highligh he
po en ial o UGC bu also o es ablish clea e hical guidelines o esea che s. This
is no me ely a ma e o mo al esponsibili y; i is also essen ial o p ese ing
consume us . Once e oded, such us may ul ima ely unde mine he a ailabili y
o UGC i sel , as consume s could become eluc an o con inue sha ing in o ma ion
online—whe he ac i ely o passi ely.
While he digi al UGC wo ld appea s o o e i ually limi less esou ces o
esea ch, he o line wo ld is inc easingly ma ked by dwindling esou ces. Al hough
conce ns abou he en i onmen al oo p in o gene a i e AI and LLMs—such as
high ene gy consump ion—a e alid, a simila p essing challenge lies in unde s and-
ing how sus ainabili y i sel is communica ed and pe cei ed. UGC p o ides a unique
lens in o how indi iduals and o ganiza ions exp ess, in e p e , and espond o sus-
ainabili y- ela ed opics. Explo ing hese signals can help iden i y gaps be ween
co po a e messaging and consume expe ience, de ec g eenwashing isks, and ul i-
ma ely suppo mo e anspa en , accoun able, and e ec i e sus ainabili y s a egies.
As such, UGC is no only a ool o ad ancing manage ial insigh bu also a c i ical
esou ce o shaping and e alua ing sus ainable business p ac ices.
Wi h he i e pape s included in his special issue, we a emp o add ess each o
he i e poin s highligh ed in he abo e amewo k.
4 The Con en o his Special Issue On he Po en ial o Use -Gene a ed
Con en o Managemen Decisions
In he ollowing, we discuss how he con en o his special issue ies o he ame-
wo k displayed in Fig. 1, and hen p esen in Table 1an o e iew o he con ibu ions
made by each a icle.
K
412 Schmalenbach Jou nal o Business Resea ch (2025) 77:407–418
Table 1 O e iew o a icles included in his special issue
Au ho s Issue Response Con ibu ion
Baie
e al.
(2025)
How can i ms collec and analyze UGC o
suppo ma ke ing decisions ac oss a eas like
ma ke selec ion, b and, quali y, and NPD?
Re iews UGC collec ion (web c awle s/sc ape s, APIs) and anal-
ysis me hods ( ea u e ex ac ion, adi ional ML, disc imina i e
& gene a i e deep lea ning), plus ep esen a i e use cases. P o-
ides a p ac ical guideline o selec ing da a sou ces and me hods
Comp ehensi e o e iew o me hods
& use cases; adap s a s uc u ed h ee-
s ep app oach o guide decision-mak-
ing wi h UGC; lags e hics/p i acy
and ep esen a i eness issues; ske ches
u u e esea ch a enues
Sch öde
e al.
(2025)
Wha ole does UGC play along he cus ome
jou ney? Which s ages and d i e s a e mos
s udied, and wha should manage s do?
S uc u ed e iew o 342 a icles; de elops a amewo k mapping
UGC e ec s ac oss p e-pu chase, pu chase, pos -pu chase and
six dimensions (UGC, p oduc , w i e , consume , in e ac ion,
o he ). Finds esea ch concen a es on p e-pu chase and UGC
cha ac e is ics; con as s e iews s. social media pa e ns; o e s
manage ial ac ions (encou age c ea ion, moni o , espond)
In eg a es dispe sed indings in o
a jou ney-s age× d i e amewo k;
iden i ies unde - esea ched s ages/
con ex s; deli e s ac ionable guidance
o UGC managemen and a esea ch
agenda
Küble
e al.
(2025a)
Can UGC app oxima e consume mindse
me ics (e.g., awa eness, conside a ion, in en-
ion, sa is ac ion) along he decision jou ney,
o e coming su ey limi s?
A gues o le e aging UGC o app oxima e su ey-based CMMs
and p oposes a ou -s ep p ocess: (1) iden i y cons uc ace s,
(2) iden i y da a sou ces, (3) choose ans o ma ion/ML ool, (4)
(implied) ack/ alida e
In oduces a s uc u ed pa h o mine/
ack la en mindse me ics om
UGC a scale; highligh s cons uc -
alidi y conside a ions and p ac ical
alignmen wi h he cus ome decision
jou ney
Ch is
e al.
(2025)
Wha does digi al esponsibili y mean o
UGD-based decision-making? How can UGD
be go e ned esponsibly ac oss i s li ecycle
(cap u e!use) and ac oss di ec (co e) and
indi ec (pe iphe al) s akeholde s? Who is
esponsible, o wha , and o whom?
P oposes a Responsible UGD Go e nance Model in eg a ing
h ee dimensions—objec (UGD cap u e/use; da a-as- ac s s.
da a-as-wo ld-making), au ho i y (co e s. pe iphe al ecosys-
ems; ha d/so law), and subjec ((join ) con olle ship)—and
emphasizes anspa ency, con ex ual in eg i y, and dis ibu ed
accoun abili y
A icula es go e nance p inciples
and ac ionable checkpoin s; connec s
o e ol ing egula ion (GDPR, AI
Ac , DSA, Da a Ac ); and lays ou
a esea ch agenda o esponsible
UGD go e nance
Bli s
e al.
(2025)
How do i ms and use s communica e sus-
ainabili y ( iple bo om line) in FGC and
UGC, and how can i be analyzed?
P oposes a concep ual signaling model and a cus om sus ain-
abili y dic iona y; demons a es an illus a i e pipeline ac oss
co po a e websi es, Amazon e iews, and YouTube ideos o
de ec en i onmen al, social, and economic signals
Supplies ools (dic iona y+ wo k-
low) o TBL con en mining ac oss
FGC/UGC; su aces esea ch ques-
ions and p ac ical guidance o mon-
i o ing/managing sus ainabili y com-
munica ion
K
Schmalenbach Jou nal o Business Resea ch (2025) 77:407–418 413
5 UGC Selec ion and Analysis
While many esea ch s udies ha e elied on UGC as ei he an independen o de-
penden a iable, a sys ema ic in es iga ion o i s use cases—as well as a syn hesis
o he acili a o s and challenges associa ed wi h wo king wi h UGC—is s ill lack-
ing (Guy e al. 2024). Al hough esea ch widely acknowledges he alue o UGC
o in o ma ion-en iched decision-making (Be ge e al. 2020; Boege shausen e al.
2022), a clea ca ego iza ion o cu en and po en ial use cases emains absen . A
he same ime, insigh s in o he alidi y o UGC as a p oxy o a ious business-
ela ed measu es a e essen ial in o de o in eg a e seconda y, UGC-based me ics
wi h adi ional, p ima y da a app oaches (de Haan e al. 2024). Add essing his
need equi es a sys ema ic discussion o he di e se collec ion and analysis ools
a ailable o UGC schola s.
The i s a icle o his special issue—Baie e al. (2025)— ackles his gap by
p o iding a comp ehensi e o e iew o sui able me hods and use cases o UGC in
business and ma ke ing esea ch. They deli e an end- o-end playbook o UGC-
based decision suppo —co e ing how o collec da a (c awle s, sc ape s, APIs),
ans o m i , and analyze ex , image, audio, and ideo—illus a ed wi h use cases
ac oss ma ke selec ion, b and, quali y, and NPD. On he analy ics side, hey o ganize
he oolki om ea u e-enginee ing+ ML o disc imina i e deep lea ning (Con olu-
ional Neu al Ne wo ks (CNNs)/T ans o me s) and LLM-enabled gene a i e wo k-
lows (summa iza ion, opic disco e y), cla i ying when each is mos sui able. They
also dis ill p ac ical guidance (e.g., ans e lea ning, mul imodal pipelines) and lag
key cons ain s. The au ho s ul ima ely p opose a s uc u ed h ee-s ep app oach
ha assis s esea che s in iden i ying ele an UGC sou ces, selec ing app op ia e
me hods o ea u e ex ac ion, and ans o ming uns uc u ed da a in o s uc u ed
o ma s. In addi ion, hey highligh c i ical knowledge gaps, such as he ep esen a-
i eness o UGC da a in he con ex o gene a ing consume insigh s and he need
o a be e unde s anding o which UGC sou ces and ca ego ies ie o which phases
o he cus ome jou ney.
6 UGC Sou ces Along he Decision-Making Jou ney
The second a icle o his special issue—Sch öde e al. (2025)—subsequen ly
add esses his gap by in es iga ing he ole UGC plays along he cus ome jou -
ney. They code 342 op- ie ma ke ing a icles (2014–2024) in o a 3-s age jou ney
(p e-, pu chase, pos -pu chase) and a six-d i e axonomy: (1) UGC cha ac e is ics,
(2) cus ome cha ac e is ics, (3) p oduc cha ac e is ics, (4) w i e cha ac e is ics,
(5) in e ac ion cha ac e is ics, and (6) o he . This e eals a s ong concen a ion o
e idence in he p e-pu chase s age (e.g., in en ions, a i udes, help ulness) and a ound
UGC cha ac e is ics hemsel es, while he pu chase and pos -pu chase s ages and
se e al con ex s emain compa a i ely unde explo ed.
The amewo k’s wo axes (s age and d i e ) make i easy o loca e p io ind-
ings and gene a e hypo heses. Along he s age axis, dependen a iables ypical
o each phase a e used o ancho esul s (e.g., p e-pu chase: in en ions/a i udes/
K
414 Schmalenbach Jou nal o Business Resea ch (2025) 77:407–418
help ulness; pu chase: sales/choice; pos -pu chase: usage/loyal y). P ac ically, he
amewo k ansla es in o whe e o ac and wha o es . Fo manage s, i unde lines
h ee nea - e m mo es: (i) s imula e c ea ion (e.g., incen i es, on-si e p omp s),
(ii) moni o sys ema ically (social lis ening ac oss e iews and social eeds), and
(iii) espond delibe a ely (especially o nega i e con en )—because UGC demon-
s ably shapes ou comes a all s ages. Fo esea che s, he g id spo ligh s unde - e-
sea ched cells, no ably pu chase/pos -pu chase ou comes, u ili a ian/c edence goods,
use in e ac ions a ound e iews, and designs ha compa e UGC ypes side-by-side
a he han in isola ion. I also lags a as -mo ing on ie : how AI-gene a ed con en
migh al e UGC dynamics along he jou ney.
7 UGC Measu e Validi y and Reliabili y
While he i s and second a icles o his special issue highligh he widesp ead
use o UGC in business esea ch, hey also make clea ha much o he exis ing
wo k does no adequa ely examine whe he UGC-de i ed measu es uly p o ide
alid and eliable ins umen s, and hus whe he hey accu a ely cap u e common
consume a i udes such as sa is ac ion, conside a ion, o o he la en cons uc s. As
in su ey-based esea ch, i is impe a i e ha UGC-based measu es a e bo h ee
om e o —yielding consis en esul s—and alid in he sense ha hey genuinely
measu e he cons uc s hey a e in ended o cap u e (see Pe e 1979 o a de ailed
discussion o scale eliabili y and alidi y).
The hi d a icle in his special issue—Küble e al. (2025a)—o e s a i s ame-
wo k o ans e insigh s om psychome ic esea ch in o he de elopmen o UGC-
based measu es. Focusing on cus ome mindse me ics (CMMs)— he mos widely
applied o m o psychome ics in ma ke ing— he pape posi ions UGC as an always-
on measu emen laye and o malizes a psychome ics-ancho ed ou -s ep p ocess
o cons uc ing such measu es. The amewo k p oceeds by de i ing cons uc ace s
om es ablished scales and dis inguishing b and- e sus p oduc -le el a ge s; se-
lec ing UGC sou ces ha can exp ess hese ace s gi en access, olume, and legal
cons ain s; iden i ying app op ia e ex ac ion ools sui ed o he da a o ma and
cadence; and, inally, alida ing he measu es wi h a s ong emphasis on p edic i e
alidi y along he cus ome decision jou ney o ensu e manage ial use ulness. Be-
yond his amewo k, he a icle p o ides ac ionable guidance by mapping which
UGC sou ces a e mos app op ia e o di e en CMMs, con as ing he s eng hs
and limi a ions o UGC wi h adi ional su ey da a, and ad oca ing iangula-
ion—combining nume ic and ex ual signals, and, whe e possible, blending UGC
wi h su eys. I also se s ou a esea ch agenda ha add esses he ade-o be ween
s anda diza ion and cus omiza ion, he managemen o measu emen unce ain y,
and he need o alidi y guidelines o UGC-based CMMs.
K
