Considering they are a potential source of competitive advantage, this paper argues that customers should be a subject of matter in strategy, and more specifically in the field of the resource-based view (RBV). Academic research has acknowledged the crucial role of customers in strategy, however studies have largely considered this actor as belonging to firms’ competitive environment, following a Porterian lineage. Under the RBV approach, focusing on firms’ internal assets, we show that customers should be regarded as a potential resource for the construction of competitive advantage. Based on a multiple cases analysis, our empirical study results in a twofold approach. The former regards the construction of a taxonomy as to ways firms regard clients as potential resources in their strategy. The latter aims at shedding light upon mechanisms of customers’ input (resource) deployment. We show that in order to benefit from competitive advantage firms ought to combine various forms of customers’ mobilisation. Our study contributes to academic research in strategic management by setting a framework to analyse the link between customers’ mobilisation by firms and the construction of competitive advantage. The aim of our research is to rehabilitate the interaction with customers as a core issue of strategy, and pave the way for further research.
