Stories of value: Business model innovation adding value propositions articulated by Slow Storytelling

Abstract

This article proposes an empirically derived method, Slow Storytelling, to construct and articulate value propositions, as a contribution to Business Model Innovation. Organizational actors and customers must be clear on what value an enterprise, product or service offers. This is increasingly important for products and services that leverage social, cultural, and environmental values. However, few existing models provide the framework and method to facilitate business articulation of value proposition for stakeholders. Our participatory ethnographic study conducted before and during COVID-19 in craft micro-enterprises in Uzbekistan addresses this gap. We co-created a novel method, ‘Slow Storytelling’, to innovate, enhance and articulate value propositions, by mobilizing and communicating the social, cultural, and environmental values; for example, by explaining the lived and sustainable history of the product. The method consists of eight steps to elicit consumers’ emotional connection with craft producers and trigger attention towards their social and environmental impact. Slow Storytelling can be adopted beyond our craft setting, to support the construction and articulation of value propositions.