Value – the “Atom” of the Economy – A Conceptual Model of a New Approach for Marketing

Abstract

This is a conceptual paper about the most fundamental concept in the science of business administration, value. It traces its history, discusses the demarcation approach of the service dominant logic, arguing against it. We hold that customer co-creation is already presumed in the concept of use-value; the customer can realize the value-potential of a product or a service by satisfying experiences from the offering. Under certain circumstances relationships influence the value, often motivating temporal suspension of market relations. In other cases relationships do not give the potential for additional value and the exchange between seller and buyer continues to be a transaction. The micro-foundations of value are searched in the social psychology of these experiences and how they build the value. The paper suggests the need for radical re-focusing of business practices, by proposing a conceptual model based on the macro-foundations of value.