Value Co-creation Theory Research Articles

Exploring an Interactive Value-Adding Data-Driven Model of Consumer Electronics Supply Chain Based on Least Squares Support Vector Machine

The differences in supply chains and their competitiveness depend on the differences in supply chain value creation systems. On the basis of the theory of value cocreation, this study investigates the interactive value creation of consumer electronics supply chains from the perspective of the interaction and added value created by the main value creation bodies in supply chains. Least squares support vector machine (LS-SVM) is innovatively introduced into the study on consumer electronics supply chains. A data-driven model is also established, the parameters of the method and kernel functions are optimized and selected, and an LS-SVM algorithm of consumer electronics supply chains is proposed to deal with the limited number of samples. Then, an empirical analysis of the top 10 smartphone supply chains in the Chinese market is conducted, and the LS-SVM model and other forecasting methods are compared. Results suggest that the LS-SVM model achieves a good predictive accuracy. This study also analyzes the value-adding structure of supply chains from the perspective of interaction and enriches the theory of value creation among supply chains. This study is conducive to helping consumer electronics enterprises to conduct market analyses and determine value growth points accurately.

The role of frames in a co-creation process

Purpose – This paper aims to analyze the conditions for co-creation in a non-commercial context. The particular aim is to show how a co-creative activity is framed for the participants and the consequences of the frames for the values that are co-created in the process. Design/methodology/approach – Goffman’s frame analysis is applied to investigate how co-creation is used as a marketing strategy where an art event is used as an engagement platform to involve citizens in creating visions for an urban renewal area. It is a qualitative study based on observations. Findings – The taken-for-granted ideas of the active and creative consumer along with the focus in marketing research on the positive values achieved in a co-creative process are problematic in a public context. An unreflexive use of a co-creative strategy in a non-commercial setting and using art as an engagement platform, in combination with insufficient communication about the new framings, result in no-creation of value or even co-destruction of value. Practical implications – Unclear definition of the situation for co-creation results in confusion about how to interact and how to create value. Such an outcome is highly problematic for a public organization. It is of major importance that citizens can identify and understand the type of activity. The authors argue that communication in well-defined phases of an event can facilitate desired acts of co-creation. Originality/value – Value co-creation theory has been transferred between contexts, but there are few studies of what the transfer means in terms of consumer abilities to take part in the value creation process and its rules of engagement. This study demonstrates the difficulties of moving from theory to practice when the context changes from a commercial to a public participatory one. This opens for new research venues in value co-creation and marketing theory.

Transformative service networks: cocreated value as well-being

Fundamental to emerging theories of value cocreation is a developing awareness that value emerges in networks. Service networks form to address issues for those in need, and value is conceived differently by the various constituents in the network. To represent this reality, a core service interaction, the reason for the construction of the network, is evaluated based upon a typology of value-creating interaction styles. Next, the potential impact on transformative value cocreation of various relationships in a service network is explored. To illustrate value cocreation from a network perspective, this paper develops research propositions assessing cocreated value in a health service network. Network factors regarding the structural and relationship properties of networks that advance the theory of value cocreation are proposed. Finally, suggestions for managers include ways to engage service network entities to enhance communication to foster a balanced, mutualistic relationship that optimizes cocreated value. Organizations need to better identify and activate customers' support networks in order to facilitate enhanced collaboration and communication.

Transforming the news value chain in the social era: a community perspective

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework to understand the influence that the social era is having on the value chain of the local news industry. The authors theoretically advance value chain theory by, firstly, considering the influence of community type and age on consumption and, secondly, exploring the role that consumers can play in value-adding activities. The theoretical contribution of this study lies in moving from a transactional approach towards consumer relationships in the value chain towards managing consumers as a source of relational value (e.g. co-creation and integrated perspectives). Design/methodology/approach – The conceptual framework is theoretically positioned in relation to community and digital community practices in the social era. A series of research questions are presented, then these questions are explored drawing on empirical data from the Pew database. The authors then advance the framework further to consider news firm strategy towards its consumers. Fifteen in-depth executive interviews were conducted with local news organizations in the Manchester area of the UK. Findings – The authors illustrate that different types of communities (merging cohorts and locations) are influencing levels of technological and social connectivity within the value chain. The authors also found that the news industry is experimenting with reconfiguring its consumer relations from a purely transactional to a co-created and participatory value-added activity in the social era. In terms of its policy impact, the findings in this paper show that the whole strategic value chain ideology of the news industry needs to change radically; away from its largely transactional (and lack of trust) approach in the ability of consumers to create value in the supply chain (other than to buy a product) and, move towards much greater consumer involvement and participation in value chain processes (creation, production and distribution of news products and services). Originality/value – The change associated with social media and connectivity is changing the way that different community types and consumer groups are now consuming and participating in news content creation. Unlike previous studies, the authors show that there is variance and complexity in the levels of consumer participation by community type/age group. Using the Pew data, the authors contribute to knowledge on the value creation strategy of news firms in the social era, by identifying how communicative, social and communicative logics influence value and co-creation activities in the local news supply chain. Through interviews, the authors advance value co-creation theory from its strategic and marketing origins to operational and supply chain implementation.

Value Co-Creation in Management Consulting: A Theoretical Framework in Professional Service Context

Management consulting is increasingly recognized as an important contributor to modern economies. Considered as one type of professional services, management consulting is characterized by high levels of client interaction, service customization and flexible knowledge-intensive processes. Successful management consulting practices thus require inputs (e.g. knowledge, skills, experience and judgments) from consultants and clients as well as effective interactions between them. Accordingly, in this paper, built upon the value co-creation theory in the broad context of professional services, we investigate the roles of professionals, clients and their interactions in creating value not only for themselves but also for each other. We base this confirmatory and exploratory research on two qualitative multi-case studies involving in-depth semi-structured interviews with both professionals and clients in various professional service settings. Our results confirm the multi-dimensional and subjective nature of values and suggest a strong dependency of professionals’ non-monetary value-for-firm on clients’ value-in-use. Results also suggest that effective professional–client interaction positively affects value creation for both parties. Finally, professional- and client-related antecedents that enhance the interactions are discussed. The resulting theoretical framework and research propositions advance our conceptual understanding of professional service management, and suggest important managerial implications for both professionals and clients. Given that management consulting is a type of professional service, the findings can also contribute to answering the question

Theory of value co-creation: a systematic literature review

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to summarize and classify extant research and to better understand the past, present, and future state of the theory of value co-creation. Its main objectives are: to identify the different theoretical perspectives and research streams that characterize and define the co-creation literature, and to highlight the connections between them; to look for emerging trends and gaps in the literature by comparing the most recent papers with those representing the field's core.Design/methodology/approach– The paper relies on bibliometric data: co-citation techniques were employed to select, analyze, and interpret citation patterns within the co-creation literature.Findings– The paper identified two main clusters, as well as specific research streams and common themes, representing scholarly journals’ publications on co-creation over the past years. These research streams and themes apply three different theoretical perspectives: service science, innovation and technology management, and marketing and consumer research. Data from the most recent publications has been used to verify if and how the original streams and themes are reflected in the contemporary debate.Research limitations/implications– Inevitably, the findings of the analysis have limitations related to the research design, the databases, and the applied bibliometric methods.Practical implications– From a practical perspective, the research impacts on theory building, management decision making, and teaching.Originality/value– This study depicts the remarkable development of the literature on co-creation and shows the latent structure underlying its different research streams. To the best knowledge, this study is the first to determine co-citation frequencies from both the SSCI and Scopus databases.

Value co-creation in social marketing: functional or fanciful?

Purpose – Value co-creation thinking is reshaping the understanding of markets and marketing and presents a significant opportunity to develop the theory and practice of social marketing. However, whilst value co-creation offers thought-provoking new directions for the field, applying this theory and its core concepts in social marketing is not without significant challenges. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – This is a conceptual paper that seeks to integrate lessons from social marketing practice with the value co-creation discourse from commercial marketing. Drawing upon two projects that have applied principles of collaboration and co-design, the paper provides a critical perspective on the adoption of value co-creation in social marketing. Findings – The collaborative and emancipatory ambitions of co-creation seem highly compatible with social marketing. However, the paper notes some significant conceptual, ethical and practical obstacles in the path of a workable theory of value co-creation for social marketing. Originality/value – While representation of value co-creation and other collaborative approaches is increasing in the social marketing literature, this is the first attempt to provide an integrated and critical review of their compatibility with social marketing at a conceptual, ethical and theoretical level. The analysis shows that value co-creation theory can simultaneously offer opportunities and present obstacles for social marketing.

A resource mapping framework for value co-creation in social media

It is urgent for companies to sustain high levels of customer satisfaction in social media where customer opinions and attitudes propagate through a large population quickly. The value of customer participation has been emphasised in order to improve the information exchanging between customers and companies. Value co-creation is one of the most important ways to achieve that goal; and resources are the key issues towards value co-creation processes. To enhance competition power and improve the customer satisfaction, companies must have a deep insight of value co-creation, especially from the perspective of resources. In this paper, a resource mapping framework in social media has been given based on the value co-creation theory. The value co-creation processes have been split into three sub-processes: company resource-mapping processes, customer resource-mapping processes and encounter resource-mapping processes. Lastly, an instance has been analysed to prove the proposed framework applicability.

Challenging the orthodoxy of value co-creation theory: A contingent view of co-production in design-intensive business services

This interview-based study of three design-oriented KIBS firms proposes a U-shaped project-stage model of co-production intensity in firms offering knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) requiring a high level of creativity. During the central stage of project execution the creative KIBS firms typically know what needs to be accomplished but do not know what specific path should be pursued to accomplish the task. An intense phase of idea generation and narrowing down of possibilities generally follows the signing of the contract. Interviewees at design-oriented KIBS firms seldom mentioned the client as playing a significant role during the creative phase of the project. The study suggests that, under certain circumstances, both KIBS providers and clients might desire to regulate the level of co-production, and that at certain project stages a reduced level might actually improve the quality of the final output. Other contingencies are also developed.