The surge in academic and practical interest in the topic of value co-creation (VCC) highlights an equivocal understanding of its conceptual boundaries and empirical constituents. Our search of the diverse scholarly literature on VCC identified 149 papers, from which we extract the two primary conceptual VCC dimensions of co-production and value-in-use. Though the combination of these two distinct dimensions is theoretically necessary to describe VCC, 79% of the studies in our dataset consider only one or the other. Such underlying theoretical ambiguity may explain conflicting results in earlier studies and motivates our effort to offer four contributions to the literature. First, we conduct a rigorous review, integrating existing work to expose the theoretical core of VCC. Second, we utilize the results from our review to isolate the two main theoretical dimensions of VCC and expose the three conceptual elements which underlie each dimension. Third, we apply our theoretical findings to derive empirical measurement constructs for each dimension. Fourth, we refine, analyze, and test the resulting measurement index in an investigation into consumer satisfaction.

Value co-creation: concept and measurement

Purpose – The paper seeks to introduce to a new perspective on the roles of customers and companies in creating value by outlining a customer‐based approach to service. The customer's logic is examined in‐depth as being the foundation of a customer‐dominant (CD) marketing and business logic.Design/methodology/approach – The authors argue that both the goods‐ and service‐dominant logic are provider‐dominant. Contrasting the provider‐dominant logic with CD logic, the paper examines the creation of service value from the perspectives of value‐in‐use, the customer's own context, and the customer's experience of service.Findings – Moving from a provider‐dominant logic to a CD logic uncovered five major challenges to service marketers: company involvement, company control in co‐creation, visibility of value creation, scope of customer experience, and character of customer experience.Research limitations/implications – The paper is exploratory. It presents and discusses a new perspective and suggests implication...

A customer‐dominant logic of service

A customer dominant logic of service

Within contemporary discourse around service-dominant logic, phenomenologically (experientially) determined value has been placed at the center of value discussion. However, a systematic characterization of value in the experience has not been presented to date. In this article, the authors outline four theoretical propositions that describe what value in the experience is, which are then illustrated using a narrative data set. The propositions consider both lived and imaginary value experiences and posit that current service experiences are influenced by previous and anticipated service experiences. The article contributes to the service literature by characterizing value in the experience as an ongoing, iterative circular process of individual, and collective customer sense making, as opposed to a linear, cognitive process restricted to isolated service encounters. The authors recommend that service researchers should consider the use of interpretive methodologies based on the four theoretical propositi...

Characterizing Value as an Experience: Implications for Service Researchers and Managers

The proposed framework sheds light on the fundamental role that value propositions play in service systems Building on service-dominant logic from marketing and structuration theory from sociology

Service Systems: A Broadened Framework and Research Agenda on Value Propositions, Engagement, and Service Experience

Purpose – The aim of this article is to propose a framework for a new perspective on the total service experience, which dimensions influence it, and how a service experience is linked to value in use.Design/methodology/approach – The article is conceptual and suggests a new theoretical frame of reference describing value in use through service experience in technology‐based services.Findings – According to this article, a service experience is the total functional and emotional value of a consumed service. The service experience is unique to every individual customer and the service consumption situation. Value in use is the cognitive evaluation of the service experience.Research limitations/implications – The framework is discussed in the context of technology‐based services and will provide a basis for future research. Empirical studies are called for concerning service experiences in different kinds of service contexts.Originality/value – This article contributes a new framework, illustrating the serv...

Value in use through service experience

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to bring better understanding to how involving users in the development process of new mobile phone services can increase understanding of the overall service experience in a technology‐based service setting.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on an experimental setting which aims to emulate the involvement of users in a service development process in order to provide information regarding the overall service experience. This is done by letting users evaluate both user‐ and company‐created services.Findings – Users are found to be an important information source when it comes to understanding the overall service experience of technology‐based services. The paper shows that users are to some extent better at coming up with services regarding value in use. The findings show that some of the most important experience outcomes that are demanded, functionally related outcomes, are better met by user‐created services.Research limitations/implications – The pap...

Sara Sandström

Papers

Value in use through service experience

Increased understanding of service experiences through involving users in service development