The mechanisms of value co-creation

Abstract

Facilitated by a wide array of technological advancements, interaction between customers and companies is taking new forms and shapes that go beyond traditional exchange. Companies are no longer perceived as sole goods providers, nor customers regarded merely as sources of money. Thus, both companies and customers are initiating new ways to support each others' value creation, that is, new value co-creation mechanisms are developed. This evolution has provided companies with a strategic impetus to reconsider their customers' roles in current business practices – a central characteristic of the contemporary discussion on value co-creation. However, not all companies necessarily benefit from value co-creation, which makes it even more important for them to carefully assess the opportunities that it entails. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to examine the strategic implications of the mechanisms of value co-creation. This is achieved through investigating the possibilities of different value co-creation mechanisms from the perspectives of economic, functional, emotional, and symbolic customer value propositions.

Keywords:

• value co-creation
• economic customer value proposition
• functional customer value proposition
• emotional customer value proposition
• symbolic customer value proposition

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the Academy of Finland and TEKES (The Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation) for supporting this research project.