Hur uppkommer värde för kunden?

Värdeforskningen inom marknadsföringen har traditionellt fokuserat på utbyten och det upplevda värdet av företagets produkter. Den gängse synen på värde har därför också utmärkts av en produktions- och transaktionsorienterad syn där värde anses produceras i företagets processer och sedan överlåts till kunden i samband med ett utbyte. I den här studien betraktas värde i stället ur ett kund- och relationsbaserat perspektiv. Utgångspunkten är att värde för kunden är något som företaget vare sig kan producera eller leverera. Kunden betraktas i den här studien därför som subjekt i sin egen värdeskapande process, medan varor, tjänster och kundens relationer till olika företag betraktas som resurser eller objekt i kundens egna värdeskapande aktiviteter. Tyngdpunkten flyttas från företaget som värdeskapare till kunden som värdeskapare vilket innebär en omarbetad logik för värdeskapande. Det relationsbaserade perspektivet på värde vidgar ytterligare synen på hur värde uppkommer för kunden. Studien visar att kundens värdeskapande kontext omfattar mer än enbart produkten och den värdebedömning som görs i en köpsituation. Detta påtalar behovet av att man analyserar hur värde uppkommer för kunden över tiden och ur ett helhetsperspektiv. Studiens syfte är att analysera hur värde uppkommer för kunden – i vilka aktiviteter och med vilka resurser. Målet är att finna en balans i synen på relationen mellan kund och företag och att lära om hur företagets marknadsföringsprocesser kan utvecklas genom att kundens egna värdeskapande aktiviteter analyseras. Studien är inriktad på konsumentmarknaden och den empiriska miljön utgörs av bilägare som intervjuats med en longitudinell ansats. Avhandlingen utmynnar i en teoretisk referensram om hur värde uppkommer för kunden. Olika dimensioner av värdebegreppet identifieras och analyseras och en kund- och relationsbaserad värdeterminologi utvecklas. I stället för att analysera det upplevda värdet av företagets produkt uppmanas marknadsföraren här att analysera hur värde uppkommer för kunden som individ över tiden. Detta uppnås genom att företaget lär känna kundens värdeskapande kontext i syfte att förstå var (i vilka aktiviteter) och hur (under vilka premisser) värde uppkommer för kunden. På basis av denna information kan företaget ta ställning till sin roll i kundens värdeskapande process och även visionera om vilken roll företaget kunde ha

The Customer's Process of Value Creation

The purpose of this paper is to analyse value creation from the customer’s perspective with an aim to learn how value emerges for the customer. The author provides empirical findings on customer value and value creation and adds to the present knowledge on value and value creation. The findings show that value for the customer emerges in a variety of activities related to use and ownership, but that use and ownership are not equivalent to value creation as value does not always emerge. Based on the findings from empirical and theoretical sources, the author concludes that value could be defined as a positive emotional response and it is proposed that market offerings and relations to service providers do not contribute to the customer’s process of value creation until a personal meaning has been ascribed to them by the customer.Valore, Processo di creazione del valore, consumatore

The making of marketing decisions in modern marketing environments

Currently, marketing is undergoing a major shift driven by environmental disruptions and advances in marketing technologies. This shift has implications for marketing decision-making. However, research on how marketing managers navigate modern marketing environments’ complex, volatile, and data-intensive nature is limited. This study addresses this gap by qualitatively analyzing marketing managers’ decision-making processes in 15 companies. Using the naturalistic decision-making approach and the situative perspective on cognition and action as theoretical lenses, we identify three key characteristics of decision-making in modern marketing environments—namely, agility, inventiveness, and reflexiveness. Our findings provide empirically grounded insights into the cognitive and behavioral processes involved in marketing decision-making and contribute to a deeper understanding of how managers navigate—and respond to—modern marketing environments’ challenges.peerReviewe

Marketing and the Logic of Service: Value Facilitation, Value Creation and Co-creation, and Their Marketing Implications

The discussion of a service-dominant logic has made the findings of decades of service marketing research a topic of interest for marketing at large. Some fundamental aspects of the logic such as value creation and its marketing implications are more complex than they have been treated as so far and need to be further developed to serve marketing theory and practice well. Following the analysis in the present article it is argued that although customers are co-producers in service processes, according to the value-in-use notion adopted in the contemporary marketing and management literature they are fundamentally the creators of value for themselves. Furthermore, it is concluded that although by providing goods and services as input resources into customers’ consumption and value-generating processes firms are fundamentally value facilitators, interactions with customers that exist or can be created enable firms to engage themselves with their customers’ processes and thereby they become co-creators of value with their customers. As marketing implications it is observed that 1) the goal of marketing is to support customers’ value creation, 2) following a service logic and due to the existence of interactions where the firm’s and the customer’s processes merge into an integrated joint value creation process, the firm is not restricted to making value propositions only, but can directly and actively influence the customer’s value fulfilment as well and extend its marketing process to include activities during customer-firm interactions, and 3) although all goods and services are consumed as service, customers’ purchasing decisions can be expected to be dependant of whether they have the skills and interest to use a resource, such as a good, as service or want to buy extended market offerings including process-related elements. Finally, the analysis concludes with five service logic theses.The discussion of a service-dominant logic has made the findings of decades of service marketing research a topic of interest for marketing at large. Some fundamental aspects of the logic such as value creation and its marketing implications are more complex than they have been treated as so far and need to be further developed to serve marketing theory and practice well. Following the analysis in the present article it is argued that although customers are co-producers in service processes, according to the value-in-use notion adopted in the contemporary marketing and management literature they are fundamentally the creators of value for themselves. Furthermore, it is concluded that although by providing goods and services as input resources into customers’ consumption and value-generating processes firms are fundamentally value facilitators, interactions with customers that exist or can be created enable firms to engage themselves with their customers’ processes and thereby they become co-creators of value with their customers. As marketing implications it is observed that 1) the goal of marketing is to support customers’ value creation, 2) following a service logic and due to the existence of interactions where the firm’s and the customer’s processes merge into an integrated joint value creation process, the firm is not restricted to making value propositions only, but can directly and actively influence the customer’s value fulfilment as well and extend its marketing process to include activities during customer-firm interactions, and 3) although all goods and services are consumed as service, customers’ purchasing decisions can be expected to be dependant of whether they have the skills and interest to use a resource, such as a good, as service or want to buy extended market offerings including process-related elements. Finally, the analysis concludes with five service logic theses

Marketing and the Logic of Service: Value Facilitation, Value Creation and Co-creation, and Their Marketing Implications

The discussion of a service-dominant logic has made the findings of decades of service marketing research a topic of interest for marketing at large. Some fundamental aspects of the logic such as value creation and its marketing implications are more complex than they have been treated as so far and need to be further developed to serve marketing theory and practice well. Following the analysis in the present article it is argued that although customers are co-producers in service processes, according to the value-in-use notion adopted in the contemporary marketing and management literature they are fundamentally the creators of value for themselves. Furthermore, it is concluded that although by providing goods and services as input resources into customers’ consumption and value-generating processes firms are fundamentally value facilitators, interactions with customers that exist or can be created enable firms to engage themselves with their customers’ processes and thereby they become co-creators of value with their customers. As marketing implications it is observed that 1) the goal of marketing is to support customers’ value creation, 2) following a service logic and due to the existence of interactions where the firm’s and the customer’s processes merge into an integrated joint value creation process, the firm is not restricted to making value propositions only, but can directly and actively influence the customer’s value fulfilment as well and extend its marketing process to include activities during customer-firm interactions, and 3) although all goods and services are consumed as service, customers’ purchasing decisions can be expected to be dependant of whether they have the skills and interest to use a resource, such as a good, as service or want to buy extended market offerings including process-related elements. Finally, the analysis concludes with five service logic theses.Service logic; service-dominant logic; service marketing; marketing theory

Exploring the effects of service provider’s organizational support and empowerment on employee engagement and well-being

This paper aims to explore the effects of a service provider’s organizational support and organizational empowerment on employee well-being in the healthcare service context. It also investigates if employee engagement has an effect on employee well-being. An empirical study among the employees (n = 153) of a therapeutic and rehabilitation service provider in Dhaka, Bangladesh reveals that both organizational support and organizational empowerment have positive influences on employee well-being. Although organizational support has the largest effect on employee engagement, the influence of organizational empowerment on employee engagement is not a significant factor. However, employee engagement influences their well-being. The study findings provide insights by explaining the roles that a service provider can play to enhance employee well-being and the strategies that managers can take to realize the positive effects of organizational support and empowerment on well-being.peerReviewe

The Complexity of Value-Creating Networks : Multiplicity, Heterogeneity, and Contingency

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual analysis of the literature on different kinds of value-creating networks; to provide a new conceptual framework of value-creating networks given their inherent nature of complexity in terms of multiplicity, and heterogeneity. Design/methodology/approach: The paper takes a critical review of the relevant literature, 29 contributions being identified in a search of three major databases and a range of other published work for the broader perspective, illustrated by real-world examples from ten case studies. Findings: Central dimensions of different kinds of value-creating networks are identified and a model incorporating their contingencies in the form of technology, market, and firm contextual factors is delineated. Research limitations/implications: The theoretically and empirically grounded conceptualization of linkages between contextual factors and the constitution of different categories of value-creating networks is based on a limited number of articles and cases. However, it can serve as a starting point for the development of a formal contingency model of value-creating networks. Originality/value: This structured and critical review contributes to the literature on value-creating networks, by developing a contingency model as a basis for future studies and current management strategy. The paper provides a novel theoretically and empirically grounded conceptualization of complexities and contingencies of different categories of value-creating networks, and as such contributes to our understanding of the dynamics of value-creating networks. The concept of network logic is introduced into the research discourse regarding value-creating networks