Theory of value co-creation: a systematic literature review

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -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.

Creating a shared narrative: the use of causal layered analysis to explore value co-creation in a novel service ecosystem

“…In order to systematically relate and combine activities and resources with one another-and thus embrace different forms of collaboration-more focus should be placed on both the individual's and the organisation's abilities to reorient and reframe their thinking around systems, networks and ecosystems [27,45]. However, when analysing recent literature reviews on the theory of value co-creation, it seems that the current knowledge and understanding about co-creation is surprisingly incoherent and mainly consists of studies on customer experience [19,20]. Besides understanding the system-level coexistence of structural changes and stability, it is extremely important to recognise the huge differences in how the functioning and the evolution of service ecosystems are being conceptualised, especially depending on the logic being applied.…”

“…Besides the more theoretical discussion of value, increasingly dominated by the networked [13][14][15] and systemic conceptualisation of value creation [16][17][18], more empirical research is needed to validate the so far developed models and concepts of multi-actor value co-creation in real-life business environments [19,20]. Except studies focused on organisational learning [21][22][23] and employee motivation [23] in a variety of socially connected, both internal and external networks [24], little is known about the ways to develop and manage multidimensional networks of actors when loosely coupled in both formalised and nonformalised interactions [25].…”

How Does Value Creation Manifest Itself in the Nexus of Sport and Business? A Systematic Literature Review

“…Accordingly, value is created in exchange processes in which different partners interact with others, both as value-creators and value-beneficiaries, without an explicit division between customers and providers [35]. Value co-creation has been widely adopted, especially in service and marketing literature but also in innovation and technology management, including business-to-business as well as to business-to-customer settings [27].…”

Co-Creation in Health Systems Design

“…Customers find value in the platform products and the services that connect them to users and experts, which builds trust and "stickiness," and Nike derives value from real-time feedback on products that enables more optimal redesigns [3]. Co-creation becomes a win-win for all involved, and it is thus not surprising why several industries-technology, education, retail, law enforcement, and financial services, to name a few-employ co-creation in their core practices [1].…”

“…Co-creation extends beyond consultation with or participation of consumers. It is about integrating customers into the processes of product and service ideation and execution so that their unique perspectives and cooperation may ultimately drive value for both the producer and the customer [1,2].…”