Initiating value co-creation: Dealing with non-receptive customers

Scholarly emphasis on the significance of integrating customer and supplier work processes to co-create customer value is increasingly important. While suppliers and customers working closely is imperative for the success of the value co-creation (VCC) process, customers’ reluctance at times to allow suppliers into their environments has not been fully explored. The present study is an expansive qualitative inquiry consisting of 114 in-depth interviews across 57 business-to-business evaluations that aims to understand both the nuanced nature of customer non-receptivity to specific VCC initiatives and those strategies suppliers may adopt to successfully manage it. Findings elicit three potential kinds of customer non-receptivity: apathy, ambivalence, and annoyance. Furthermore, conclusions propose six strategies suppliers may use to manage customer non-receptivity: intrinsic initiative, inspiration and implementation, complexity absorption, value alignment, credibility building, and objective centrality.