How valuable are your customers in the brand value co-creation process? The development of a Customer Co-Creation Value (CCCV) scale☆
Introduction
Co-creation of value has become a widely researched construct, particularly since Vargo and Lusch's (2004) observation that marketing is moving toward a more service-centered logic. Central to this service-dominant (S-D) logic perspective are the foundational propositions (FPs) that value can only be created between a firm and its stakeholders in every aspect of the value chain (FP6) and that it is the beneficiary who always uniquely and phenomenologically determines this value through value-in-use perceptions (FP10). However, despite an increasing amount of research on co-creation of value, in general, there has been very little focus on brand value co-creation (e.g., Payne et al., 2009, Ramaswamy and Ozcan, 2016). This is despite a widespread acknowledgment that customers and firms always co-create brand value together (Merz et al., 2009, Vargo and Lusch, 2016). Illustrative of such brand value co-creation efforts are Dove's “Speak Beautiful” initiative that encouraged customers to contribute to the brand's marketing communication by tweeting positive body image thoughts, Nike and the Livestrong Foundation's “Chalkbot” initiative that contributed toward the brand's marketing communication, and Whirlpool's “Every Day, care™ Project” initiative that connected customers to one another to induce their contributions toward the brand's customer acquisition, expansion, and retention efforts (Harmeling, Moffett, Arnold, & Carlson, 2017).
A possible explanation for this lack of research on brand value co-creation is a lack of understanding of the concept of brand value when examined from the perspective of the S-D logic (Merz et al., 2009, Ramaswamy and Ozcan, 2016). Based on the tenets of the S-D logic, this research views brand value as the perceived use value co-created and determined collectively by all the actors in the ecosystem (Merz et al., 2009). Accordingly, it views brand value co-creation as the process of creating perceived use value for a brand through network relationships and social interactions among the ecosystem of all actors (Vargo & Lusch, 2016). Against this new perspective, it is unclear how customers can help co-create brand value and how their value can be assessed. While a few studies provide insights into how brand value can be co-created between a firm and its customers (e.g., Fournier, 1998, Harmeling et al., 2017), no research systematically explores the exact nature of brand value co-creation. Moreover, while existing research has proposed different measures related to co-creation (e.g., Ranjan and Read, 2016, Yi and Gong, 2013), no research has developed a measure that assesses customers' value in the brand value co-creation process.
To fill this gap and provide marketers with a more systematic way of understanding value contributions of customers to a firm's brand value creation efforts, this research (1) develops an integrative framework of the new construct of Customer Co-creation Value (CCCV) and (2) reports the development of a reliable and valid CCCV scale. The CCCV scale gauges the value customers contribute to a brand. It helps firms understand how customers can contribute to a firm's brand value co-creation efforts and how to assess their contribution value.
Section snippets
Co-creation and determination of value
The S-D logic with its FPs provides a suitable framework for how value is created. It rests on the premise that service is the fundamental basis of exchange (FP1) and that goods are solely distribution mechanisms for service provision (FP3; Vargo & Lusch, 2016). The S-D logic suggests that value is always co-created between multiple actors, always including the beneficiary (FP6; Vargo & Lusch, 2016). The interaction orientation of the S-D logic is also implied by the relational orientation
Co-creation and determination of brand value
Brand value has been conceptualized as the value that is solely attributable to a brand. Just as value, in general, is determined by the beneficiary through perceived use value, so too can brand value be viewed as being determined by the beneficiary. Therefore, in line with previous research, brand value can be viewed as the perceived use value (i.e., customers' experiential evaluation of the product or service proposition) that is solely attributable to the brand (Merz et al., 2009, Ramaswamy
Customers' co-creation value (CCCV) and its dimensions
Previous research suggests that there are two ways in which customers can help firms co-create brand value: through their ability and through their willingness. Therefore, the CCCV scale should encompass both categories.
Customers' ability to co-create brand value is founded upon the customer engagement marketing literature. It refers to customers' voluntary resource contribution to a firm's brand building activities. Harmeling et al. (2017) refer to this as customer-owned resources, which
Scale development and validation procedures
The process to develop a valid and reliable scale measuring stakeholders' CCCV started with a review of the relevant literature, and subsequently proceeded with standard scale development procedures (e.g., Churchill, 1979, Nunnally and Bernstein, 1994). The entire process comprises eight studies (see online Appendix A).
Theoretical contributions
This research introduced the concept of CCCV, provided a conceptual definition, and developed a multidimensional scale to measure the construct. The brand engagement (Harmeling et al., 2017) and brand relationship quality (Fournier, 1998) literature served as a theoretical foundation for the developed conceptual model. The findings of this research are in accordance with Ranjan and Read's (2016) work on the value co-creation concept. They are also in line with research that has theoretically
Michael A. Merz is Associate Professor of Marketing at the Lucas College of Business of San José State University. His main research areas comprise the study of business-to-business and consumer branding, service dominant-logic (SDL) and cross-cultural marketing. He published in international peer-reviewed journals including the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, the Industrial Marketing Management, the Journal of International Marketing, and the International Marketing Review.
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Cited by (0)
Michael A. Merz is Associate Professor of Marketing at the Lucas College of Business of San José State University. His main research areas comprise the study of business-to-business and consumer branding, service dominant-logic (SDL) and cross-cultural marketing. He published in international peer-reviewed journals including the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, the Industrial Marketing Management, the Journal of International Marketing, and the International Marketing Review.
Lia Zarantonello is Professor in Marketing at the Business School of the University of Roehampton, UK. Prior to joining the University of Roehampton, she held positions at University of Bath (UK), IÉSEG School of Management (France), and Bocconi University (Italy). Her research interests are in the field of brand management and consumer psychology. She published in international peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of Marketing, the Journal of Consumer Psychology, the International Journal of Research in Marketing, the International Marketing Review, the Journal of Advertising Research, the International Journal of Advertising, and the Journal of Brand Management. In 2015, she co-authored, for Routledge, the first Handbook of Brand Management Scales.
Silvia Grappi is Associate Professor of Marketing at the Department of Economics of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. Her primary research interests are in the areas of consumer behavior and branding. Her current research explores consumer responses to company strategic decisions, human emotions, consumer reactions to corporate social responsibility (CSR), counterfeit consumption and consumer behavior in the tourism industry. She published in international peer-reviewed journals including the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, the International Journal of Research in Marketing, the Journal of Business Research, the Journal of Business Ethics, the European Journal of Marketing, Psychology & Marketing, the Journal of Brand Management, and the International Marketing Review.
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The Authors are grateful to the Editor, Associate Editor, and anonymous Reviewers for their comments. They are also thankful to Dr. Kosaku Morioka for his contribution to data analysis reported in footnote 3.