Unboxing Co-creation of Value: Users’ Hedonic and Utilitarian Drivers

Abstract

Value co-creation through involving users in service processes via resource integration is a focal service research interest. However, studies often take a firm-centric or generic approach and overlook value co-creation from the point view of an individual user. We address this gap by adopting a qualitative research approach and laddering interviews (n = 113) to examine users’ hedonic and utilitarian drivers for value co-creation behavior in five service system contexts. We argue that underlying differences exist among all service systems and contribute with a novel approach by depicting the differences in value-based motivations for users to co-create value. As practical implications, our findings suggest services should be designed according to users’ value drivers rather than system types. Furthermore, we demonstrate how the consumer information systems (CIS) framework can be used to benchmark users’ value co-creation behavior with specific service systems or to compare such behavior between different service systems.