Value Co-Creation As A Marketing Practice: Performance And Firm-level Antecedents

Since the seminal papers of Prahalad and Ramaswamy, and Vargo and Lusch (2004), value cocreation has engendered a wide stream of literature, especially theoretical papers. Although value co-creation is presented as a radical departure for marketing practice, we have had limited knowledge about value co-creation in managers' domain so far, especially for those operating on B to C markets. Notably, we have little insight into the factors fostering the emergence of value co-creation within firms. Furthermore, we ignore whether value co-creation has a positive effect on firms' performance. Based on two surveys of French managers involved in B to C marketing (123 junior managers and 120 senior managers), our research conceptualizes value co-creation as a unique marketing practice, encompassing value-in-use and co-production components. After analysis through PLS-SEM, our results unveil the role of firm-level antecedents related to organizational culture - adhocracy and proactive market orientation. In addition, our analysis identifies a significant positive effect of value co-creation practice on firms' performance. Thus, our research encourages managers to engage into value co-creation in case this practice lines up with their organization's culture