Why Do We Need Research on Value Co-destruction?

Abstract

Because of the etymology of the word ‘value’, this article argues that value co-creation research and practice have been biased from their early days. Value co-destruction appears then as a concept that enables to keep some distance from this bias, and to have a better and more realistic understanding of value processes. More research on this topic is thus needed, especially in the rapidly growing context of ecosystems that make the analysis of value co-creation and value co-destruction even more complex. Finally, the article contends that research on co-destruction is a necessary, but not sufficient, step to depart from the etymological bias on value. To that end, it calls for a renewed value-related terminology to make it more encompassing, less biased and closer to real business life.