Co-Creation Of Value In Business-To-Business Services

Abstract

Although marketing researchers pay increasing attention to the co-creation of value, switching costs and customer share, not much is known about their interrelationships. This study extracts prior research by developing a conceptual framework linking all of these constructs in the business-to-business (BtoB) service setting, including the detailed examination of the process of co-creation of value. On the basis of the achievements in services marketing and relationship marketing, this study hypothesises that co-creation of value mediates switching costs and that indirect customer values and co-creation of value are positively related to customer share. The author tests the hypotheses on data obtained from corporate managers in charge of their banking relationship. The results of the study support most of the hypotheses and, in particular, confirm the mediating role of co-creation of value in a BtoB context.