A conceptual framework for value co-creation in servicenterprises (Case of tourism agencies)

Abstract

Traditional companiessed toesign products,valuate marketing messages, and control productistribution channels with a low level of customer contribution. Nonetheless, with the advancements in communication and information technologies, the interactionetween customers and company is much higher compared to the past, and it is no longer solely controlledy the companies; thus,sers can now impact companiesy simultaneously playing two roles as value creators and as consumers. The present studyevelops a conceptual framework for value co-creation in small-and medium-sized tourism agencies. The sample consisted of 23 purposefully selectedmployees and managers of small-and medium-sized tourism agencies. Data werextracted from semi-structured interviews and analyzed with open and axial coding. For validity, anight-person panel ofxperts was asked to review the framework and to apply corrective comments. The reliability was testedsing a re-test method, which confirmed the reliability of the coding with a re-test reliability of 79%. Based on the findings, the proposed framework containsight components including value inception, value conception, value risk, resource planning, platform, actors, co-creation process, co-created value, and learning process, whose components were identified andncoded.