G5 Doctoral dissertation (article)
Explaining digital service users’ pursuit of value : a value co-creation and co-destruction perspective (2020)

Lumivalo, J. (2020). Explaining digital service users’ pursuit of value : a value co-creation and co-destruction perspective [Doctoral dissertation]. Jyväskylän yliopisto. JYU dissertations, 330. http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-39-8447-2

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Lumivalo, Juuli

eISBN: 978-951-39-8447-2

Journal or series: JYU dissertations

eISSN: 2489-9003

Publication year: 2020

Number in series: 330

Number of pages in the book: 1 verkkoaineisto (111 sivua, 29 sivua useina numerointijaksoina, 5 numeroimatonta sivua)

Publisher: Jyväskylän yliopisto

Place of Publication: Jyväskylä

Publication country: Finland

Publication language: English

Persistent website address: http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-39-8447-2

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Open Access channel

Abstract

In the era of digital services, services account for approximately 70% of the global economy. Service-dominant logic (SDL), as a lens for understanding services as value co-creation (VCC) processes, serves to elucidate how value can be derived from the use of digital services. However, the prior research in this area has tended to adopt a firm-centric or generic approach to designing and developing systems, paying less attention on the perspective of an individual user. Further, SDL tends to overlook the possibility of negative service outcomes following the use of such systems, that is, value co-destruction (VCD). Therefore, this dissertation investigates the phenomena of VCC and VCD through five qualitative studies. First, we conduct a meta-analysis of laddering interviews (n = 113) to examine service users’ hedonic and utilitarian drivers in relation to VCC behavior as well as to identify VCC mechanisms for digital service design. Using the interpretive structural modelling (ISM) approach, we show that VCC is contextually dependent and occurs in different ways depending on the digital service in question. Our findings also show that VCC is driven by both hedonic and utilitarian user values. Subsequently, we perform a structured literature review and propose a synthesized framework for the VCD process. The framework comprises two interrelated dimensions (i.e., VCD drivers and VCD interaction components) and their constituents, which occur at three temporal points of the service encounter. Further, we conduct an in-depth case study involving digital service users (n = 43) in the augmented reality mobile games context, thereby examining the users’ VCD experiences. We employ a hierarchical clustering analysis and propose the reasoning behind users’ VCD experiences. Subsequently, we conduct an ISM analysis to reveal the VCD process mechanisms that occur at four hierarchical levels. The proposed models of VCC and VCD contribute to both research and practice by offering new insights into the favorable and unfavorable aspects of services, shedding particular light on individual users’ service experiences. Linking the concepts of VCC and VCD, this dissertation extends the SDL framework with insights into the two distinct phenomena. Our findings may be harnessed in the design, development, and provision of digital services, thereby enhancing both the service experience and the derived value.

Keywords: online services; mobile games; service production; service business; value creation; revenue model; users; user-centeredness; service design

Free keywords: value co-creation; value co-destruction; digital services; digital service design; augmented reality mobile games

Contributing organizations

Ministry reporting: Yes

VIRTA submission year: 2020