This thesis is concerned with the complexity of communicating sustainability in a co-creative context. Sustainability is seen as three dimension, namely economic sustainability, social sustainability and environmental sustainability. This thesis includes all three dimensions in the sustainability communication. The purpose is to investigate how sustainability can be understood and explained in a co-creative incubator. Since the research of sustainability communication within the co-creative literature is relatively undiscovered this thesis makes an attempt to conceptualise the sustainability communication. The context of the study is a single case study of an incubator with a co-creative approach. The research took an abductive approach with the method of a qualitative empirical collection. The empirical data collection consists of semistructured interviews with actors in the co-creative incubator, namely top management, business designers and startups. Findings reveal that the sustainability communication can be understood and explained through a challenge based view. Every startup face different challenges and sustainability is communicated accordingly. However, the communication of economic sustainability is more direct than the other two dimensions. Additionally, the complex communication in the co-creative incubator shed new lights on the concept of trust within co-creation. The intensity of sustainability communication implies to be dependent on trust between incubator and startups. This thesis adds original insights to the field of combining co-creation and incubators, specifically factors that influence the sustainability communication in the co-creative incubator.

This thesis aims to examine if and how Value Co-Creation works online, and what interactions the customers believe to be of importance to continue a relationship with a company. The problem of the thesis is how to create value in order to establish long-term relationships with customers in an online environment where the element of face to face interactions is absent, and switching costs facing the customers are non-existent. There is little research made about Value Co-Creation in an online setting, further how Co-Creation of Value affects the ability to establish and maintain Customer Relationships. This paper utilized a qualitative research approach and was executed through a case study built up by a thorough analysis of a marketing plan and the value creating activities of Company X, and semi-structured interviews with twelve customers of Company X to investigate how these activities are perceived. The conclusion of the research in this paper is that Company X performs activities that allows Co-Creation of Value. Further, it was concluded that the services provided by Company X contributes with important factors when trying to establish and maintain relationships with their customers.

Tentando gerar inovações e maior aceitação no mercado, as vinícolas brasileiras têm investido em estrutura física que proporcione uma experiência mais satisfatória do tradicionalmente oferecido pelas redes de varejo. Com o apoio do enoturismo, essas empresas realizam degustações acompanhadas por visitas guiadas em sua propriedade. Contudo, o vinho brasileiro tem sofrido forte concorrência com países como Argentina e Chile. Expostos à concorrência, torna-se necessário que as vinícolas busquem novas alternativas para se diferenciarem. Para isso, as vinícolas buscam maior qualidade e proximidade com os consumidores. Como solução para esse problema, a cocriação possibilita a geração de inovação a partir do envolvimento do cliente. Considerando que a cocriação de valor ocorre a partir das interações das empresas com os consumidores, não é suficiente entender apenas a visão de um dos lados. Para essa investigação, considerou-se os seguintes agentes da cadeia do vinho: a vinícola, os seus intermediários e o consumidor final. Dessa forma, esse estudo teve como objetivo entender quais são os canais adequados para um processo de cocriação de valor na cadeia do vinho. Para tal, fez-se necessária a compreensão de alguns conceitos como relacionamento com o cliente, partindo da Lógica do Serviço Dominante até a cocriação de valor. Abordando, assim, aspectos importantes de quatro modelos conceituais de cocriação de valor. A primeira etapa desse estudo foi qualitativa de finalidade exploratória, para levantamento de informações a respeito de como a vinícola e seus intermediários interagem. A segunda etapa foi quantitativa com finalidade exploratória e foi realizada com os clientes da vinícola Miolo. A vinícola não é o único canal por onde o consumidor consegue obter informações e produtos, sendo assim, foram considerados: uma loja especializada (Vinum) e um e-commerce (Vinhos e Vinhos). A escolha se deu porque esses foram considerados os canais onde as possibilidades de cocriação são maiores. Na primeira etapa desse estudo a técnica de coleta de dados utilizada foi a entrevista em profundidade com um dos responsáveis pela gestão, considerando dois setores da empresa relevantes à essa pesquisa. Na segunda etapa realizou-se um levantamento com 74 consumidores da vinícola. Realizou-se análise de conteúdo na primeira etapa, utilizando-se do software Nvivo. Na segunda etapa realizou-se uma análise descritiva da amostra e testes par verificação de correlações entre as variáveis, a partir do software SPSS. Observou-se que ainda há falhas na comunicação entre as empresas estudadas e seus consumidores, principalmente ao que se relaciona ao diálogo e ao acesso. Ademais, verificou-se que as empresas têm se preocupado menos com questões relacionadas ao planejamento, aprendizagem e métricas. Contudo, observa-se que as três empresas têm feito esforços para se relacionarem com seus clientes, mas as oportunidades de cocriação de valor estão sendo pouco exploradas. / Searching for interaction with customers, trying to generate innovation and greater market acceptance, Brazilian wineries have been investing in an infrastructure able to provide a more satisfactory experience than the one based on purchases at shops and supermarkets. With the support of wine tourism, these wineries hold tastings of some of their products combined with guided tours around the property, showing the customer the wine production method and explaining some important techniques for a better appreciation of the commercialized products. Due to competition with wineries from Argentina e Chile, it is necessary that Brazilian wineries seek new alternatives that will lead to an increased consumer demand of products. For this purpose, the wineries seek greater proximity to customers as well as higher quality. As a solution to this problem, co-creation generates innovation from the engagement of consumers (). Considering that value co-creation happens from interaction between companies and customers, understanding only the consumer vision or the company’s is not enough; an analysis of both must be done. For this investigation, it was considered for the wine productive chain the winery, the intermediary and the final consumer. Two types of intermediaries were considered: shops and e-commerce, since these are the channels with better possibilities for co-creation. Thus, the objective of this study was to understand which channels are appropriate for value co-creation process in the wine productive chain. For this purpose, it’s necessary to comprehend some concepts like relationship with client, from the Service Dominant Logic to co-creation of value. An approach of important aspects of value co-creation conceptual models was made: DART model, from Phahalad and Ramaswamy (2004), Payne, Storbacka and Frow model (2008), Arnould, Price and Malshe model (2006) and Brasil, Santos and Dietrich model (2010). The first stage of this study was qualitative with an exploratory purpose (GIL, 2008) for information survey about the winery and its intermediaries. The second stage was quantitative with an exploratory purpose and was carried out with Miolo winery’s customers. The customer can acquire information and products not only from the winery, so two intermediaries were considered in this study: the e-commerce Vinhos & Vinhos and the wine store Vinum. On the first stage of this study, the data collection technique used was an in-depth interview with the person responsible for the management, considering two important company departments to this research. On the second stage, it was made a survey with 74 winery’s consumers. On the first stage, a content analysis was made using the Nvivo software. On the second stage, a descriptive analysis of the sample and correlation verification test based on the SPSS software were made. It was noted that failures exist in the communication between the surveyed companies and the consumers, mainly related to dialog and access. In addition, it was found that companies are less concerned about issues related to planning, learning and metrics. However, it was noted that the three companies have been making efforts to build a relationship with customers, but the opportunities for value co-creation are not explored enough.

One of the most profound transformations of the marketing discipline in recent history has been driven by the democratization of power relations and value creation between brands and consumers. This dissertation explores the branding implications of this fundamental shift by investigating whether and how the type and degree of control shared by brands affect consumer empowerment perceptions and, in turn, consumer–brand relationships, as well as whether and how these effects might be moderated by the size and diversity of the choice set and by the image valence of the brand that shares control with consumers. The present research examines such questions in a prosocial context by studying an emerging form of co-created social responsibility, cause-related marketing (CM) with choice, in which the consumer, not the brand, chooses the charitable cause to which the brand will donate in response to the consumer’s purchase. By integrating research on power, choice, and brand relationships, this dissertation proposes a conceptual framework that predicts whether, when, and why giving consumers control over a brand’s meaningful decision (operationalized as CM with choice) strengthens consumer–brand relationships. Six experiments test this framework. The dissertation shows that letting consumers choose a brand’s donation recipient strengthens consumer–brand relationships by increasing consumer empowerment and engagement. This serial mediation through empowerment and engagement is replicated across all studies. The main effect can be bolstered by providing consumers either unrestricted choice (i.e., choose any cause from memory) rather than restricted choice (i.e., select from a list of predetermined cause options; Studies 1–4) or a combination of both choice modes (Study 4), but not by expanding the size of the set of cause options (Study 2) or increasing the similarity or dissimilarity of the options (Studies 3a and 3b). Finally, Study 5 reveals that introducing a conventional CM campaign improves brand outcomes (attachment, attitudes, and purchase intentions) regardless of brand image (negative, neutral, or positive) and that adding consumer cause choice to the campaign benefits brands as much as (or more than) introducing the campaign itself does, though only when brand image is neutral or positive. When brand image is negative, adding consumer cause choice fails to improve brand outcomes and can even backfire—a boundary condition similar to the boomerang effect that arises from psychological reactance because consumers prefer to keep their distance. A central implication of this dissertation is that when a brand allows consumers to co-create its charitable giving campaign, neither the choice set’s size or diversity nor consumers’ involvement or satisfaction with the chosen cause brings consumers closer to the brand; instead, what brings them closer to the brand is their increased sense of empowerment, which in turn enhances their engagement with the brand that shares its control. An equally important implication results from the observed boomerang effect, which should serve as a warning for any managers who risk falling into the trap of adopting a standard, one-size-fits-all view of prosocial co-creation as a tool to repair an otherwise defective brand reputation. A strategy that encourages consumers to serve as brand agents by co-creating the brand’s meaning requires caution on the brand’s part. As in interpersonal relationships, the general desire to spend time together must first be at least somewhat mutual before any shared experience—no matter how positive—can make the bond grow stronger.

The age of traditional marketing is beginning to end and the digital revolution will continueits journey. Today, most companies meet their business customers for the first time in a digitalenvironment and decision-makers stay longer more frequently in the digital world beforeinitiating contact with a company. Many argue that companies need to connect, collaborateand co-create with others to be able to succeed. Content marketing and value co-creation arejust some of the methodologies companies could adopt in order to succeed. Previous researchhas investigated value co-creation and partly content marketing, but these combined areashave not been previously researched together. Especially not from a business to businessperspective which this thesis has conducted. This study was initiated based on previousresearch, where a gap was found regarding these subjects. Therefore, the aim of this researchwas to study how value co-creation can be achieved through content marketing, from anenterprise perspective.This research was constructed by performing a multiple-case study on two Swedishcompanies, with two employees on each company. The data collection resulted in valuableinsights regarding the process of value co-creation and content marketing. The theoretical andempirical findings include similar views of the research areas, which are further presented inthe discussion chapter where the DARTT model has been used as a tool. Additionally, thisstudy proves it is possible to co-create value with a business's customers through contentmarketing and it also presents a general suggestion of how it can be achieved. Lastly, we hopeour thesis has the potential of acting as a base for further research, such as exploring the mosteffective digital platforms within content marketing from a business to business perspective,since it was not the purpose of this study to present that kind of insight. / Den digitala revolutionen kommer att fortsätta påverka dagens marknadsföring och dentraditionell marknadsföringen börjar att hamna i skymundan för de nya trenderna. Mångaföretag möter idag sina företagskunder för första gången i en digital miljö och flerbeslutsfattare än någonsin stannar kvar i den digitala världen innan de initierar kontakt medett företag. Många argumenterar även för att företag ska sammarbeta och samskapa med andraparter för att kunna nå framgång. Innehållsmarknadsföring och samskapande av värde ärnågra metodiker som företag kan anta för att kunna lyckas fortsätta attrahera kunder i endigital miljö. Tidigare forskning har undersökt samskapande av värde och även till viss delinnehållsmarknadsföring, men dessa områden har inte tidigare blivit undersökta tillsammans.Speciellt inte från ett business to business perspektiv som denna uppsats innehar. Dennastudie initierades på grund av tidigare forskningen, där ett gap hittades mellan dessa områden.Syftet med denna forskning är att studera hur samskapande av värde tillsammans med kundenkan bli utfört genom innehållsmarknadsföring, från ett företagsperspektiv.Denna studien är utförd med hjälp av en multipel fallstudie på två svenska företag, där tvåanställda har intervjuats på varje företag. Datainsamlingen resulterade i relevant insikt inomföretagens processer angående samskapande av värde och framtida kampanjer inominnehållsmarknadsföring. Både tidigare forskning och empirin inkluderar liknande perspektivinom forskningsområdena, vilket är presenterat i diskussionskapitlet där DARTT modellenhar används som ett verktyg. Denna studien bevisar att det är möjligt för ett företag attsamskapa värde med kunder genom innehållsmarknadsföring och den presenterar även ettgenerellt förslag på hur detta kan bli utfört. Slutligen hoppas vi att vår avhandling harmöjlighet att stå till grund för vidare forskning, exempelvis gällande vilka digitala plattformarsom är de mest effektiva i innehållsmarknadsföring från ett business to business perspektiv,eftersom detta inte var syftet med vår studie.

A definition of value, a higher order construct, how it is created and its constituents remains elusive. This research aims to explain value co-creation and its key enablers in the management consulting industry. Service Dominant Logic (S-DL) first published by Vargo & Lusch (2004) has fostered extensive debate ever since, and with the Service Logic theory of the so-called Nordic School of Marketing (Grönroos, 2011b) they have encouraged research on subjects under the optic of value co-creation (S-DL), value facilitation (SL) and exchange of service, arguing that value is only phenomenologically assessed by the customer (S-DL) and that the only real value is customer’s value-in-use (SL). The understanding of how value is co-created has been scarcely researched empirically as, for instance, Aarikka-Stenroos & Jaakkola (2012) have. Capabilities management has been related to a firm’s resources and the Resource-Based View (RBV); however, empirical research relating capabilities to the process of value co-creation in b2b context has also been discussed as sparse (Lindgreen, Hingley, Grant and Morgan, 2012).This research explores interconnectedness of value, relationship-interaction and dynamic capabilities in management consultancy, and responds to the following research question: What arrays of capabilities and interaction are required for management consulting sustained value-facilitation? The subjects of relationship and interaction are discussed as core to value co-creation while investigating the intervening role of dynamic capabilities. A qualitative abductive methodology is applied, founded on a critical realist philosophical argumentation. The iterative deductive-inductive methods involved in the abductive process ideally approach the open ended questions that emerge researching social phenomena. The data is obtained by elite interviews with executive consultants and CXO level customers, who have had profound experience of consulting assisted co-creation initiatives. Four abductive iterations of data collection and analysis are applied, departing from a theoretical framework that emerges from the review of extant literature and that is informed by the research question. The salient constructs from contextually complex discussions are analysed and lastly synthesized in an overarching model. This research contributes mainly in two areas: (1) The identification of relationship/interaction in consulting at the core of value co-creation, and its key characteristics as a dynamic context. Co-creation is proposed as an evolving-adaptive process dependent on relationship through interaction.(2) The identification of capabilities that allow relationship and co-creation and higher order capabilities that develop capabilities, which emerge from deliberate reflection of the consultant’s strategy. Such dynamic capabilities develop and orchestrate capabilities for value facilitation and customer value creation.

The bottom of the pyramid (BoP) market in Africa is a significant opportunity for multinational banks. To address this banks’ need to increase their understanding of their BoP context, develop new approaches to overcome BoP obstacles, and use technology to create new commercially viable business models. The purpose of this study was to investigate how banks use co-creation with stakeholders to operate in BoP markets in Africa. The research explored how banks provide services to companies and individuals that currently do not use banks services, and acquire understanding by working with companies, individuals and other market actors to generate services that creates an infrastructure for BoP markets to ‘work’. This study addresses the gap in the research on how banks co-create in BoP markets, providing understanding of how banks’ create approaches to customers and operating models to achieve sustainable growth in BoP markets. Empirically, the study examined specific bank projects to better understand how co-creation supports banks to delivers sustainable and scalable business models. The main findings from the empirical research demonstrated positive results, strong leadership and commercial management are critical to banks operating in BoP markets in Africa; concurring with arguments put forward by Casado Cañeque and Hart (2015) and extending London and Hart’s (2010) analysis into a banking context. Research confirmed post-financial-crisis corporate governance of banks and their boards’ ability to ensure they can demonstrate their banks are well managed, and management having a detailed understanding of the operations, has created trade-offs and restrictions on how banks operate in BoP markets. No common strategies emerged to create a new business model for banking in BoP markets in Africa. No immediate significant new direction emerged for banks to overcome their business models’ legacy of inflexibility to address the needs of BoP customers. Results revealed bank proposition development approach remains generally focused on developed, rather than developing, customer contexts and regulations. The majority of BoP customers in Africa remain excluded due to cost, distance, and a lack of suitable products, as variables such as access, cost and regulation made it challenging for banks to provide compelling bank-wide propositions. BoP customers in Africa are becoming easier to access, as banks, card networks, and mobile network operators use digital technology, like mobile phones, to access BoP customer markets at lower costs than traditional business models, allowing new approaches to proposition development, such as test and learn in the field. The findings demonstrated value in co-creation via partnerships, supporting Simanis (2012), who maintained that firms are likely to be successful in BoP markets if they use existing infrastructure and local partnerships to enter BoP markets, and that pioneering work on microfinance initiatives embracing new approaches to digital technology across banking markets has led banks to reconcile the need for new approaches to BoP markets.

This thesis analyzes co-creation, a modern trend in marketing, and guides companies how to use co-creation to increase efficiency of their marketing practices. Co-creation is placed in the framework of digitalization, which is current megatrend in marketing influencing the traditional marketing methods. After deep analysis of current trends in marketing with focus on digitalization, the thesis emphases co-creation, describes the process of co-creation and applies it to an example of co-creation project of the brand Fa. It presents that co-creation project needs to be well planned and well executed as it can otherwise lead into brand dilution or the results would be different from company's objectives. In the end of the thesis, recommendations are deduced based on the concluded survey showing the further steps in Fa co-creation project as well as co-creation in general.

The aim of this master thesis is to analyze co-creation as a marketing strategy and its use in Czech republic. Diploma thesis is divided into two parts, theoretical and practical. Theoretical part evaluate marketing communication strategies, principles of market research and consumer behavior. Practical part explains co-creation phenomena and evaluate its position in czech marketing strategies. Thesis also contains market research focused on perception of co-creation in public and business sector and medial analysis. Further part describe agency Perfect Crowd and its co-creation projects. Thesis is concluded by reccomendation for the future, based on overall analysis.

Abstract available through the North American Society for Sport Management Conference (NASSM 2018).