The study proceeds from a phenomenom called co-creation. If value can be created, it is logic to asume that it also can be destroyed. This phenomenom has earlier not been applied to long-term relationships such as business to business. In a business relationship it is important to identify factors, that leads to co-destruction, to be able to prevent them from appering. The purpose of this study is to identify which factors leads towards co-destruction. The study have used theories from Echeverri & Skålén (2011) which has designed a model explaning the outcome of co-creation and co-destruction. This model has been used to further develop the phenomenom and to only focus on co-destruction. Theories from Smith (2013) has been used to understand the resources exploited by parties in an interaction. These resources could be misused and lead to co-destruction. Plé & Chumpitaz Cáceres (2010) mean that the misues may be intentional or unintentional. The study has identified six factors that leads to co-destruction. These are: 1. To high expectations of budget, goals and time, 2. Non-continous information pick-ups, 3. Subjective condition, 4. Ancoring of organization, 5. Non-continous communication and 6. Detailed control of project. These factors are summarized in a proprietary model that explains the evolution of co-destruction.

Enligt Service-dominant logic perspektivet delges en konsument ett värdeerbjudande som denne sedan agerar på. Beroende på interaktionsutfall påverkas kundnöjdheten. Kopplingen mellan interaktionsutfallen no-creation och co-destruction samt deras påverkan på kundnöjdheten är outforskad. Studien syftar till att undersöka individers upplevda kundnöjdhet av värdeerbjudanden som presenteras via direkta- samt indirekta digitala marknadsföringsaktiviteter. För studien konstruerades en modell där värdeerbjudanden via direkta (mejl) och indirekta (Facebook) digitala marknadsföringskanaler studerades. Detta för att skapa förståelse kring vilket interaktionsutfall; co-creation, no-creation eller co-destruction värdeerbjudandet resulterade i baserat på konsumenternas upplevelse samt hur kundnöjdheten påverkades. Föreliggande studie använde sig av en kvalitativ forskningsansats där tolv semistrukturerade intervjuer utfördes. Resultatet visar att vid direkta digitala marknadsföringsaktiviteter (mejl) var en lägre frekvens av värdeerbjudanden och mer information i mejlutskicken två faktorer som resulterade i co-creation med en ökad kundnöjdhet som följd. Utfallet no-creation uppkom om konsumenten hade en relation med värdeleverantören men saknade intresse vid tillfället för värdeerbjudandet, vilket resulterade i en oförändrad kundnöjdhet. Om frekvensen av värdeerbjudanden var för hög eller om värdeerbjudandena var icke-personliga uppkom utfallet co-destruction, vilket resulterade i en minskad kundnöjdhet. Vid indirekta digitala marknadsföringsaktiviteter (Facebook) visar resultatet att transparens från företagens sida gentemot konsumenten och anpassningen av värdeerbjudandet gentemot konsumentens preferenser var två faktorer som ledde till co-creation, med ökad kundnöjdhet som följd. Flertalet respondenter upplevde att de fick förväntade- eller icke intresseväckande värdeerbjudanden, vilka resulterade i no-creation, med en oförändrad kundnöjdhet som följd. Även vid indirekt digital marknadsföring ledde hög frekvens till co-destruction. Vilket även värdeerbjudanden som upplevdes göra personintrång gjorde. Dessa resulterade i minskad kundnöjdhet. Föreliggande studie styrker existerande forsknings slutsats; att co-creation leder till ökad kundnöjdhet. Vidare utökas förståelsen med en modell konstruerad av författarna för att tydliggöra det faktum att no-creation leder till en oförändrad kundnöjdhet och att co-destruction leder till en minskad kundnöjdhet. Därutöver visar studien vilka faktorer som påverkar konsumentens interaktionsutfall. / According to the Service-dominant logic perspective, a consumer is served a value proposition on which he or she then acts. Depending on the interaction outcome, customer satisfaction is affected. However, the link between the interaction outcomes no-creation and co-destruction and its impact on customer satisfaction is yet unexplored. This study aims to examine individuals' perceived customer satisfaction of value propositions that are presented via direct and indirect digital marketing activities. A model was constructed by the authors in which value propositions via direct (email) and indirect (Facebook) digital marketing channels were examined. To create an understanding of which interaction outcome (co-creation, no-creation, and co-destruction) different value propositions resulted in, based on consumers' experience and how this affected customer satisfaction. The study used a qualitative approach in which twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted.The results indicate that within indirect digital marketing activities (e-mail), a lower frequency of value propositions containing more information were factors that resulted in co-creation with increased customer satisfaction as a result. No-creation occurred if the consumer had a relationship with the value provider but lacked interest at the time of the value proposition, which resulted in unchanged customer satisfaction. If the frequency of value propositions was too high or the value propositions were non-personal, co-destruction occurred, which resulted in a reduction in customer satisfaction.In indirect digital marketing activities (Facebook), the results show that transparency from the company's side towards the consumer and the level of adaption of the value proposition towards the consumer's preferences led to co-creation, with increased customer satisfaction. No-creation occurred when the customers had received expected or uninteresting value propositions, resulting in unchanged customer satisfaction. Value propositions that had a high frequency or that were perceived to make personal infringement were factors that led to co-destruction, which resulted in reduced customer satisfaction.The present study supports existing research's results, that co-creation leads to increased customer satisfaction. The understanding is expanded with a model constructed by the authors which clarifies that no-creation leads to unchanged customer satisfaction and that co-destruction leads to reduced customer satisfaction. Furthermore, the study also examines which factors that affect the customer’s interaction outcome.

In today's business, organizations are working with external stakeholders to develop a better product. Customers are one such stakeholder with whom organizations collaborate to develop a product fulfilling their needs. This process of Co-Creation facilitates organizations to get closer to their customers. Also in the study made in the year 2016 for the 19th annual global CEO survey, 90% of the CEOs have claimed Customers to be their main priorities. Further in the literature has also debated the process of customer co-creation being complex and studies have been made to understand the Ups and Downs of the process. Problem Background: Based on the opportunity in the field of Co-Creation growing rapidly and literature arguing on both Success and failure of the process, we in our thesis aim to address the gap of identifying the factors that influence the Customer Co-Creation Process. The Purpose of our thesis was to Identify the Factors for Organizations that Influence the process and suggest to imply those factors during the process of Co-Creation for a better result.  To answer our research question we chose a qualitative approach by interviewing a total of 5 members from different organizations and different businesses in a semi-structured interview format. We chose to do research from both Customer and Organizational perspective, we formed 2 cases out of the 4 interviews and one as an expert in the field of New Product Development. The main findings of our research shows 6 Main Influencing Factors and 12 Sub Factors within 6 main factors that enrich the process of co-creation. The factors are Communication (Feedback & Highlighting the need to Customer), Management (Environment, Relationship Management, Flexibility /Exploratory, Leadership, Rewards/Incentives, Selection of Customer), Transparency, Commitment & Trust (Secrecy Concern, Sharing of IP), Consistency, Training (Employee and Customer). Our research shows the factors on the application during the co-creation process can influence the process to a better output. We have suggested the organizations in our Organizational Implications on how these factors can influence the process to a better output. Thus, answering our research question.

This study is rooted in the Service Dominant Logic (SDL) theory and explores the phenomenon of value co-destruction, the context being chatbot-mediated customer service, with a focusing on chatbots affiliation with value-co-destruction and on the impacts outsideof the dyadic relationship between the service provider and receiver, described as the broader consumer ecosystem. It is evident that the relationship between businesses and consumers is being revolutionized through the implementation of chatbots, claiming benefits such as improved operational efficiency, and non-time specific service. However, Plé (2017) argues that SDL research is overly focused on value co-creation and not enough on value codestruction, as well as being too narrowly focused on specific factors, therefore more studies are needed in exploring the effects on the broader ecosystem involved. Therefore, this study aims to explore the value co-destruction and its effects on the broader consumer ecosystem. The research was conducted using a qualitative method, through an interpretivist research philosophy to collect data in the form of the subjective and personal experiences of customers. It also utilized an abductive approach to allow for the generation of new insights through combining established knowledge, empirical evidence, and theory to formulate a proposition and interpretation beyond what is initially apparent. Through semi-structured interviews, 9 participants with prior experiences of customer service orientated interactions with chatbots across various industries were conducted. To analyze the data, a thematic analysis was employed where the findings indicate that in chatbot interactions which result in value co-destruction the effects affect a broader number of stakeholders in the consumer ecosystem such as family and friends.

Som följd av den digitala och teknologiska utveckling som genomsyrat 2010-talet, har konkurrensen bland företag ökat, då det blivit lättare för konkurrenter att träda in på marknaden. Den ökade konkurrensen har i sin tur inneburit att företag blivit mer motiverade att implementera olika strategier för att bygga en djupare relation till sina kunder, för att få dem att stanna kvar hos dem istället för att välja en konkurrent. En av dessa strategier som företag implementerar i allt större utsträckning är att engagera sina kunder. Detta handlar om att initiera ageranden från kund som går utöver transaktioner.Genom att engagera sina kunder, kan företag skapa värde tillsammans med dem, vilket i sin tur kan leda till förbättrade relationer och lönsamhet. Kundens engagemang kan dock även resultera i värdeförstörande, om det inte hanteras på rätt sätt. Detta kan orsaka konsekvenser i form av förlorade kunder och försämrat rykte för företaget.Syftet med vår studie är att skapa en djupare förståelse för om och hur företags arbete med kundengagemang kan leda till värdeskapande eller värdeförstörande. Vi vill undersöka om företag tar dessa olika utfall i beaktning och hur de i så fall arbetar för att främja värdeskapande och undvika värdeförstörande.För att undersöka detta har vi studerat hur företag inom olika branscher arbetar med att skapa engagemang via sociala kanaler. Detta eftersom utvecklingen på sociala kanaler har gått i samma takt som övrig teknik och hela tiden förändras, samt för att majoriteten av företag idag är aktiva på dessa. Vi har genomfört sju kvalitativa djupintervjuer med personer ansvariga över respektive företags sociala kanaler. Den teoretiska bakgrunden om Customer Relationship Management (hädanefter CRM), Social CRM (hädanefter SCRM), kundengagemang, gemensamt värdeskapande och gemensamt värdeförstörande har ställts i förhållande till det material som insamlats från intervjuerna. Genom detta har vi kunnat besvara studiens problemformulering:Hur skapar företag kundengagemang med hjälp av sociala kanaler?Resultatet av studien visar att företag skapar kundengagemang genom att initiera olika typer av interaktioner med sina kunder. I vilken utsträckning företagen skapar engagemang samt hur mycket de tar hjälp av sociala kanaler för att göra detta varierar mellan dem. Resultaten visar även att värde både kan skapas och förstöras i företagens arbete med kundengagemang, vilket bland annat kan bero på företagets resurser närvarande på sociala kanaler, ömsesidighet och felaktiga interaktioner. Företag som strävar efter att skapa kundengagemang med hjälp av sina sociala kanaler behöver därmed tänka på dessa aspekter för att främja värdeskapande och förhindra värdeförstörande.

Interactions are of critical importance in business-to-business contexts, and value seems to be influenced by the interactions between the supplier, customer and other third parties where these interactions co-creates value. However, as the literature has mostly focused on the positive value co-creation, the interactions that result in failure is instead co-destroying value. This thesis is therefore going to study the negative interaction outcome, value co-destruction, in knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) firms from a supplier perspective, where interactions are shown to be critical, to explore proactive practices that could be utilized in order to prevent value co-destruction between the customer and the KIBS firm as well as practices to recover from value codestruction. Through a qualitative multiple-case study, the data was collected from KIBS representatives in the IT-industry in Sweden, that provided empirical data to further nuance the phenomenon. Customer education, unveiling business opportunities, customer surveys, and business events was discovered to be used for proactively preventing value co-destruction, where the authors also found the time aspect of the relationship between value co-creation and value co-destruction to be of importance in preventing miscommunications that result in value co-destruction. Therefore, the authors of this thesis argue that miscommunications and acknowledgment of the miscommunication that co-destroys value often occurs at different time points, where the proactive practices might be targeted towards preventing the miscommunication or targeted towards the recovery from the value co-destruction.

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to explain and to create an understanding if personalized advertising online creates value for customers.  Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative study through 14 semi-structured interviews.  Findings: The study found personalized advertising to be seen as value co-creation in some cases, but because privacy concerns exist and affect the perception of advertising, it can in many cases lead to value co-destruction instead. It is thus a consideration between privacy concerns and the perceived value of the personalized advertising that decides if the offering will co-create or co-destroy value.  Research limitations/implications for future research: Our study did not involve respondents’ younger than 21 years old, which could have affected the result as this is a generation seen as technology savvy. Through a quantitative study, future research could try to find extremes in personalities by conducting a survey with a large sample of people in different ages, nationalities, gender, active online, etc. in order to see if there are correlations between for example age and privacy concerns.  Practical implications: One purpose of the study is to provide companies with insights of how different customers perceive personalized advertising online in terms of customer value in order for companies to know how to think when targeting their customers.  Keywords: online advertising, personalized advertising, personalized-privacy paradox, privacy concerns, value creation, value co-creation, value co-destruction.

Within sports, supporters are an essential actor for how the experience at the stadiums will turn out during games. They are the primary customers while also being a part of the experience for everyone else consuming the sport. It is the supporters in the stands who creates the atmosphere through commitment and chants which complement the experience of watching the game. The aim of the study was to understand how supporters can create and destroy value for themselves and other actors, but also which factors influence their actions. The study was conducted from a Service Dominant Logic perspective since it is well suited to apply theories within co-creation and co-destruction to explain how different actors can affect each other during the value creating process. The study is conducted with supporters of the Swedish ice hockey club Färjestad BK. Twelve qualitative interviews were conducted with active supporters. The result confirms earlier research where it is stated that supporters are essential for sport clubs since they are crucial for creating the atmosphere. The study explains how supporters act as working consumers when they apply their resources to co-create or co-destroy value. The study indicates that supporters’ negative effect on value creation is a large risk for clubs and they can easily co-destroy value since active supporter groups are very influential and emotionally invested actors. It is also shown that the expectations and desires which supporters have before the games plays a major role in whether they are going to contribute to the value creation process or not. The study suggests that clubs should focus on the relationship with their active supporters since they are a major asset while also being a risk for the club. They can deliver unique value which is not possible for the club to create by themselves. / Inom sport så är supportrar en viktig aktör för hur upplevelsen blir inne på arenorna. Supportrar är både de primära kunderna och en del av upplevelsen för övriga som konsumerar sporten, då det är supportrarna på läktaren som skapar stämningen genom sitt engagemang och sång vilket kompletterar upplevelsen för alla utöver själva sporten. Studiens syfte var att skapa förståelse för hur sportsupportrar agerar som värdeskapare och värdeförstörare samt vilka faktorer som påverkar deras roll i värdeskapandeprocessen. Studien har utförts på supportrar utifrån ett Service Dominant Logic perspektiv då det möjliggör tillämpning av teorier inom samskapande och samförstörande för att kunna förklara hur olika aktörer påverkar varandra. Studien har utförts på basis av supportrar till ishockeyklubben Färjestad BK. Det har genomförts tolv kvalitativa intervjuer med aktiva supportrar. Resultatet från studien bekräftar tidigare forskning om hur viktiga supportrar är för klubbens välbefinnande då de är en väldigt stor del av upplevelsen. Studien visar indikationer på att supportrars negativa påverkan på värdeskapandet är en stor risk för klubbar, samt att supportrars förväntningar och önskemål påverkar hur de kommer arbeta för att skapa eller förstöra värde. Klubbar måste bli bättre på att tillvarata den tillgången som aktiva supportergrupper är, både för att de kan leverera unikt värde men även för att minska risken att de förstör värde för övriga åskådare.

Abstract The purpose of this cumulative dissertation is to introduce service, conceptualized by service-dominant logic, as a new explanatory framework to improve the understanding of sustainable development. Sustainability is a megatrend that challenges business and marketers to act upon and respond to global social and environmental problems. Even after over more than five decades of research related to sustainability there is a gap in the transformation to sustainable development of firms and society in large. Specifically, there appears to be a significant gap between sustainable awareness and the actual sustainable behavior of actors and organizations. A systematic approach to the topic of greenwashing is provided, including relevant approaches for its avoidance. Furthermore, the dissertation urges the need of a systematic and more general theoretic framework to connect marketing as a social science with sustainable development instead of fragmenting marketing in sub-disciplines (e.g., sustainable marketing, societal marketing, marketing ethics, etc.). S-D logic is proposed as model of marketing covering three dichotomies: (1) micro/macro, (2) positive (questioning what is?) / normative (questioning what ought to be), and (3) profit sector/nonprofit sector. S-D logic´s narrative is the continuing story of actors interacting, resource integrating and exchanging service, and co-creating value through service ecosystems, governed and evaluated through their institutional arrangements. Though with regards to sustainable development the reflection on conceptualizing value co-destruction is critical. For instance, through the value co-creation process negative value might be created for one actor, both actors, third parties, society, or nature. A strong conceptual link between the process of co-creation of value and the process of value co destruction is ascertainable in the sense of contra indication. In addition, the findings of a literature review indicate that further attention should be paid to imbalance, conflict and power relations between actors and the service ecosystem. Furthermore, the concept of service is extended beyond the human-created phenomenon, by observing that ecosystem services exist in the natural world. A change of perspective on nature is proposed to see nature no longer as a source of resource or a simple resource but as a services provider. Thus, the underlying human-nature relationships may improve.:Abstract III I Table of contents IV II List of Publications: VI III List of Figures VII IV List of Tables VIII 1 General Introduction 1 1.1 Purpose and scope 1 1.2 Theoretical introduction 3 1.2.1 Reason for a new theoretical framework for sustainable development 4 1.2.2 Service as the underlying process for sustainable development 7 1.2.3 S-D logic´s evolvement to a concept of service ecosystem 9 1.2.4 Conceptualizing value co-destruction 11 1.3 Structure of the dissertation 22 1.4 General Summary 24 1.4.1 Summarizing the implications of S-D logic and sustainable development 24 1.4.2 Outlook on general future research for evolving S-D logic in the field of sustainable development 26 1.4.2.1 Creation of value and well-being through fast, sacrifice, or renouncement 27 1.4.2.2 Improve the understanding for micro-macro paradox 27 1.4.2.3 Extension of the human-centric S-D logic to a more general service concept 28 1.4.2.4 Conceptualization of power relations in a service ecosystem 28 1.4.2.5 Pursuing the idea of destructive co-creation of value 30 2 Die normative Ordnung der service-dominierten Logik für ein komplexes Wertnetzwerk–ein innovativer Weg zu mehr Nachhaltigkeit? 32 2.1 Einführung 32 2.2 Das Triple-Bottom-Line-Konzept 34 2.3 Die S-D Logik und die Chance zur normativen Ordnung eines komplexen Wertnetzwerks für mehr Nachhaltigkeit 40 2.3.1 Verbesserung der normativen Ordnung für ein innovatives Nachhaltigkeitskonzept 40 2.3.2 Normative Ordnung im sozialen Raum 42 2.3.3 Einführung in die S-D Logik 44 2.3.4 S-D Logik und nachhaltige Entwicklung 49 2.4 Zusammenfassung und Ausblick 53 3 Avoiding Greenwashing in Event Marketing: An Exploration of Concepts, Literature and Methods 56 3.1 Introduction 57 3.2 Literature review 59 3.2.1 Characteristics of greenwashing in event marketing 59 3.2.2 Current approaches to avoid greenwashing in event marketing 61 3.2.2.1 Identifying greenwashing and its impacts through measurement 63 3.2.2.2 Developing and applying internal rules 65 3.2.2.3 Creating a (multi-)stakeholder approach 66 3.2.2.4 Realignment according to laws and statutory regulations 68 3.2.2.5 Applying eco-labelling 69 3.3 Discussion, implications and further research 73 3.3.1 Discussion 73 3.3.2 Theoretical contributions and practical implications 75 3.3.3 Limitations and future research 78 4 Service Dominant Logic as a New Fundamental Framework for Analyzing Event Sustainability: A Case Study from the German Meetings Industry 80 4.1 Introduction 80 4.2 Literature review 84 4.2.1 S-D Logic as a new approach for the sustainable development of events 84 4.2.2 Events and the Service Dominant logic 84 4.3 S-D Logic and (event) sustainability 89 4.4 Case study 92 4.4.1 Case study context 92 4.4.2 Data collection 93 4.4.3 Data analysis 94 4.4.4 Findings 95 4.4.4.1 Micro level 96 4.4.4.2 Meso level 99 4.4.4.3 Macro level 102 4.5 Discussion 106 4.5.1 Theoretical contributions 109 4.5.2 Practical implications 110 4.5.3 Limitations and future research 111 References 114 Darstellung des wissenschaftlichen Werdegangs 137 Selbständigkeitserklärung 139 Bibliographische Darstellung 140

Background: Crowdfunding is a new form of financing that has gained popularity among entrepreneurs seeking to fund innovative and creative projects. It involves collecting small amounts of money from a large number of potential backers through specialised websites. Crowdfunding has the potential to democratize access to capital, facilitate market validation, foster community engagement, and drive social impact, making it a powerful tool for innovation, economic growth, and positive change. The success of a crowdfunding campaign is influenced by the number of backers, the degree of interaction and engagement between creators and backers, as well as effective communication and engagement strategies. This study focuses on Customer Engagement, Service-Dominant (S-D) logic, and Value Co-Creation in the context of tabletop Kickstarter campaigns, since the platform has become a popular destination for game designers to fund their projects. Research Purpose: The development of an in-depth understanding of the role of customer engagement and co-creation of value in crowdfunding campaigns on Kickstarter.  Research Problem: The existing literature on crowdfunding success has explored various factors, but there is a lack of understanding regarding the evolving nature of customer engagement. While the concepts of value co-creation and interactive experiences in marketing relationships offer a foundation, further research is required to gain a comprehensive understanding of how customer engagement and co-creation affect both successful and less-studied unsuccessful campaigns. Further exploration of this topic is necessary due to the challenges faced in crowdfunding entrepreneurial development, such as engaging communities in co-creation activities in dynamic online environments.  Research Question:  How do customer engagement and co-creation impact crowdfunding campaigns on Kickstarter?  Method: Research Philosophy – Constructivism Paradigm; Methodology – Multiple-case Study Approach; Data Collection – 6 Semi-structured Interviews (with the inclusion of both successful and unsuccessful campaigns); Data Analysis – Thematic Analysis (using Abductive Approach with Cross-case Analysis);  Conclusion: To increase the likelihood of success, creators must carefully plan and execute their campaigns while taking into account the principles of Service-Dominant logic. This involves co-creating value with customers, engaging with them through feedback efforts, and demonstrating organizational competence. By following these principles, creators can increase the likelihood of success and create a positive experience for their backers.