Central to service-dominant (S-D) logic is the proposition that the customer becomes a co-creator of value. This emphasizes the development of customersupplier relationships through interaction and dialog. However, research to date suggests relatively little is known about how customers engage in the co-creation of value. In this article, the authors: explore the nature of value cocreation in the context of S-D logic; develop a conceptual framework for understanding and managing value cocreation; and utilize field-based research to illustrate practical application of the framework. This process-based framework provides a structure for customer involvement that takes account of key foundational propositions of S-D logic and places the customer explicitly at the same level of importance as the company as co-creators of value. Synthesis of diverse concepts from research on services, customer value and relationship marketing into a new process-based framework for co-creation provide new insights into managing the process of value co-creation.

In this article, the authors develop a conceptual framework for customer relationship management (CRM) that helps broaden the understanding of CRM and its role in enhancing customer value and, as a result, shareholder value. The authors explore definitional aspects of CRM, and they identify three alternative perspectives of CRM. The authors emphasize the need for a cross-functional, process-oriented approach that positions CRM at a strategic level. They identify five key cross-functional CRM processes: a strategy development process, a value creation process, a multichannel integration process, an information management process, and a performance assessment process. They develop a new conceptual framework based on these processes and explore the role and function of each element in the framework. The synthesis of the diverse concepts within the literature on CRM and relationship marketing into a single, process-based framework should provide deeper insight into achieving success with CRM strategy and implementation.

The traditional goods-dominant logic of marketing is under challenge and leading researchers are now emphasizing the new service-dominant logic (Vargo and Lusch, 2004). One of the key foundational propositions of this logic is the customer as "always being a co-creator of value" where "the brand becomes the experience" (Prahalad, 2004). In this paper, the authors examine the concept of brand relationship experience in the context of co-creation and service-dominant logic and outline a conceptual model for designing and managing the customer experience. Case study research illustrates how this model helps in the design and management of the brand relationship experience for an innovative new product.

No abstract