Key success factors of managing co-creation experience

Value co-creation in an ecosystem has transformed the role of companies and various stakeholders. Earlier proposals stated that co-creation is beneficial for dyadic customer-firm relationships, but marketing theory has progressed to the participation of all actors in value creation who combine resources most effectively. The overarching aim of this manuscript is to contribute to the understanding of the integrating role of companies in the co-creation process and identify the key factors underpinning successful co-creation practices. The context of this study is the banking industry and value co-creation in that collaborative context is elaborated. The study also discusses and further evolves the effect of collaborative working on the innovation strategy of firms. The study utilizes a mixed research method; while the qualitative approach defines how value co-creation occurs in the banking industry and how banks contribute to this process as value facilitators, the quantitative approach endeavors to understand whether value co-creation impacts the innovation strategy of banks and subsequently on the perceived market performance. The transition in the meaning of the building blocks of co-creation after digitalization has influenced the interpretations of collaborative work. The findings indicate that collaborative working affects the degree of innovativeness of a company and consequently its perceived market performance. Managing the co-creation experience in a multi-actor setting is a complex phenomenon and this study paves the way for further research into the values underlying the success of co-creation and provides a guide for successfully integrating the different roles of stakeholders in an ecosystem.