Online published on 28 February, 2020.
Sales today is primarily a function of value that the consumer perceives in the product features, attributes, and the entire value chain. Today it is important to ensure a holistic approach to marketing that aligns and integrates all stakeholders including the customer who is an integral part of the value creation and delivery process.
With customers tastes and preferences changing, firms need to adapt themselves to the situation proactively by engaging with the customer through face to face interaction, use of digital and social
media to solicit his views on the existing products and suggestions for improvements and considering him as a Co creator of Value.
Ecosystem plays a vital role in the process of co-creation of value. Hence, the focus of most marketers today is to engage with customers from pre sales to post sales and use various tools like Customer Relation Management, online feedback and social media in order to reach out to customers and make them aware of various products and services along with responding to their queries. Accordingly, companies focus on the process of creating special task forces to work upon co creation of value through collating data and studying the changing preferences of customers and competitor moves in the market, analysing customer feedback, implementing best practices and reducing customer dissonance. Listening to customers helps companies to engage effectively with the customers and help increase the process of affiliation between the product and the customer.. With competition increasing most firms tend to create a differentiation in product/service in terms of Value Offering. Thedifferentiation should besuchthat itis tangibleand mutually beneficial forthecustomer and the firm. Towards creating this differentiation, firms look to engage and collaborate with the customer in the process of co creation of value for both the firm and the customer. Research has shown that companies invest heavily in communication process that facilitates customer cocreation activities and ultimately the firm's growth prospects
This study aims to analyse whether companies in India have been actively involved in the process of co creation and collaboration, what market sensing techniques are adopted by the firm, mechanism of data collection, leveraging customer knowledge and feedback for product innovation/modification. From secondary data collected across the companies in survey and from views of customers and company personnel through a case studyapproach, this studytries to explore whetherthe firm engages with the customer in a collaborative manner and treats him as a Co creator of Value, and through this process of Co Creation whether the firm creates a differentiation and a competitive edge.
