1st ICAI 2020

International Conference on Automotive Industry 2020

Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic

Customers’ Perception of Value in the Context of Value Co-creation Concept: A Pilot Study Robert Zich 1 , Karolína Svobodová 2 Brno University of Technology 1,2 Faculty of Business and Management, Department of Management Kolejní 2906/4, Brno, 612 00 Czech Republic e-mail: zich@fbm.vutbr.cz 1 , karolina.svobodova@vutbr.cz 2 Abstract A dynamic competitive environment requires strategic thinking and it is essential for a company competitiveness that its development goes entirely to the logic of creating value for the customer. In this context, the article demonstrates the results of a pilot study of customer value perception in the automotive sector. From the perspective of companies, this represents a significant potential, since identifying and evaluating customer value can largely determine the communication strategy of individual automobile dealers. The aim of this article is to evaluate the applicability of the concept of values in connection with customer perception. The changes in company´s approach to communication towards the customers should be taken into consideration to increase its competitiveness. Keywords: automotive industry, concept of values, perception of value, value co- creation JEL Classification: F23, L10, L14, M31 1. Introduction The phenomenon of value co-creation in a strategic way states that the company offers value propositions, while the customer is value co-creator (Vargo, Lusch, 2008). The process of value creation must be preceded by the company’s entry into a joint sphere of supplier and customer and interactive engagement in dialogue. Payne et al. (2008) consider that the main parts are value creation by customers, value creation by suppliers and their interface. According to Van Doorn et al. (2010) relationship with customers is defined by the manifestation of their behavior towards a brand or company and arises from motivational elements. Brodie et al. (2011) provide that customer engagement involves specific interactive experiences between entities in the joint sphere that are influenced by context or psychological status with varying degrees of intensity. Jaakkola and Alexander (2014) consider that customer engagement is a psychological state influenced by interactive experiences in value co-creating contact relationships. Scientific literature shows that the concept of customer engagement may vary: a manifestation of customer behaviour towards a brand / company with a shopping overlap, a psychological process that leads to loyalty or a mental state characterized by a degree of determination, enthusiasm and interactions (Cheung et al., 2011). However,

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