TY  - JOUR
AB  - Purpose This paper aims to address the general lack of detailed attention to the value co-creation process which happens in the consumers’ social environment. The purpose of the paper is to extend prior understanding on new ways of creating value within an uncertain and complex small business environment where consumers are increasingly collaborating and constructing value within their own social environment that is not always visible to entrepreneurs.Design/methodology/approach The authors collected in-depth data from craft beer consumers who detail consumers’ perspectives on value co-creation within their social context. Discourse analysis is used to examine the ways in which consumers create value within their social environment. Discourses are generated through in-depth, semi-structured interviews.Findings The findings reveal that a significant part of value creation happens outside the entrepreneurs’ control. Consumers seek to have social experiences which they want to experience individually but not alone. Accordingly, the legitimacy of a certain type of consumption creates a basis for consumers’ self-presentations and situational selves, on which value can be built.Originality/value This study offers new insights into how contemporary consumers work together to co-create value. In addition, this study answers the call for scholarly attention to consumer-to-consumer value linkages to gain new understandings of socially constructed value and contemporary consumption behaviour and reveals how entrepreneurs can benefit from this.
VL  - 20
IS  - 2
SN  - 1471-5201
DO  - 10.1108/JRME-10-2016-0038
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1108/JRME-10-2016-0038
AU  - Niemi Laura
AU  - Kantola Jenni
PY  - 2018
Y1  - 2018/01/01
TI  - Legitimated consumption: a socially embedded challenge for entrepreneurs’ value creation
T2  - Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship
PB  - Emerald Publishing Limited
SP  - 214
EP  - 228
Y2  - 2024/04/18
ER  -