As the Journal of Creating Value approaches its twelfth anniversary, the discipline of value creation stands at a critical inflection point. In this exclusive interview, Dr Jagdish N. Sheth—a foundational pillar of the marketing discipline—reflects on a remarkable six-decade academic career ahead of his retirement. Spanning conversations on the cognitive roots of buyer behaviour, the evolution of service-dominant logic, the imperative of tri-sector innovation governance and the inevitable disruption of higher education, this dialogue bridges the historical context of marketing with the urgent realities of our digital, artificial intelligence (AI)-driven future.
Artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled smart interactive tools are increasingly used in e-commerce service encounters, but their value does not arise from technological presence alone. This study examines how customers’ perceived affordances of smart interactive tools are translated into customer value co-creation behaviour. Drawing on affordance theory, customer inspiration, digital customer engagement and service-dominant logic, the study develops a sequential mediation model in which perceived smart interactive technology affordance (perceived SITA) stimulates customer inspiration, strengthens digital customer engagement and promotes value-contributing behaviour. Survey data were collected from 468 Chinese online consumers who had experience using chatbots, generative AI tools or augmented reality applications in online shopping. The model was tested using partial least squares structural equation modelling. The results show that perceived SITA is positively associated with customer inspiration and digital customer engagement. Customer inspiration also strengthens digital customer engagement, which in turn promotes customer value co-creation behaviour. The findings clarify a motivational-engagement pathway through which AI-enabled tools support customer value creation. The study contributes to customer value creation research by showing how customers turn perceived technological affordances into participation in value co-creation.
The study focuses on mobile health applications that offer chronic disease management and telehealth solutions. These applications aim to help increase patients’ compliance through value co-creation that requires customer participation. This article explores which mobile application-related and person-related attributes of digital health applications influence value co-creation and patients’ continuous usage intention. Adopting a value co-creation (VCC) perspective differs from the literature, primarily focusing on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), extended TAM or Innovation Diffusion Theory. This study employs a qualitative research design and explores the views of multiple sclerosis patients in Türkiye through 15 in-depth interviews. Focusing on these patients is imperative, as they need more frequent patient monitoring and close treatment follow-up, for which such digital healthcare applications are designed. The findings reveal that, contrary to technology adoption literature, addressing patients’ emotional needs is critical. Thus, the importance of person-related benefits is as significant as the functional features of the applications, including mobility, personalization/customization, relative advantage, perceived usefulness, complexity, security risk and privacy. Therefore, such applications should promote recognition, personalization, empathy and support, including clear consent mechanisms, transparent data policies and personalized content delivery that conveys respect and empathy. Incorporating empathetic language, personalized feedback and human-like interfaces may foster VCC behaviour. This study also underscores the importance of designing simpler, more user-friendly digital tools for less tech-savvy older users.
Drawing on borough-level socio-economic and demographic data matched with organizational financial records, we analyse the moderating role of average age in the relationship between local poverty and the performance of performing arts institutions following the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings indicate that poverty rates are negatively associated with return on assets; however, performing arts institutions located in boroughs with younger population profiles exhibited greater resilience. Qualitative analysis further reveals that post-pandemic recovery was driven not only by financial investment and policy interventions but also by the capacity of younger local populations to co-create value through cultural participation, creative labour, digital engagement and community collaboration. These mechanisms contributed to the recovery and long-term resilience of London’s performing arts ecosystem.
