Customer value is the ratio of perceived benefits received by the
customer relative to the sacrifices in terms of price paid, costs incurred
and efforts spent in order to acquire the product. But still a lot of
unknowns exist regarding the value concept. Some contributions in
this special issue address this gap. A first set of papers focuses on
relational value. Ritter et al. propose a radar chart to be used by
suppliers and their customers to map relational functions. Especially
operation-related functions are proven to play a significant role in
customer perceived relational value. Toon et al. demonstrate how relational
value is co-created through interactions. Iterative asset specific
investments and exchange of technical information are important in
value creation processes. Also Truong et al. focus on the reciprocal
nature of value propositions. Aarikka-Stenroos and Jaakkola apply a
similar value co-creation lens and suggest that suppliers do greater
efforts to motivate their customers to participate in collaboration
aimed at value creation. Tools for diagnosing needs and interaction
systems need to be provided as stimuli. Superior customer value can
only be created in direct interaction with customers. A web site cannot
really replace such in depth co-creation of value (Chung et al.).Geiger et
al. study the bonding effects of relational value and switching costs. The
direct profit impact of the former seems much higher than that of the
latter.