Inside the joint sphere of value co-creation

Research on the role of consumers in value creation has advanced the consumer culture theory and added values to the field of marketing (Lanier and Schau, 2007; Lusch and Vargo, 2006). After management scholars Prahalad and Ramaswam began a series of essays suggesting the changing paradigm of firm-consumer interaction (2000), Gronroos further evolved the theory by introducing the concepts of different value creation spheres and had a strong focus on the joint sphere of value co-creation (2013). Joint sphere, by offering a dialogical manner between consumers, allows consumers to possibly cross the boundary into provider sphere and become the co-producers at an early stage. This encourages and facilitates their reflection of “the world”, their expression of multi-realities, and communication with larger audience (including firms) about the alternatives to realities.