The Synergy Spark: How Nigerian SMEs and Banks are igniting mutual growth through value co-creation – an SMEs perspective

Recent developments within the service-dominant logic (SDL) paradigm underscore the centrality of value co-creation in advancing service excellence and fostering enduring customer loyalty. For financial institutions particularly commercial banks operating within Nigeria’s dynamic economic environment strengthening collaborative engagements with Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) through value co-creation has emerged as a strategic imperative. Despite increasing scholarly attention, extant research has predominantly focused on transactional elements, such as financing and access to capital, often overlooking the nuanced relational processes that underpin such interactions. This thesis employs a quantitative research design to examine the experiential and relational dimensions that shape value co-creation between Nigerian SMEs and their banking counterparts. The DART framework comprising Dialogue, Access, Risk, and Transparency serves as the analytical foundation, offering a structured lens through which key antecedents of value co-creation are interrogated. The study prioritises the SME perspective to value cocreation, accentuating their lived experiences in navigating business-to-business (B2B) banking relationships. Data were collected through a structured, face-to-face questionnaire administered to owner-managers and finance personnel of Nigerian SMEs across Enugu Central, Industrial Layout, and Nsukka (Enugu State) between July and August 2023. Using stratified random sampling, 271 usable questionnaires were obtained from 312 distributed Confirmatory Factor Analysis( CFA) supported the measurement model, and structural relationships were estimated using covariance-based Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Empirical analyses identify two primary antecedent dimensions: information quality and interaction quality, both critical enablers of effective value co-creation. In addition, five salient yet underexplored subdimensions—information seeking, personal interactions, responsible behaviour, advocacy and helping emerge as components of a hierarchical, multidimensional structure. These subdimensions significantly strengthen SMEs’ trust in financial institutions. In turn, trust functions as the pivotal mediator linking value co-creation to SME loyalty and the continuity of long-term relational engagement. This thesis makes several substantive contributions. First, it extends theoretical discourse on value co-creation by elucidating how SMEs conceptualise and participate in co-creative processes within financial services. Second, it challenges conventional, transaction-centric views of value by framing it as intrinsically relational and experiential. Third, it delivers actionable managerial insights, highlighting the significance of cultivating specific relational multidimensions to foster trust-based, co-creative experiences between SMEs and their financial institutions. Fourth, the study demonstrates the efficacy of a two-phase quantitative methodology, utilising advanced statistical techniques via structural equation modelling (SEM) to capture and interpret complex multidimensional relational dynamics within the SDL framework.Finally, the thesis develops a robust value co-creation model, offering both theoretical refinement and practical guidance for advancing SME-bank engagement strategies.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

PhD

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

Doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

De Montfort University

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Iroegbu, Nkeiruka Mary-Jane

Licence

• https://dora.dmu.ac.uk/bitstreams/b7edfe56-2d9f-467e-8799-428be8fbcb2c/download