Co-Creation of Value-in-Use through Co-Productive Business Processes: An Empirical Case Study based on the Hybrid Offerings of the German Opticians Trades.

This doctoral thesis investigates the co-creation of value-in-use through hybrid offerings, focusing on the optician industry as a case study for the German skilled crafts sector. The study addresses three key objectives: to develop a theoretical framework of value-in-use co-creation in hybrid offerings, to design a qualitative methodology for analysing online customer reviews and to map customer satisfaction factors onto service process stages to understand how quality attributes shape value-in-use. The research is founded on the Servicedominant Logic and augmented by a Consolidated Quality Framework. It explores the manner in which tangible and intangible components collaborate to co-create value-in-use through hybrid offerings during a co-productive business process. Symbolic Interactionism provides a social-philosophical foundation, shedding light on how meanings are constructed through the dynamic interactions between customers and providers, while Constructivist Grounded Theory (CGT) provides a systematic methodology for deriving theoretical insights from empirical data. The empirical approach uses a multi-stage coding process and thematic analysis of over 24,000 OCRs from 370 German opticians, enabling a comprehensive examination of customer experiences. Using a combination of automated coding tools and CGT, the research uncovers valuable insights into the key drivers of customer satisfaction and perceived service quality in the optician sector. The thesis makes three primary contributions. First, it advances the theoretical understanding of hybrid offerings by developing a conceptual framework that explains how value-in-use is co-created through co-productive business processes and dynamic customer-provider interactions. Second, it contributes methodologically by designing a customised qualitative approach – centred on Constructivist Grounded Theory and online customer reviews – that enables the systematic investigation of value perceptions in hybrid offering environments. Third, it offers empirical insight into how tangible and intangible quality attributes shape customer satisfaction, using process mapping to reveal how value-in-use is co-created or co-destroyed across the sub-processes of a Generic Business Process. The findings not only refine existing theoretical frameworks but also provide actionable guidance for service design, customer interaction and quality management in co-productive service settings.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

phd

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Heyner, Tim Alexander

• HF Masnach

Dc Identifier Grantnumber

UWTSD

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.uwtsd.ac.uk:3917