Collective storytelling: Value co-creation in narrative-based goods

Abstract

The paper focuses on the interactions between authors/producers and consumers in the creation of products and services, whose value proposition rests on the story they tell – books, movies, games, etc. – narrative-based goods. We argue that their scope is not limited to the individual intrinsic experience and reinterpretation of the meanings of the story, described in the narrative consumption literature. We, therefore, propose a typology, which depicts the variety of possible instances of collective narrative consumption by distinguishing four types of interactions based on a hidden/open and confrontation-based/cooperation-based dialogue. Furthermore, we expand the analytical timeframe of transportation theories beyond the moment of consumption (narrative transportation). By incorporating insights from the concept of value co-creation based on the Service-Dominant Logic (SDL) literature we examine how value is co-created during the pre-, mid- and post-transportation phases in the case of all four interaction types. On this occasion, we also develop SDL by conceptualizing and providing examples for value co-creation that does not need direct individual producer-consumer interactions, whilst still significantly affecting both parties. The theoretical concepts are illustrated by practical examples of narrative consumption.