Value-creation space: The role of events in a service-dominant marketing paradigm

This paper provides a new conceptual contribution to our understanding of the value of events, examining their potential through the lens of service dominant logic. Through a conceptual analysis and discussion, augmented by a small-scale and exploratory empirical study using semi-structured interviews, it evaluates the growing resonance of events in modern-day marketing. The paper advances the conception of 'value-creation space' as an overarching term to coalesce the otherwise disparate range of organisational events that have marketing imperative and/or impact. The underpinning virtues of events are recognised and used to build a discussion that can provide a coherent basis for further conceptual development. The findings depict considerable synergy between the collaborative nature of events and the service dominant logic notions of co-creation (or co-destruction), and co-production. However, an intuitive and well-executed event marketing approach is critical to events' continued success as value-creation spaces. © 2011 Copyright 2011 Westburn Publishers Ltd.