Value Co-creation as a Strategic Tool of Social Marketing: Analysis of a Social Service Branding Process in Developing Economy

Abstract

Many social services exist to address the prevalent social issues being faced by their stakeholders, yet theprocesses which social services employ need to be crystallized. If the process of social services becomes specifiable,it may help social services become a social brand. In this regard, social marketing is inherently considered as a strategictool which ensures the sustainability of business only not for profit based organizations but also for nonprofitorganizations. Marketing scholars thus urge to refine the application of social marketing particularly with referenceto the process in order for social problems to be addressed cogently. This study posits that the process which socialmarketing entails should be contextualized as value co-creation.An empirical research was conducted using grounded theory as a research approach to explore the phenomenonof value co-creation. Grounded theory has been employed with a view to provide theoretical underpinning to theconcept of social branding. A social service was considered to be a research unit of analysis. Focus group discussionswere conducted followed by comparative contrast analysis. The findings reveal that collective participation, mutualinteraction, and reciprocal engagement of the stakeholders of social services are the baseline of social marketing.The thematic analysis of focus group discussion resulted in eight key factors to be considered as constituents of thesocial marketing process. Thus, these factors are considered as part of value co-creation and instrumental for socialservices’ branding.