Co-creation of value-in-use through big data technology- a B2B agricultural perspective

Purpose: This paper aims to discuss the concepts of co-creation and value-in-use with a specific focus on big data technology in agriculture. The authors provide a unique narrative of how farmers experience co-creation and value-in-use in monetary and non-monetary forms. Design/methodology/approach: The qualitative study is based on semi-structured interviews with mid-Western farmers. The constant comparative method was used for coding the data. Results were analyzed through open and axial coding, and matrix queries helped establish linkages between different concepts via NVivo 12. Findings: The paper provides rich insight into co-creation through direct and indirect interaction, autonomous co-creation and epistemic, monetary and environmental value-in-use in the digital agriculture sector. Interestingly, co-creation through indirect interaction gives rise to epistemic value-in-use. Also, value-co-destruction can undermine co-creation, while relational actors and the concept of psychological ownership are very relevant to the process of co-creation. Research limitations/implications: The authors build on the extant literature on co-creation in knowledge-intensive B2B sectors with the unique findings linking different forms of co-creation with value-in-use. Practical implications: The findings on co-creation and value-in-use are beneficial to diverse agriculture stakeholders such as farmers, agriculture technology providers, extension agents and policymakers. Agricultural technology providers can determine how to make the co-creation process more meaningful for farmers and also create suitable technology tools that enrich farmers’ knowledge about crop management. Agricultural stakeholders can learn how to develop big data analytic tools and marketing narratives to maximize value-in-use and pre-empt value co-destruction. Social implications: The research can impact policy, as it addresses a very relevant issue of how farmers relate to big data technology amidst growing consolidation and privacy concerns in the digital agriculture sector. Originality/value: Our work is both theoretically and contextually relevant. We incorporate elements of service-dominant and customer-dominant logic while analyzing farmers’ perspectives of co-creation and value-in-use.