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2021/2022  KAN-CCMVV5031U  Advanced Perspectives in Brand Co-creation: Innovation opportunities and ethical challenges

English Title
Advanced Perspectives in Brand Co-creation: Innovation opportunities and ethical challenges

Course information

Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Elective
Level Full Degree Master
Duration One Quarter
Start time of the course First Quarter
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Max. participants 100
Study board
Study Board for MSc in Economics and Business Administration
Course coordinator
  • Richard Jones - Department of Marketing (Marketing)
  • Stefan Markovic - Department of Marketing (Marketing)
Main academic disciplines
  • Innovation
  • Communication
  • Marketing
Teaching methods
  • Face-to-face teaching
Last updated on 15-02-2021

Relevant links

Learning objectives
Define, characterise and compare different brand co-creation perspectives
  • Identify and define relevant ethical perspectives to brand co-creation processes and outputs and critically discuss their implications
  • Identify and discuss practical and ethical implications and limitations of brand co-creation processes
  • Apply the theoretical knowledge of brand co-creation processes and their ethicality to real brand cases
Course prerequisites
This course is designed for students from a range of Masters’ programmes in branding, communication, innovation and business ethics.
Examination
Advanced Perspectives in Brand Co-creation: Innovation opportunities and ethical challenges:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Home assignment - written product
Individual or group exam Individual exam
Size of written product Max. 15 pages
Assignment type Project
Duration 2 weeks to prepare
Grading scale 7-point grading scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Autumn
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
If a student fails the ordinary exam, they will have to hand in a new project based on new questions.
Course content, structure and pedagogical approach

This advanced course confronts students with and prepares them for a complex branding reality in which customers and other stakeholders are every day more involved in various brand co-creation processes (i.e., co-creation of brand value, identity, experience, knowledge, meaning, products and services). Nowadays, brands face a socioeconomic scenario that is characterized by online communities, decentralized organizations, fast and flexible new production facilities, and a rapid evolution of information technologies. This evolution has led to an improved brand-stakeholder interconnectivity, which has provided brands with the opportunity of involving their key stakeholders in brand co-creation processes. The management potential is enormous as evidenced by the emergence of new business models that integrate customers (e.g., AirBnB & Uber) and the rest of stakeholders (e.g., Amazon) into their core business processes. However, the current enhanced brand-stakeholder interconnectivity has also turned the environment into a more transparent one, giving rise to ethical concerns in business. In such environment, a host of ethical issues arise that are not always well considered. For example, who owns intellectual property rights of the co-created outputs? What about the processes? Where does responsibility lie when things go wrong? Who is culpable? What is the proper division of labour? Can we talk of “working consumers” or is this just free labour? What reward systems are equitable and relevant? Should there be limits of involving vulnerable stakeholders? Furthermore, what are the expectations on brands involved in co-creation? Are they different from brands not involved in co-creation?

 

In this course students will be confronted with the most renowned theoretical brand co-creation perspectives and will learn how brands ought to be managed in an ever more interconnected environment where ethical brand behaviours are a must. The theoretical discussion will be complemented with input from brand academics and practitioners as well as with hands-on applications of different brand co-creation approaches to actual brand cases. The course will prepare students who want to work in brand-building projects in different contexts in their future career. It provides the basis for development of knowledge and understanding of how brands are co-created and maintained in relation to multiple stakeholders in dynamic environments where ethicality is every day more demanded, and thereby prepares students for a challenging career in branding.

 

This course is designed for students from a range of Masters’ programmes in branding, communication, innovation and business ethics.

Description of the teaching methods
The course uses a mix of pedagogies to maximise student learning. The course is centred around in-class seminars which mix traditional lecturing with workshops, cases, student presentations, discussions and guest lectures. In addition, we will be using on-line tools in the form of peer grading and discussion fora between seminars. The class is highly interactive both online and offline with a corresponding expectation that students engage in these interactions.
Feedback during the teaching period
Continual feedback and reflection is central to this course. In in-class seminars traditional lecturing is combined with workshops, cases, student presentations, and discussions where feedback either in plenum, groups or individual is given. In addition, we will be using on-line tools in the form of peer grading and discussion fora between seminars for student-to-student feedback.
Student workload
Preparation 123 hours
Teaching 33 hours
Examination 50 hours
Expected literature

Indicative reference list:

 

Aaker, D. A. (1996). Measuring brand equity across products and markets. California Management Review, 38(3), 102-120.

 

Brakus, J. J., Schmitt, B. H., & Zarantonello, L. (2009). Brand experience: what is it? How is it measured? Does it affect loyalty?. Journal of Marketing73(3), 52-68.

 

Da Silveira, C., Lages, C., & Simões, C. (2013). Reconceptualizing brand identity in a dynamic environment. Journal of Business Research, 66(1), 28-36.

 

Edvardsson, B., Tronvoll, B., & Gruber, T. (2011). Expanding understanding of service exchange and value co-creation: a social construction approach. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science39(2), 327-339.

 

Grönroos, C., & Voima, P. (2013). Critical service logic: making sense of value creation and co-creation. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science41(2), 133-150.

 

Iglesias, O., Markovic, S., & Rialp, J. (2018). How does sensory brand experience influence brand equity? Considering the roles of customer satisfaction, customer affective commitment, and employee empathy. Journal of Business Research (online first).

 

Iglesias, O., Markovic, S., Bagherzadeh, M., & Singh, J. J. (2018). Co-creation: A Key Link Between Corporate Social Responsibility, Customer Trust, and Customer Loyalty. Journal of Business Ethics(online first).

 

Ind, N., Iglesias, O., & Markovic, S. (2017). The co-creation continuum: from tactical market research tool to strategic collaborative innovation method. Journal of Brand Management24(4), 310-321.

 

Kornum, N., Gyrd-Jones, R., Al Zagir, N., & Brandis, K. A. (2017). Interplay between intended brand identity and identities in a Nike related brand community: Co-existing synergies and tensions in a nested system. Journal of Business Research70, 432-440.

 

Lindfelt, L. L., & Törnroos, J. Å. (2006). Ethics and value creation in business research: comparing two approaches. European Journal of Marketing40(3/4), 328-351.

 

Markovic, S., & Bagherzadeh, M. (2018). How does breadth of external stakeholder co-creation influence innovation performance? Analyzing the mediating roles of knowledge sharing and product innovation. Journal of Business Research, 88, 173-186.

 

Markovic, S., Iglesias, O., Singh, J. J., & Sierra, V. (2018). How does the perceived ethicality of corporate services brands influence loyalty and positive word-of-mouth? Analyzing the roles of empathy, affective commitment, and perceived quality. Journal of Business Ethics148(4), 721-740.

 

Merz, M. A., He, Y., & Vargo, S. L. (2009). The evolving brand logic: a service-dominant logic perspective. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science37(3), 328-344.

 

Stanislawski, S. (2011). The Service-Dominant Logic of Marketing and the Ethics of Co-Creation. The Bulletin of the Graduate School of Commerce - Waseda University,73, 109-133.

 

Vallaster, C., & von Wallpach, S. (2013). An online discursive inquiry into the social dynamics of multi-stakeholder brand meaning co-creation. Journal of Business Research, 66(9), 1505-1515.

 

Williams, J., & Aitken, R. (2011). The service-dominant logic of marketing and marketing ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 102(3), 439-454.

 

Last updated on 15-02-2021