CO-CREATING VALUE IN PRIVATE HIGHER EDUCATION: AN ETHNOMETHODOLOGICAL ANALYSIS WITH MANAGEMENT STUDENTS FROM A UNIVERSITY IN SOUTHERN BRAZIL

Abstract

The stakeholders in the ecosystem of private higher education have different perceptions of value regarding exchange relationships. The understanding of how value is created can contribute to its effective co-creation. Despite the importance of the issue to the theoretical development of the marketing discipline, Payne, Storbacka and Frow (2008), argue that little is known about how consumers engage in co-creating value. The question that arises is why has the research conducted to date not answered how this process of co-creating value can be properly managed in order to meet the expectations of the four main stakeholders in academic terms (students, teachers, educational institutions and the government). Faced with this state of affairs, this study aims to further the understanding of this issue using the technique of vignettes, situated in the interpretational paradigm of science and using an ethnomethodological approach. Despite only involving one institution, the study provides insights into the practices of co-creation in higher education and in developing its students’ sensibilities. One of the study’s final considerations is that the prevalence of functional value interferes in the attainment of social and epistemic value from multiple perspectives.