Evolution from value-in-exchange to value-in-use: key distinctions and healthcare implications
| Dimension | Value-in-exchange | Value-in-use |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Value is embedded in products/services and realised at the moment of transaction | Value emerges through usage, interpretation and contextual integration over time |
| Temporal focus | Instantaneous; point of purchase or delivery | Processual; unfolding across pre-service, encounter and post-service phases |
| Role of customer | Passive recipient of firm-created value | Active agent integrating resources, experiences and contexts |
| Locus of control | Provider-centric: firm determines value proposition and delivery | Phenomenologically determined by the customer: value emerges within the customer’s lifeworld through use, interpretation and context integration |
| Nature of value | Functional, utilitarian, price/quality ratio | Experiential, emotional, contextual, dynamic |
| Methodological fit | Cross-sectional surveys; satisfaction metrics; transactional evaluations | Longitudinal, interpretive, phenomenological and temporally sensitive methods |
| Implications for health care | Struggles to capture vulnerability, anticipatory emotions, trust, temporal reinterpretation or long-term meaning in patient journeys | Aligns with lived healthcare experience: explains evolving evaluations, memory, anticipation and emotional meaning-making |
| Dimension | Value-in-exchange | Value-in-use |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Value is embedded in products/services and realised at the moment of transaction | Value emerges through usage, interpretation and contextual integration over time |
| Temporal focus | Instantaneous; point of purchase or delivery | Processual; unfolding across pre-service, encounter and post-service phases |
| Role of customer | Passive recipient of firm-created value | Active agent integrating resources, experiences and contexts |
| Locus of control | Provider-centric: firm determines value proposition and delivery | Phenomenologically determined by the customer: value emerges within the customer’s lifeworld through use, interpretation and context integration |
| Nature of value | Functional, utilitarian, price/quality ratio | Experiential, emotional, contextual, dynamic |
| Methodological fit | Cross-sectional surveys; satisfaction metrics; transactional evaluations | Longitudinal, interpretive, phenomenological and temporally sensitive methods |
| Implications for health care | Struggles to capture vulnerability, anticipatory emotions, trust, temporal reinterpretation or long-term meaning in patient journeys | Aligns with lived healthcare experience: explains evolving evaluations, memory, anticipation and emotional meaning-making |