Value co-creation and co-destruction in service ecosystems: The case of the Reach Now app

In recent years, a change in business logic from goods-dominant (G-D) to service-dominant (S-D) logic can be observed widely. For instance, in the case of the mobility sector, companies such as Daimler AG and the BMW Group are shifting from solely producing cars to also providing mobility services. One fruit of their efforts is the Reach Now app, which supports users by combining multiple mobility services. Although such an app can contribute significantly to achieving smart mobility and thereby making the use of the private car less predominant, only a relatively small number of people use it. In this article, we adopt the S-D logic perspective to analyze the link between value formation (i.e., value co-creation and co-destruction) in customer-to-business relationships and business-to-business relationships in the service ecosystem of the Reach Now app based on an analysis of customer reviews of the Reach Now app in the Android Google Play Store between 2016 and 2019. We complement this analysis with interviews with representatives from six German public transport organizations and the Moovel Group GmbH, the app provider. Based on our analysis, we develop an interactional phase-based perspective on value formations in the tripartite relationship between app users, the Moovel Group GmbH, and public transport organizations. Our work complements previous S-D logic studies that (1) do not focus on information technology-enabled value formation, (2) neglect the concept of value co-destruction, (3) analyze only single dyadic actor-to-actor relationships, and/or (4) examine an established service ecosystem.