Value Creation in Consumption of Whole-bean Coffee: A qualitative Study on Value Co-creation from a Consumer Perspective

Abstract

The market for whole-bean coffee in Denmark has skyrocketed in the past few years. The product category has grown from a market share of 6,8% to a market share of 10,7% in the span of 2,5 years. This explosive growth has ultimately presented marketers of whole-bean coffee with a large number of new consumers they know little about. As such, this thesis investigates value creation in the consumption of whole-bean coffee and is investigated through the perspective of the consumer. The studied consumers are young males, in the age between 24 and 29, living in Copenhagen, which makes the thesis an urban study. The purpose of this qualitative and empirically based thesis is to provide the reader with knowledge that will illuminate how value is created for and co-created by the consumer. A better and more thorough understanding of these consumers will help marketers to more easily accommodate these particular consumers. The thesis is positioned within social science research and contributes to the literature of Consumer Culture Theory in relation to how consumption creates value for the consumer. The thesis gathers data through qualitative interviews in its quest to unravel how value is created through consumption of whole-bean coffee. Through thematic analysis of a focus group interview, with 5 participants, and subsequently of four in-depth interviews the thesis concludes that value is created and co-created in three phases of the entire consumption process. Consumption and value creation are found to happen before, during and after the actual ingestion of the coffee. This contributes to the understanding that the consumption of whole-bean coffee not only creates value for the consumer when ingesting the coffee, but value is rather profoundly created in the processes surrounding the ingestion; the consumption phases before and after. The findings of the thesis also suggest that consumers are integral to the value creation process. Marketers can put that knowledge to good use in their marketing efforts by viewing value as something the consumer is always a part of creating acknowledging the need to understand the whole-bean coffee consumers’ desires.