Service-dominant logic
A theory that sees all economic exchange as service: value doesn't come inside the product, but is created when the person uses it, together with whoever offers it.
What problem it addresses
Explains why designing only the product falls short: its value depends on how, when and with what resources each person uses it.
An example
Two ways of looking at the sale of a bicycle.
If value is created through use, design also has to support use: learning, maintaining and repairing.
Why it happens
Products are a means of providing a service to someone.
Value is decided by whoever receives it, according to their own situation.
It is created among several parties: both the provider and the user contribute resources.
Applications in design
Use it like this
Ask what the person has to do to get value from the product, and design that too.
Avoid
Measuring success only at the moment of sale.
Don’t fall for it
Value is not the same for everyone: it depends on each person's context.
2004
What the research says
Stephen Vargo and Robert Lusch proposed that service, not the product, is the basis of economic exchange, and that value is created with whoever uses it (Vargo and Lusch, 2004).
Debated evidence. It is a theoretical framework, not an experimental result. The authors summarized it in 2016 in five axioms, built around the idea of a service ecosystem.
Connections
Related to
Authors and works
- 2004
Stephen L. Vargo and Robert F. Lusch
Proposed moving from a goods-centered logic to a service-centered one.
- 2016
Stephen L. Vargo and Robert F. Lusch
Summarized the theory in five axioms, with the service ecosystem at the center.
Sources
Original sources
- Vargo, S. L., & Lusch, R. F. (2004). Evolving to a new dominant logic for marketing. Journal of Marketing, 68(1), 1–17. View source: Vargo, S. L., & Lusch, R. F. (2004)
Academic reviews
- Vargo, S. L., & Lusch, R. F. (2016). Institutions and axioms: An extension and update of service-dominant logic. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 44, 5–23. View source: Vargo, S. L., & Lusch, R. F. (2016)
Last reviewed: