Choosing value-chain locations in marketing channels: integrating service-dominant logic and product-form strategy perspectives

In this chapter the authors introduce a question of significant import to marketing managers: Where should their firm locate their offerings in the value chain? We term this concept as product-form strategies and using the service-dominant logic aver that the four principal product-form strategies, viz. sell intellectual know-how, sell intermediate components, sell final goods, or sell service solutions derived from the goods, are alternative ways in which firms can offer service to end-users. The authors first illustrate these product-form alternatives through a variety of examples and then draw on the literature in service-dominant logic and organizational economics to develop a framework that suggests the key underlying mechanisms that determine when and why firms choose one alternative product-form over another. Finally, the authors provide insights on how these choices impact marketing decisions throughout the value chain.