UNVEILING THE EVOLUTIONARY PROCESS OF VALUE PROPOSITIONS FOR PRODUCT-BASED INNOVATION ECOSYSTEMS

While product-based innovation ecosystems (PIEs) emphasize co-creation around a core value proposition (VP), little is known about how VPs emerge and evolve. Using inductive qualitative research in PIEs in Suzhou, China, we uncover a three-stage process—elementary cultivation, extensive materialization, and comprehensive legitimization—through which VPs develop. Our VP-based approach shifts the analytical focus from actors to propositions, offering new insights into the mechanisms and conditions of value co-creation. This model addresses the gap in understanding how VPs evolve over time and reveals the dynamic interactions essential for their formation, development, and legitimation within complex innovation ecosystems.