Organisations have for many years held the belief that they "add value" to materials and resources in order to make products that "deliver value" to customers. Value is therefore seen as an exchange process - the customer gives us money, and we give the customer a valuable product or service in exchange. Value focuses on "low price", "value for money" or "what I get verses what I give".
But is value really exchanged at point of purchase? If you have just bought a nice shiny new camera, and can't get the thing to take photos, have you received "value" at all? If it breaks down (as our new compact camera did recently - but that's another story - stay tuned!) is value not damaged by this negative experience? Perhaps value is something that you derive yourself, as a customer using a product or service, over the life of the product or service. If value is created through our experiences with products and services, does it go up and down over time?
The examples of value being destroyed by negative experiences would imply that this is the case. Similarly, if you drag out an old pair of jeans that had gone out of fashion but are now back in fashion, do you not get more value from your original purchase? Value may therefore be seen as something that is created through our ongoing experiences, rising and falling depending on whether these experiences are positive or negative.
Would anyone like to comment on this? Think of something that you have used for some time - what perspective would you have on the value you have received from this product or service? Similarly, think of something you have recently bought - did you receive value in the exchange, or has the value curve just begun?