An information asymmetry analysis method to aid PSS design

Abstract

Product-Service System (PSS) is a business model that creates high added value through value co-creation process among stakeholders with sophisticated integration of products and services. In service marketing research field, value-in-context is emphasized as a way of thinking in which the value of a product or service is determined by various stakeholders following their own contexts. In order to improve the value-in-context, stakeholders need appropriate sharing of their context and feedback on its result to build consensus in value co-creation. Currently, On the other hand, the manufacturing industry makes decisions without sufficient context sharing and appropriate consensus building. In other words, information asymmetry occurs among stakeholders involved in not only the PSS but also in various sustainable developments. Against this background, this study aims to provide a method to analyze the factors that cause information asymmetry so as to realize the reliable introduction and operation of a PSS. For this purpose, this paper proposes a modelling method of context, or internal mental elements of stakeholder, to realize information asymmetry analysis from perspective of value-in-context. A design scene in business demonstrates that the proposed method visualizes the asymmetry among various PSS stakeholders. Moreover, it is validated that the proposed method is effective for derivation of solution which resolve the factor of information asymmetry.