Creating value in product service systems through sharing

A sharing-based product service system (PSS) is an economic arrangement that mutualizes access to products and product functions. This conceptual paper contributes towards deepening the theory on the value creation process in PSS, by outlining six propositions which integrate and extend previous assumptions but were so far discussed unconnectedly in different streams of the literature. Proposition 1 claims that PSS cannot deliver value-in-use, it can only offer value-in-use propositions. Propositions 2 and 3 discuss the relevance of secured and easy access, which are necessary conditions to translate value-in-use propositions into individualized value-in-use. Propositions 4 and 5 specify different tangible values (i.e., economic substitutes for ownership) and intangible (i.e., expressive and hedonic) values. Proposition 6 stresses that the community of customers cocreates value-in-use. These propositions highlight that managers cannot fully control the process of their value-in-use propositions being transferred to value-in-use.