Value marketing in the health care industry

In business and industrial marketing, upstream and downstream alike, the creation of value is paramount to any company’s survival (Kotler & Keller, 2008) and even more so at a time where dramatic changes in business and industrial marketing’s context are leading to fundamental changes in what companies should be analysing, creating, and delivering (Doyle, 2000; Hunt, 2000). Value has been examined in the marketing management literature (e.g. Albrecht, 1992; Alderson, 1957; J.C. Anderson&Narus, 1999; P. Anderson, 1982; Doyle, 2000; Drucker, 1973; Woodruff, 1997), as well as the purchasing and supply management literature (e.g. Carr & Ittner, 1992; Ellram, 1995; Van Weele, 2001; Wouters, Anderson, & Wynstra, 2005). Two more or less distinct research streams can be identified within this literature (Lindgreen & Wynstra, 2005). The first of these streams deals with the value of products and services, whilst the second stream focuses on the value of buyer–seller relationships. Despite its identified importance, value is a complex issue. In fact, the literature remains scarce on studies examining how selling companies in reality analyse, create, and deliver value to buying companies (Lindgreen, in press). This special issue seeks to address this gap in the literature by examining various issues relating to the different ‘facets’ of value that result from the crossing of the two research streams with the three themes of analysis, creation, and delivery