Understanding social value creation : A process study of Romanian beggars and Swedish volunteers

Abstract: There were several attempts to conceptualize the social value creation process. Previous literature does not commonly consider a non-material approach, using mainly quantitative practices which are not in line with the characteristics of social value. This thesis contributes to the current social value creation studies in two ways. The first centers the subjectivity of social value as a phenomenon embedded in space and time which calls for distinctive ways of understanding its creation. Here the research approaches the hedonic perspective of well-being as a processual phenomenon which makes possible to explore the way social value is created from beneficiaries’ perspective. The second contribution is an empirical study within a voluntary program in order to explore how the beneficiaries’ subjective well-being unfolds over time. In this setting, where impoverished people deal with satisfying their basic needs, a process approach reveals the emotionally loaded context and the complexity of the social value creation. Thereby, the main emphasis of this thesis is to put on a deeper theoretical discussion of the concept of social value creation. The result of this research is an understanding of social value creation as a subjective construct centered on how the process uncovers unique moments experienced by people.