Evaluating Circular Business Models : Bridging the gap between circular business models and customer perceived value

Abstract: This research looks into the emerging trend of circular economy which is fairly young, but have still gotten a lot of recognition in the past few years. The purpose of the research was to identify bridging activities between circular business models and customer perceived value. This gap creates a great opportunity to find correlations between these areas to hopefully construct the missing bridge to connect the phenomena. A case study was applied on an organisation having a circular business model, where its customer network was used to collect data. Two types of data collection methods were used: (1)Quantitative data collection from potential customers using a questionnaire;and (2) Qualitative data collection from existing customers with semistructured interviews. The collected data was later analysed by connecting it to existing theory of customer perceived value. The data was categorised, ranked and later inserted in a contemporary matrix created by the authors, called the Business Model Matrix. The whole research was lastly presented as a conceptual model with the intent to generalize the methodology so it could be applied on other organisations. The model consists of five steps: (1) Research, (2) Data collection, (3) Translation, (4) Business Model Matrix and (5) Adaption.The authors conclude this research with: (1) It is difficult to quantify and make sense of value; (2) Standardised measurements for value has to be defined; and (3) Even though it might be difficult to interpret the business model matrix result, it might give a good overview of what the customers likes which can increase competitiveness in the long-term. Suggested future research lies in standardising value and looking into perceived value from other actors rather than customers as well.