Innovation and value creation in content-oriented digital business: Multiple case study

Considering the high growth potential of creative industry and the increasing trend of digitalization, the content-oriented digital business has been the main focus of this research. The "value creation" in this type of business has been less considered in literature. A comprehensive review of value creation processes in these firms can ultimately lead to more profitable growth. The research method for integrated analysis of value creation factors is the use of "case studies" with an explanatory approach based on semi-structured interviews. The results have been theoretical and practical achievements. Four new themes were extracted as follows: "software or hardware development" as an example of "complementarity", "suggestion based on user history and preference" and "providing exclusive content" as examples of "lock-in" and "technical novelty" as an example of "innovation". The practical achievement of the research is to provide a picture of how value is created in content-oriented digital business in the past, present and future. In addition, the most common themes in each category were identified: "search cost reduction" to create value of "efficiency", "product range" to create value of "complementarity", "providing exclusive content" to create value of "lock-in" and "distinctive brand personality" to create value of "innovation". "Innovation" has been identified as the most recurring theme of value creation in content-oriented digital enterprises.