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Manufacturers of complex, high-value consumer products are increasingly forced to think of ways to satisfy their customers’ needs, stand out from competition and access new revenue streams. One way to accomplish that is to utilise the potential of product service bundles, which allow customers to enjoy a more holistic experience of products. The objective of this study was to investigate how the development of a novel concept, the product avatar and its application to existing products can contribute to servitisation. After establishing a solid foundation through a literature review, the theory behind the product avatar concept is introduced. In the following, the support of the product avatar concept for the main drivers of servitisation is discussed. The theoretical findings are then evaluated through a case study describing the development and application of the product avatar to leisure boat product lifecycle management data in the European boat industry. The results indicate that the product avatar concept does support servitisation by e.g. supporting industrial stakeholders to create new services around their core product which, in turn, may create new revenue opportunities.
Wuest et al. (Tue,) studied this question.