Influencing the disruptive potential of sustainable technologies through value proposition design: the case of vehicle-to-grid technology

Disruptive innovations often struggle to enter the mainstream market, especially those that benefit society. Innovative business models can help to make inferior technologies attractive and disrupt existing market linkages. As value propositions are an integral part of business models, they can play a key role in this process. This study explores the effect of value proposition design (VPD) on the customer value of sustainable technologies in the case of vehicle-to-grid charging. The result suggests that VPD can influence the trajectory and customer value of a technology and pave the way for disruptive innovation. It suggests to focus on utilitarian or hedonic values in VPD to target the low-end or high-end market respectively; a mixed approach reduces customer value. Hence, the study establishes a link between technology, value proposition, and market disruption. The results have important implications for research and practice as they offer an explanatory framework that can help managers in designing value propositions to accelerate the diffusion of sustainable technologies.