Markets as evolving institutional problem-solution configurations

The purpose of this work-in-progress paper is to further the understanding of how markets function and evolve. We do so by elaborating and extending the recent conceptualization of markets as institutionalized solutions of value cocreation proposed by service-dominant (S-D) logic. To better understand how markets as institutionalized solutions evolve, we draw on literature that connects institutional change to the process of framing. We contribute by theorizing how micro-level changes - i.e. organization-specific differences in framing of e.g. a resource or a role - can become amplified and result in macro-level transformation such as market evolution. We develop a theoretical framework describing how markets as institutionalized solutions evolve as actors use institutional complexity - the existence of multiple institutional arrangements and the corresponding patterns of value cocreation - to create alternative frames to interpret situations and guide individual action and then diffuse the novel frames with the help of different types of frame alignment processes. We also describe how we plan to complement our theoretical inquiry with empirical research that we have recently begun.