AU-DELÀ DU CONTRAT : LA MOBILISATION DU CONCEPT DE VALEUR DE LIEN DANS LA RELATION SOCIÉTAIRE-MUTUELLE D’ASSURANCE. Le cas Macif

<p style="text-align: justify;">Th e global change in the relationships between consumption actors characterized by the disappearance of the boundaries between the economic and the social prefi gures the transformation of social ties and raises the question of the value that comes from market exchanges. In the mutual sector, the stakeholders have a special relationship that transcends the traditional consumer relationship and brings a “connection value” to the market exchange that goes beyond the exchange value and use value. Its deployment in the service economy and more specifi cally in insurance remains fragmentary and partial. In this article we show that by deploying the connection value through the circulation of a certain type of good, value can be created that is related to the quality of the mutual relationship rather than the particularities of the insurance industry. To demonstrate this, we analyze the interaction between customer services personnel and policy-holders in the mutual insurance company Macif. Our findings reveal that the contractual relationship aims to establish an ethical relationship between the partners. We show that in order to create the connection value it is necessary to be able to “temper the alterity created by the contract” and that one of the conditions is allowing customer services representatives to work independently because the relationship involves the reciprocity of recognition.</p>