Towards a Framework of Influence Factors for Value Co-creation in Service Systems

Abstract

Abstract. According to modern service science theory, value is jointly generated by several partners forming a service system. In this work, we focus on a simple two-party system consisting of a service provider and its customer. The value created by this service system hinges on the contribution of both parties. That is, it also depends on the collaboration of the customer, which is a key characteristic of services in traditional definitions. Providers, however, lack knowledge on how to identify and measure the influence factors for value cocreation, such as customer contribution. Being aware of customer contribution, providers could design and manage value propositions purposefully. In this work, we provide a first version of a framework of influence factors for value co-creation in service systems, which may serve providers as a guideline for identifying different types of customer contribution.

Value, satisfaction and loyalty in the retail industry

“…Thus, in a review paper by Füller and Matzler (2008), the approach of authors such as Oliver, Rust and Varki (1997) is analyzed, and they argue that achieving satisfied customers is not enough, but that it is essential to reach customer delight to produce consequences such as loyalty or the spread of positive references (Mittal and Frennea, 2010;Kim and Mattila, 2013;Pallas, Groening and Mittal, 2013). Customer delight or enchantment has been defined as the positive emotional state resulting from exceeding customer expectations to levels surprising to the customer (Rust and Oliver, 2000;Füller and Matzler, 2008;Konu, 2010;Ahmad, Dey and Halawani, 2012;Dolnicar and Leisch, 2014;Roth and Bösener, 2015;Hottum, Kieninger and Brinkhoff, 2015). Thus, several studies (Oliva, Oliver and MacMillan, 1992;Dick and Basu, 1994;Matzler and Pechlaner, 2001) agree that the loyalty curve is relatively flat in the satisfaction zone (when customer expectations are met) but rises rapidly in the delight or very high satisfaction zone.…”

“…However, most definitions include the emotional or cognitive aspect, the consumption experience, and post-consumption phase based on accumulative experience. We focus on one of the most representative theories (Anderson, Fornell and Mazvancheryl, 2004;Füller and Mazler, 2008;Konu, 2010;Ahmad, Dey and Halawani, 2012;Dolnicar and Leisch, 2014;Roth and Bösener, 2015;Hottum, Kieninger and Brinkhoff, 2015), also known as the three-factor theory of customer satisfaction (Matzler and Sauerwein, 2002):…”

“…The asymmetric effects proposed by the three-factor theory hold for tangible products (Füller and Matzler, 2008;Konu, 2010;Ahmad, Dey and Halawani, 2012;Dolnicar and Leisch, 2014;Roth and Bösener, 2015;Hottum, Kieninger and Brinkhoff, 2015), for services (Konu, 2010;Ahmad, Dey and Halawani, 2012;Dolnicar and Leisch, 2014;Roth and Bösener, 2015;Hottum, Kieninger and Brinkhoff, 2015), and for business-to-business relationships (Ahmad, Dey and Halawani, 2012;Dolnicar and Leisch, 2014;Roth and Bösener, 2015;Hottum, Kieninger and Brinkhoff, 2015). This has been found using methods such as complaint and grievance analysis, questionnaires, critical incident technique, regression analysis, etc.…”

Measuring the value variation of a service system: a Markov-switching model estimation

“…Thus, service providers should regard business partners or downstream industries as customers because developing coordination and cooperation between customers and enterprises and increasing the effectiveness of this cooperative relationship are crucial to value cocreation, which is achieved by effective allocation of resources and steadily created by the support of various roles within a service system (Vargo and Lusch, 2004; Vargo and Lusch, 2016). Hottum et al (2015) defined a service system as an environment for value cocreation in which service providers and customers participate in a cooperative relationship and generate values through interaction. The core concept of value cocreation originates from efficient value attainment through innovative approaches and cooperation with various stakeholders to create values for customers in a complex service network (Reypens et al , 2016).…”

“…To our knowledge, there is less research focusing on the issue of value variations within service systems. Previous studies emphasized the importance of value cocreation (Agrawal et al , 2015; Reypens et al 2016), the key factors of influencing value cocreation (Hottum et al , 2015), value cocreation in service recovery (Park and Ha, 2016) and the interactions for value cocreation (Stucky et al , 2010). Hence, this study not only contributes to build a theoretical model as a solid foundation to measure value variations but also provides service providers with a feasible way to identify and predict the status of value cocreation and codestruction to effectively allocate resources.…”