Co-creating value in hotels using mobile devices: A conceptual model with empirical validation

The service-dominant (S-D) logic paradigm is increasingly gaining ground within the scholarly literature and current hotel industry practice. The S-D logic purports that consumers are no longer passive receivers of firms’ value propositions, but rather interact with firms in service settings, thus co-creating value. Using data from a general population sample of hotel consumers from the U.S., this study developed and validated empirically a conceptual model that recognizes the central role of consumers’ degree of value co-creation in creating valuable service experiences using mobile devices in hotels. It was found that the mobile (m-)commerce habit influences the degree of consumer co-creation, which in turn influences the perceived value of co-creation behavior. In addition, the perceived value of co-creation was found to influence consumers’ perceived value of the hotel stay and intentions to stay in a hotel that facilitates co-creation via the mobile environment.     

Hospitality employee and customer role in value co-creation: Personal,organizational and collaborative outcomes

With the growing frequency and importance of peer-to-peer service exchanges, the role of front-line employees for traditional hospitality service providers is changing. This study is the first to examine differences in value co-creation appraisal between front-line employees and customers. Respondents (N = 720) were equally assigned to either an employee or customer role and performed that role for four different online co-creation scenarios based on destination resort context: co-innovation, co-creation of marketing, co-production, and co-recovery. The results of between-within online experimental design were analysed using repeated measures ANOVA and PLS-SEM. Co-created value was appraised significantly higher by employees and positively affected well-being, satisfaction, and competitive advantage for both employees and customers. Co-created value served as a mediator between the four types of co-creation and outcomes only for customers. The study contributes to understanding roles as knowledge-based resources in value co-creation and provides practical implications for successful value co-creation in hospitality.     

Aspects of service-dominant logic and its implications for tourism management: Examples from the hotel industry

This paper introduces the concept of service-dominant logic as a research paradigm in marketing management. It does so in the context of tourism management’s need to engage with wider debates within the mainstream management literature. Moreover it demonstrates the importance of service-dominant logic in uncovering the role played by co-production and co-creation in the tourism industry. These ideas are developed in detail through a case study of the UK hotel industry that draws on new empirical research undertaken by the authors.     

Food tourism experience and changing destination foodscape: An exploratory study of an emerging food destination

This research investigates how and the extent to which co-creation activities of food tourism in the context of the commercial tourism sector shape and influence the foodscape in an emerging food tourism destination. An exploratory qualitative study conducted in Yogyakarta, Indonesia discovers how and where co-creative food activities take place through the mode of interaction, customisation, and co-production. Moreover, this research uncovers how the act of negotiation and the creation of food experiences co-created by tourists and suppliers contributes to the evolving destination foodscape. These processes contribute to the invention of new food offerings; the inclusion of tourists in the local food space; and the expansion of the local gastronomic horizon. This research sheds light on our limited understanding of destination foodscapes in relation to commercial food tourism activities, providing implications for gastronomic destination management, especially for emerging Asian gastronomic destinations.     

Becoming an ambidextrous hotel: The role of customer orientation

Because competitive pressure in the hotel industry continues to increase, hotels have to develop service innovation (i.e., exploration) and service improvement (i.e., exploitation) capacities to become ambidextrous for continually creating customer value. In this study, a theory of the effect of customer orientation on service innovation and service improvement, which facilitates service quality and results in better market performance, was developed and investigated. By analyzing the data provided by senior executives and department managers from 126 hotels in Taiwan, both service innovation and service improvement were revealed to partially mediate the relationship between customer orientation and market performance. The results imply that customer orientation affects the market performance of a hotel through the development of service capabilities, and that customer orientation can transform a hotel into an ambidextrous hotel by concurrently developing service innovation and service improvement capacities.     

Antecedents of mandatory customer participation in service encounters: An empirical study

The literature on service quality and customer loyalty has long focused on enhancing the work of service providers. This study examined “the other side of the coin” in service co-production or value co-creation in service encounters by investigating how service providers might take a proactive approach to building relationships based on mandatory customer participation (MCP). The research evaluated how such antecedents as role clarity, self-efficacy, purchase importance, and servicescape could influence MCP. Path analysis revealed that these four factors significantly influenced different dimensions of MCP; which in turn had a significant impact on customer loyalty. Using these insights, managers could develop a strategic approach to managing customer roles in the service delivery process. This study adds to the body of knowledge on service quality by demonstrating empirically the determinants and structure of MCP and their relationships with customer loyalty in service co-production processes in a hospitality setting.     

Value co-creation and customer citizenship behavior

Drawing on social exchange theory and the service-dominant logic framework this paper explores the association between value co-creation and the willingness to engage in customer citizenship behavior in the hospitality and tourism context. Tourism and hospitality firms are increasingly offering opportunities for co-production and value-in-use not only to increase revisit and repurchase intentions but also to benefit from manifestations of customer citizenship behavior such as customer feedback, advocacy, customer-to-customer assistance and tolerance in less satisfactory future services. The paper offers a building block for future work to investigate the causal relationship between the dimensions of value co-creation (co-production and value-in-use) and customer citizenship behavior.     

Informing timeshare exchange services on the drivers of customer-driven co-production

Given the continued growth of the timeshare segment and its unique characteristics as an owned leisure lodging product, adopting a service-dominant logic and developing opportunities for co-creation is highly relevant for companies that provide services to this industry. Specifically, the purpose of this study is to explore the drivers that lead to customer-driven co-production in timeshare exchange services, due to the popularity of this option among consumers owning timeshare. Our results indicate that interaction between timeshare owners as customers of the exchange company is a significant driver of customer-driven co-production. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to explore customer-driven co-production in the timeshare industry. Moreover, our findings are highly significant for timeshare exchange companies and point them to potential areas of improvement in their service processes that could lead to higher customer-driven co-production and, consequently, more valuable experiences.     

旅游公共服务价值共创:概念模型、驱动因素与行为过程--以杭州市社会资源国际访问点为例

与商业服务领域相似,旅游公共服务近年来也经历了由产品主导逻辑向服务主导逻辑演变的过程,由公共服务供需双方共创价值的实践现象已经出现。文章以杭州市社会资源国际访问点为案例,通过扎根理论的方法,探索性地提出旅游公共服务价值共创的概念,剖析了由政府、企业、居民、游客等不同社会主体参与的旅游公共服务价值共创现象,识别了制度保障、增权激励、信息透明、技术摄入、文化契合是实现旅游公共服务价值共创的驱动因素与前提条件。而不同主体间耦合形成的服务生态系统,其内部各要素的互动与整合是旅游公共服务价值共创实现的中介要素。此外,旅游公共服务价值共创的行为过程包括价值主张提出、共创环境营造、社会成员嵌入、社会价值共识、公共价值创造和社会影响输出。文章拓展了价值共创理论在旅游公共服务领域的应用,揭示了共创的内部机理与行为规律,为旅游目的地公共服务发展与供给模式创新提供了理论工具。     

Unraveling the dynamic and contingency mechanism between service experience and customer engagement with luxury hotel brands

This study unravels the dynamic and contingency mechanism between service experience and customer engagement with luxury hotel brands by investigating a multi-step model linking these two variables, in which emotional attachment and relational quality constructs (i.e., brand satisfaction, brand trust, and brand commitment) act as a bridge, while customer involvement acts as a moderator. Based on a self-administered survey dataset of 249 international tourists who are customers of luxury hotel brands, partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) is used to test the hypotheses. The results indicate that all proposed hypotheses are supported. As such, this study discovers and clarifies the nature and dynamic mechanism underpinning the co-creation and reciprocation process of customer engagement with luxury hotels. In particular, the positive service experience is found to contribute to customer engagement via emotional attachment and relational marketing. Furthermore, the moderating role of customer involvement in the luxury hotel setting is confirmed.     

Nonverbal communication in hotels as a medium of experience co-creation

Although the Service-Dominant Logic literature hinted on the importance of nonverbal language for value co-creation, nonverbal communication as an experience co-creation component has not been explicitly addressed in either hospitality and tourism or general management context. Through the constructivist lens, this research focuses on kinesics, which is the most noticeable component of nonverbal communication, in hotels as a medium of experience co-creation in the guest-employee dyad. Four video-elicitation focus groups, with 12 hotel employees and 12 guests, found reciprocity (mutual recognition, insight exchange, expectation formation) and engagement (customized attention, relationship building, a sense of affinity) as two major dimensions of kinesic experience. Furthermore, employees' imperative and guests' complacent cues act as value triggers, contributing to experience co-creation between guests and employees. Based on empirical results and related literature, the framework of experience co-creation centred on kinesics is proposed; practical implications regarding frontline employees’ nonverbal communication competencies are discussed.     

Classifying technological innovation attributes for hotels: an application of the Kano model

ABSTRACT

Technological facilities and services have become attractive features in hotel selection. However, limited research has been conducted on how technological innovation attributes are perceived by hotel tourists. This paper aims to highlight and categorize the technological innovation attributes of hotels based on the Kano model. Empirical testing shows four technological innovation factors: Internet and app usage, smartphone usage as a room key and for payment, E-housekeeping, and the use of electronic self-service systems. Findings provide practical implications for hotel operators planning to introduce technologies into their hotels.     

Wearable technology in service delivery processes: The gender-moderated technology objectification effect

In the current research, we investigate how employees’ adoption of wearable technology (i.e., a front-line employee using Google Glass for a hotel check-in) influences consumers’ service encounter evaluations and revisit intentions. Building on the theoretical frameworks of technology objectification effect, person sensitivity bias and gender stereotypes, we find that wearable technology has a differential impact on service evaluations based on the employee's gender. Study 1 demonstrates that for female employees, the adoption of wearable technology leads to more favorable customer evaluations in service failure encounters. Study 2 shows that for male employees, the adoption of wearable technology leads to less favorable customer evaluations in service success encounters. We discuss theoretical and managerial implications of these findings.     

Making innovation happen through building social capital and scanning environment

Both new service development and existing service improvement are critical tools for hotels to gain competitive advantages, but pursuing new services while simultaneously improving existing services is difficult for hotel managers. The success of highly proactive hotel managers has been credited to their ability to change the environment effectively, and such managers may be able to lead hotels to resolve the trade-off dilemma and deliver better services. To elucidate the contributions of proactive managers in making innovation happen, this study explored two key activities that hotels may undertake when prompted by the proactive managers, namely, environmental scanning and social capital building. The process involved in developing new services and improving current services was examined using empirical data collected from the general managers of 226 hotels in Taiwan. The results confirm that environmental scanning and social capital fully mediate the relationship between proactive personality of managers and capacity for service innovation as well as service improvement of hotels, indicating that hotel managers with a proactive personality are helpful at implementing innovation.     

Museum visitors’ heterogeneity and experience processing

This research examines the relationships between affective and cognitive antecedents and consequences of satisfaction under a market heterogeneity approach. It includes co-creation of preparatory activities. The sample consisted of 276 museum visitors in London. Two analysis have been conducted: structural equation model and latent class path analysis. The paper contributes to the development of a theoretical framework for further understanding of service experience in which co-creation plays an important role. Two segments were identified: 1) emotional (with lower degree of co-creation, equally distributed by age and nationality); 2) rational (higher degree of co-creation, younger and domestic visitors). Our research shows significant differences between the two segments regarding variables such as satisfaction, loyalty, service experience, emotion, positive disconfirmation and willingness to pay more.     

Value co-creation behaviours from customer-to-customer interactions (CCIs) in recreational social tango experiences

ABSTRACT

Drawing on customer-dominant (C-D) logic, the main objective of this study is to examine value co-creation behaviours that emerge from customer-to-customer interactions (CCIs) in recreational dance experiences. In-depth interviews were held with 15 dance participants located in Chile, who take social tango classes. The findings identify seven CCI value co-creation behaviours, such as seeking and sharing information about the service with other participants, complying with service requirements and behaving responsibly towards other participants, developing personal interactions with other participants, helping and providing feedback to other participants, and finally being tolerant of and courteous to other participants. The findings of this study advances knowledge on value co-creation and can assist recreational services and dance school managers to develop more effective service strategies for improved customer experiences.     

Customer co-creation of travel services: The role of company support and customer satisfaction with the co-creation performance

The tourism industry is characterized by high-contact services in which co-creation of customers plays a major role. This paper develops a conceptual model of customer co-creation of tourism services and empirically tests this model in a travel agency context. Applying a SEM-approach, company support for customers is found to significantly affect the degree of customer co-creation. The degree of co-creation further positively affects customer satisfaction with the service company, customer loyalty, and service expenditures. A test of the moderating effect of the customers' satisfaction with their own co-creation performance on satisfaction with the service company and on service expenditures suggests that those customers who are satisfied with their co-creation activities spend more on their travel arrangements, but that they are less satisfied with the company. Important implications for co-creation theory and practice in high-contact service industries can be derived.     

Designing lifestyle hotels

Art creates irreplaceable added value and serves as a source for satisfying the spiritual needs of hotel customers. To provide customers with memorable services, hotels not only need to continue improving their services (exploit), but also have to design artistic new services (explore). Thus, customer willingness to return to the hotel could be increased, enhancing customer loyalty. However, few hotels simultaneously implement these two types of trade-off activities (i.e., exploitation and exploration). According to the ambidexterity perspective, this study applied a case study approach to investigate the process through which hotel operators design lifestyle hotels. Moreover, this study involved constructing an operational framework that adopted art as the basis for differentiation. The research results revealed that in introducing art concepts into a hotel service system, hotels operators must attach a high level of importance to several key activities, including hiring a full-time executive artistic manager in the top management team to engage in innovation, integrating local culture and the natural environment into the design of an artistic servicescape, catering to customers’ needs, and adopting high-performance human resource practices. These activities enable hotels to enhance their service capability in simultaneously implementing the two mutual trade-off activities, specifically designing new artistic services (explorative innovation) and continually improving their services (exploitative innovation).     

Relationships between external knowledge,internal innovation,firms’ open innovation performance,service innovation and business performance in the Pakistani hotel industry

The purpose of this study is to test the relationships between external knowledge, internal innovation, firms’ open innovation performance, service innovation and business performance in the Pakistani hotel industry. A simple random sample of 285 managerial staff in the Pearl-Continental Hotels & Resorts of Pakistan was surveyed. The findings show that firms’ open innovation performance has a positive influence on service innovation and business performance. They also reveal that external knowledge and internal innovation positively influence firms’ open innovation performance and that further leads to service innovation and business performance respectively. This study provides practitioners with firms’ open innovation performance as a tool to enhance business performance while adopting the strategy.