Transformative value co-creation with older customers in e-services: Exploring the influence of customer participation on appreciation of digital affordances and well-being

This study challenges the negative assumption that older customers struggle to adapt to e-service by exploring the positive influence of their participation on transformative value co-creation. A two-phase mixed-methods approach was adopted to develop and validate the research model. The results found that customer participation, including information sharing, responsible behaviors, and in-role feedback, promotes older customers' digital skills and basic needs satisfaction, leading to higher appreciation of digital affordances and well-being. Additionally, online employees’ customer orientation positively moderates the above relationships. This study provides insight for service providers to include older customers in e-services.     

Does Raising Value Co-creation Increase All Customers’ Happiness?

Happiness, defined as a state of well-being and contentment, is a central human goal. Despite advances in customer behavior research related to value co-creation, the link between customer happiness and these behaviors remains unclear. This study therefore examines customers’ in-role participation behavior and extra-role citizenship behavior to determine their influence on customers’ happiness. Customer participation and citizenship behaviors relate positively to customers’ perceptions of both service performance and their contributions to others’ welfare. In addition, collectivism moderates the relationship between perceived contributions to others’ welfare and happiness; individualism instead moderates the relationship between perceived service performance and happiness. These findings provide both managerial implications and directions for business marketing ethics.     

Two-sided effects of customer participation: roles of relationships and social-interaction values in social services

This research aims to extend customer participation and value co-creation theory to the social-services sector, where consumer choice is restricted. This study examines the relationship between the value creation of participation and customer satisfaction in social services. The perceived value corresponding to different types of relationships was divided into company–customer (relationship value) and customer–customer (social-interaction value). To test hypotheses, data were collected via an online survey of customers using child-care centers in Korea. The participating customers had children who attended day-care centers, and the proposed hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. Empirical result shows that customer participation as information resource and customer participation as co-developer affect the relationship and social-interaction values. The most important and interesting result is that the relationship value has a positive effect, but the social-interaction value has a negative one on customer satisfaction. These results suggest that customer participation in social services has both positive and negative outcomes, which means that the social-interaction value of co-creation does not always lead to customer satisfaction in a choice-limited service such as child care. This study explains a counterintuitive and interesting relationship between the social-interaction value and customer satisfaction by validating the moderating role of social network service-based interaction intensity in child-care services.     

The effects of interaction behaviors of service frontliners on customer participation in the value co-creation: a study of health care service

This research explores the roles of various interaction behaviors of service frontliners in activating customer participation and creating customer value in the context of health care service. Based on the data of 285 paired patient–physician cases of serious chronic diseases, the analysis revealed that individuated, relational, and empowered interactions expressed by a service frontliner play a critical role in activating customer participation, leading to a higher level of perceived value; while ethical interaction has a direct-only impact on perceived value. These results imply that frontliner interaction can be further broken into participation-activating interaction and value-enhancing interaction. Both of which eventually lead to the improvement of customer value.     

An integrative model of customers' perceptions of health care services in Taiwan

As the health care service gets more competitive, health care practitioners and academic researchers are increasingly interested in exploring how patients perceive the quality and value of their care before building up their satisfaction levels and generating behavioural intentions. Drawing some theories from marketing and health care service literature, this study tries to propose an integrative model of customers' perceptions of health care services based on the established relationship among four key constructs (service quality, perceived value, satisfaction, and behavioural intentions). Structural equation modelling is then used to validate the model. As Taiwan's universal health insurance offers every citizen equal financial access to all health care providers, Taiwan offers a good opportunity to study how the patients' perception model is structured. The findings reveal both perceived quality and value as antecedent variables in this model illustrating direct and indirect paths from perceived quality and value to patient satisfaction and behavioural intentions.     

A framework for the selection of Six Sigma projects in services: case studies of banking and health care services in Taiwan

This study develops a framework for effectively implementing service Six Sigma projects. The framework is composed of four phases: (1) initial project identification, which deploys candidate projects in accordance with a firm’s strategic goals, (2) project value assessment, which evaluates project’s value based on the financial return, cost, and its impact on employee behavior, (3) project complexity assessment, which examines scope, data availability, and risk associated with the project, and (4) project prioritization, which identifies Six Sigma projects and categorizes them into black belt and green belt categories. Two cases in banking and health care services are discussed to demonstrate the proposed framework.     

The Ecological Product Buying Motive: A Challenge For Consumer Education

This paper reviews the literature devoted to products that have been identified as having an ecological orientation. Specifically, the author presents evidence to support the idea that the consuming public has demonstrated a capacity to buy products on a voluntary basis. This voluntary consumption behavior is observable in the key research projects quoted in the text. While there is mixed evidence to support the hypothesis that consumers will voluntarily alter their buying behavior for the benefit of society in general, there are a number of positive and identifiable ways to elicit broader participation in voluntary consumption behavior. This paper makes a numbers of suggestions with respect to how important information is in the process of voluntary consumption and suggests ways to simplify the information process.     

Purchasing health care services: Information sources and decisional criteria

The introduction of a market mechanism into the National Health service in the UK was underpinned by the belief that decentralised purchasing would both improve the quality of health care provision and restrain spiralling costs, through purchasers exercising their ability to choose between alternative providers. Focusing on budget holding General Practitioners, that is those practices responsible for purchasing hospital services for their practice populations, this paper explores the evolving purchasing behaviour of these professional intermediaries. Drawing on empirical evidence gathered as part of a broader study of the purchasing behaviour of GP Fundholders in Scotland, specifically it examines the key information sources and decisional criteria utilised by these professional intermediaries in selecting health care providers for their practice population. Utilising relational models of market behaviour, it addresses both the contextually specific issue of whether the market mechanism within the NHS is achieving the twin objectives of improving health care provision and restraining cost pressures, and the broader conceptual issue of the purchasing behaviour of professional intermediaries within a service sector environment.     

An evaluation of consumer participation in hospital breast services

Community expectations and research demonstrate that consumers play an important role in shaping services for women with breast cancer. Consumer contribution has been mandated recently in Victoria, Australia, to ensure the inclusion of consumer involvement in the planning and decision‐making processes within health organizations. As part of the redevelopment of breast services in Victoria, Southern Health has been funded to plan local improvements to care co‐ordination for women diagnosed with breast cancer in the southern metropolitan area of Melbourne. The establishment of effective consumer participation in breast services is an integral aspect of this project and a range of initiatives has been undertaken to achieve meaningful consumer involvement including the appointment of a consumer advisor; appointment of staff with extensive knowledge in women's health and community development to the project; establishment of a consumer reference group; and plans made to improve the receptivity of health service systems to consumer input. A preliminary evaluation of this ongoing project has indicated that a productive role for consumers in service practice review and policy and planning activities has been established and some change and engagement of staff has occurred. There is still work to be done to promote the involvement of a wider range of health professionals and to increase the level of trust between consumers and staff.     

Effects of confidence and social benefits on consumers’ extra-role and in-role behaviors: A social identity and social exchange perspective

This study explores the effects of relational benefits on consumers' extra-role (civic virtue) and in-role (consumer loyalty) behaviors from social identity and social exchange perspectives, in addition to the mediating role of consumer–company identification (CCI) and perceived value. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data obtained from a cross-sectional survey of 254 consumers. The findings reveal that relational benefits promote consumers’ extra-role and in-role behaviors. Specifically, confidence and social benefits, directly and indirectly, affect civic virtue and consumer loyalty. Supporting our integrative framework, the results demonstrate that CCI mediates the effect of confidence and social benefits on civic virtue and consumer loyalty, whereas perceived value only mediates the relationship between confidence and social benefits and consumer loyalty. This study presents important implications for academicians and practitioners.     

Consumers' Role Performance and Brand Identification: Evidence from a Survey and a Longitudinal Field Experiment

Why do some consumers evangelize brands and create value for them even without receiving any direct reward in return? How do their motivations influence their role behaviors and their identification with the company or brand? We draw on motivation theory and the in- and extra-role literature of leadership to propose a theoretical framework. We use this framework to analyze data from one cross-sectional survey conducted with members of two online brand communities and one longitudinal field experiment with consumers of one new online brand community. We first separate community members' motivations into three types of psychological needs (self-competency, self-belongingness, self-autonomy) that are fulfilled by membership in a brand community. We investigate how each of these needs influences consumers' in-role and extra-role behaviors, which in turn positively affect their brand identification and create value for the company. Our results show that self-competency motivates both in- and extra-role behaviors, self-belongingness only increases less involved in-role behaviors, and self-autonomy only affects more involved extra-role behaviors. Both role behaviors foster beneficial consumer brand identification. We discuss how these findings can inform marketers' brand community-building strategies.     

For the Good or the Bad? Interactive Effects of Transformational Leadership with Moral and Authoritarian Leadership Behaviors

Although the ethical aspects of transformational leadership have attracted considerable attention, very little is known about followers’ reactions to the moral and immoral conduct of transformational leaders. Against this background, this study examined whether and how transformational leadership interacts with moral and authoritarian leadership behaviors in predicting followers’ in-role and extra-role efforts. Building on attribution theory, we hypothesized that the positive and negative effects of these leadership behaviors would be particularly pronounced for highly transformational leaders given that this leadership style elicits strong attention and sense-making efforts among followers. We tested our model in a sample of 228 individuals comprising 114 leader–follower dyads from a wide range of organizations and industries. In line with our hypotheses, results revealed that for highly transformational leaders, moral leadership behaviors related positively to employees’ in-role and extra-role efforts whereas authoritarian leadership behaviors related negatively to employees’ in-role and extra-role efforts. In contrast, moral and authoritarian leadership behaviors did not significantly affect followers’ reactions to leaders low in transformational leadership. Taken together, these findings suggest that transformational leadership, contrary to its largely positive perception in the literature, can be a rather mixed blessing. Implications for theory, future research, and managerial practice are discussed.     

Does strategic involvement of mental health service users and carers in the planning,design and commissioning of mental health services lead to better outcomes?

There is an assumption, explicit in the current government policy, that involvement of mental health service users and carers in the planning, design and commissioning of mental health services will lead to better outcomes. The aim of this study was to examine evidence from board‐level participation of service users and carers that might support this assumption. A thematic analysis of documents generated by a strategic Lancashire Mental Health and Social Care Partnership during 2007 was undertaken. Themes for the analysis were generated from priorities identified from a postal survey of mental health services users from across Lancashire. The findings indicate that whilst service user and carer involvement is a high priority, the Lancashire Partnership spent most of its time discussing process and actions. Where service user involvement resulted in better outcomes, these improved outcomes were limited to the individual service users involved, rather than better outcomes for all service users. Whilst the membership of mental health service users and carers on the Lancashire Partnership Board presents a visible commitment from senior officers and may confer greater legitimacy to the decisions made by the Lancashire Partnership, service users and carers do not appear to play the desired instrumental role. Rather, their presence may be largely symbolic. This sends out the message across the health and social care system that partnership with service users and carers and their empowerment is important and has the potential to evolve further.     

Managing employee attention and internal branding

We extend the marketing literature on internal branding by developing a theoretical framework to explain the processes whereby brand orientation affects in- and extra-role employee brand-building behavior from the theoretical perspective of the attention-based view. The results of a survey of 314 UK-based nonprofit organizations show that brand orientation leads to the development of internal branding mechanisms, which in turn fosters in-role employee brand-building behaviors. We also find that internal branding mechanisms mediate the effects of brand orientation on extra-role employee brand-building behavior, as there exists an inverted U-shaped relationship between internal branding mechanisms and extra-role employee brand-building behaviors. Furthermore, our result shows that the inverted U-shaped relationship between internal branding mechanisms and extra-role employee brand-building behaviors flips to a concave upward curve when strong interfunctional communications exist.     

我国的高等教育服务贸易:发展、挑战与对策

我国高等教育服务贸易存在巨大逆差,在很大程度上可以归因于我国的高等教育服务贸易法制与行政体制以及激烈的国际竞争环境。要解决发展高等教育服务贸易面临的困境与挑战,我国必须明确区分营利性与非营利性高等教育,制定与实施高等教育服务贸易的发展规划和促进政策,完善高等教育服务贸易的立法内容,完善高等教育服务贸易的规制体制,改革教育行政体制,加强高等教育服务贸易国际谈判、交流与合作。     

Consumer satisfaction with health-care services: The influence of involvement

The impact of involvement and ambiguity on satisfaction judgments for high-credence property services such as health care has not been studied. This study examines the level and process effects of involvement on satisfaction with two dimensions of a health-care service. We found that higher levels of customer involvement were associated with greater expectations and performance ratings for the ambiguous dimension of the service (physicians). Customer involvement had no influence on ratings for the nonambiguous aspects of the service (access mechanisms). Perceived performance was found to be the most influential predictor of satisfaction for low-involvement subjects. High-involvement subjects used disconfirmation and performance to evaluate physicians and only disconfirmation in forming satisfaction judgments for access mechanisms. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Multiple sclerosis patients as counsellors and evaluators of rehabilitation

The article is concerned with multiple sclerosis (MS) patients’ experiences of rehabilitation services. Customers choose and assess the rehabilitation services they want. In the spring of 1999, group interview data were collected as part of an evaluation study of outpatient activities organized by the Finnish MS Society. Illness experience, changes in functional capacity and experience of health care services provided by both the public and voluntary sectors were all shown to have an effect on how customers chose services. When customers guide their own rehabilitation, their wishes and decisions concerning rehabilitation should be heard and respected. This indicates that customers make choices taking account of the opportunities provided by society.     

Promoting continual member participation in firm-hosted online brand communities: An organizational socialization approach

In the age of social media, an increasing number of firms have begun to host online brand communities (OBCs) to strengthen their relationship with their consumers. Despite the popularity of firm-hosted OBCs, building a successful online brand community is still a challenge for every firm because of the nature of voluntary participation. This paper introduces an organizational socialization approach to promote sustained member participation, a deciding factor for the success of online communities. Based on theory of organizational socialization, this study identifies three typical socialization tactics employed by sponsors of OBCs (i.e., member education, interaction support, and participation feedback). Further, we present an empirical study to examine their effects on members' membership continuance intention using the data collected from several firm-hosted OBCs. The mediator role of community identification and the moderator role of membership duration are investigated, and theoretical and managerial implications for community management are discussed.     

Reconstructing consumer participation in evidence‐based health care: a polemic

Consumer participation in the evidence‐based health‐care movement is largely seen as important by those who promote evidence‐based health care but is surrounded by a range of competing discourses that variously critique medicine, nursing or health‐care systems; situate consumers as powerless players within systems characterized by controlling health professionals; or politicize the role of the consumer as activist and defender of patient rights. This paper explores these competing discourses and develops an argument that asserts that the social construction of the evidence‐based movement has rendered previously accepted terminology regarding the user or receiver of health services relatively meaningless. The result has been the ‘politicisation’ and ‘professionalisation’ of consumer participation and the time has come to reconstruct consumer participation in evidence‐based health care – from the generation of evidence to guideline development.