Co-creative service design for online businesses in post-COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amjad Shamim ◽  
Junaid Siddique ◽  
Uzma Noor ◽  
Rohail Hassan

Purpose This study aims to explore the customers’ behaviour towards online shopping during COVID-19 in a Muslim country and proposes a co-creative service design for online businesses (webstore) in the post-COVID-19 era. Design/methodology/approach The study used a qualitative design for collecting the data where in-depth interviews from 18 customers were conducted following the qualitative design protocol. Due to the limitation of physical distancing, the interviews were conducted online using Microsoft teams. Findings Based on the findings, new potential services are proposed for webstores for customer engagement, the need for expansion of product lines and safety measures for customers and staff during and post-COVID-19 era. Following the findings, a co-creative service design is proposed for webstores to revamp the business during and post-COVID-19. Originality/value The study is unique because it has developed various unique strategic factors essential for revamping online businesses for better growth in post-COVID-19. The proposed new co-creative service design model for an online service provider is expected to create customers engagement and loyalty during and in post-COVID-19.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Clement Nangpiire ◽  
Joaquim Silva ◽  
Helena Alves

PurposeThe customer as an active and engaged value co-creator raises new challenges for theory and practice, especially in the hospitality industry. However, the connection between engagement and co-creation is little studied in the hotel/tourism literature. This paper proposes a connection between customer engagement (CE) and value co-creation frameworks to ascertain and depict the internal actors' activities and factors that foster or hinder guests' co-creation and destruction of value.Design/methodology/approachThe researchers used qualitative methods (35 in-depth interviews, document analysis and four observation sessions) in seven regions of Ghana to explore the customer's perspective. Data were analyzed with NVivo11 within a thematic analysis framework.FindingsThe findings suggest that positive and negative engagement fosters or hinders guests' interactions, which lead to value co-creation or destruction. The research also discovered that negative interactions occasioned by any factor or actor trigger value destruction at multiple stages of the experience journey.Practical implicationsIndustry players can use the framework developed to assess their businesses, explore and reflect on the proposed value they aim to generate, and thus be more aware of how they can better facilitate value co-creation with their consumers and avoid value destruction.Originality/valueThis research proposes a novel connection between customer interactions, engagement and value co-creation to ascertain and depict the internal actors' activities and factors that foster or hinder customers' experience in the hotel/tourism industry.


2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie Carlson ◽  
Mohammad Rahman ◽  
Ranjit Voola ◽  
Natalie De Vries

Purpose Social media brand pages have become instrumental in enabling customers to voluntarily participate in providing feedback/ideas for improvement and collaboration with others that contribute to the innovation effort of brands. However, research on mechanisms which harness these specific customer engagement behaviours (CEB) in branded social media platforms is limited. Based on the stimulus–organism–response paradigm, this study investigates how specific online-service design characteristics in social media brand pages induce customer-perceived value perceptions, which in turn, stimulate feedback and collaboration intentions with customers. Design/methodology/approach Data collected from 654 US consumers of brand pages on Facebook were used to empirically test the proposed framework via structural equation modelling. Findings The theoretical framework found support for most hypothesized relationships showing how online-service design characteristics induce an identified set of customer value perceptions that influence customer feedback and collaboration intentions. Research limitations/implications The sample is restricted to customer evaluations of brand pages on Facebook in the USA. Practitioners are advised to maximize online-service design characteristics of content quality, brand page interactivity, sociability and customer contact quality as stimulants that induce brand learning value, entitativity value and hedonic value. This then translates to customer feedback and collaboration intentions towards the brand page. Originality/value The findings have important implications for the design and optimization of online services in the customer engagement-innovation interface to harness CEBs for innovation performance.


2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (12) ◽  
pp. 1570-1589 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yazeed Alfakhri ◽  
Mohammad Nurunnabi ◽  
Demah Alfakhri

PurposeIn response to the scarcity of research on Islamic corporate social responsibility (CSR), the purpose of this paper is to explore how young Saudi consumers perceive CSR from an Islamic perspective. The study is focused on Saudi Arabia, a Muslim country, and the largest exporter of petroleum in the world.Design/methodology/approachThe present study uses a qualitative methodology with 34 in-depth interviews undertaken in two major Saudi cities (Tabouk and Riyadh).FindingsUtilising social contract theory, this study contributes to the literature by developing an Islamic “CSR Tree” model (which consists of three parts: “roots”, “trunk”, and “crown”) to increase the understanding of Islamic CSR (i-CSR) and consumer behaviour. The roots are hidden, while the trunk and crown are visible. In particular, private social responsibility (the roots of the CSR Tree) incorporatingSadaqa, or values and intention, is the fundamental component on which organisations should base their CSR strategy from an Islamic perspective. The study also reveals that internal, external, and private social responsibilities are connected, and all are dependent on each other. The higher the level of private social responsibility exhibited, the higher the level of external social responsibility.Originality/valueAccording to the CSR Tree model presented in this study, an organisation should avoidRiya(showing off) as this would represent shirk or idolatry, which is the opposite ofTawhid. The findings are particularly relevant for advancing the concept of i-CSR and for considering complex perspectives less travelled in the CSR literature. The study suggests that the best strategy for an organisation wishing to pursue an i-CSR agenda would be to balance internal and external responsibilities, and to bear in mind that private responsibility should be the motivation for action, and that CSR should be applied for the benefit of society.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kesmat AbdelAziz ◽  
Nor Hasliza Md Saad ◽  
Ramayah Thurasamy

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the factors which influence value co-creation intention through customer engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper studies the online modest fashion small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Egypt as a Muslim country. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on the social cognitive theory (SCT) and the literature to develop a theoretical framework of the factors influencing customers’ value co-creation intention on social media. The framework is then tested quantitatively through structural equation modelling based on partial least squares method (SEM-PLS) approach using the SmartPLS software. Findings The empirical analysis supported the SCT through the following conclusions: first, regarding the subject factors, self-efficacy has a positive significant effect on all dimensions of customer engagement and outcome expectation has a positive significant effect on cognitive customer engagement. Concerning the environmental factors, community experience has a positive significant effect on affective and behavioural customer engagement, whereas content quality has a positive significant effect on affective customer engagement. Second, customer engagement is a significant mediator through the dimensions of affective and behavioural customer engagement. Practical implications The findings of this study can help online modest fashion SMEs better comprehend the factors which influence the customers’ engagement for value co-creation intention whether it is subject factors or environmental factors. Therefore, they can better operate online and encourage customers to contribute to the development of new products and services and hence achieve a competitive advantage and survive in times of COVID-19. Originality/value Most of the existing studies focused on the value co-creation behaviour and output. However, there is limited research focusing on what contributes to the customers’ engagement for value co-creation intention, especially for online modest fashion and Muslim countries. Therefore, this study attempts to examine and bridge this research gap.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Doaa Fathy ◽  
Mohamed H. Elsharnouby ◽  
Ehab AbouAish

PurposeCustomer engagement, as one form of interactive marketing, enhances organisational performance, in terms of sales growth, superior competitive advantage and increased profitability, particularly within the sports context. This research aims to explore fans' engagement behaviours with their sports teams and identify its drivers and outcomes.Design/methodology/approachThe researchers deployed mixed methods in this study via three phases: (1) A judgmental sampling technique, along with snowballing, were used to conduct in-depth interviews with twenty-two football fans, for the exploratory phase; (2) A convenience sample was also used for the quantitative phase, which was divided into two stages, (1) the pretesting stage (30 fans), and (2) the main data collection stage (407 fans) and (3) A judgmental sampling technique was applied for the qualitative validation phase (10 interviews with experts and practitioners).FindingsQualitative and quantitative results supported team jealousy, team competitiveness and team morality as new predictors for fan engagement behaviours. Further, while the fan role readiness had the most positive effect on management cooperation, team identification had the most predicting power for prosocial behaviour. Finally, team morality had the most significant positive impact on performance tolerance.Originality/valueDespite the considerable practical attention, and the recent extensive research, paid towards conceptualising customer engagement behaviours in the last decade, there is still a need for further exploration on the fan engagement concept to better understand fans' unique behavioural responses; accordingly, the current research was conducted.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maheen Iqbal Awan ◽  
Amjad Shamim ◽  
Jiseon Ahn

Purpose In the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic, organizations now are expected to serve customers who are highly conscious of safety and sanitation. Among others, the hospitality industry is significantly and negatively influenced by this pandemic. Given the unique characteristics of services, using advanced technology is not enough to create a memorable experience without physical interaction between service providers and customers. Thus, this study aims to define the “new normal” for service customers and to explore the “new service design” for the hotel industry. Design/methodology/approach As most of the Southeast Asian countries heavily rely on the tourism industry, this study focuses on one of the emerging tourism destinations in this region, Malaysia. The data is collected through in-depth interviews with 17 potential national and international tourists. Findings The results suggest that considering the “new normal” for customers, there is an immediate need for the hotel industry to revamp their service design by mainly practicing disinfection and sanitation activities, re-designing overall infrastructure and introducing promotional offers. Originality/value This study is novel in its kind as it provides useful guidelines for both practitioners and academicians/researchers. Under this crucial time, very few research is conducted specifically focusing on the hotel industry and tourists’ behaviors amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The study will provide in-depth knowledge about tourists’ expectations from the hotel services, especially in their own voices.


2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 740-757 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Hennekam ◽  
Subramaniam Ananthram ◽  
Steve McKenna

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how individuals perceive and react to the involuntary demotion of a co-worker in their organisation. Design/methodology/approach The authors draw on 46 semi-structured in-depth interviews (23 dyads) with co-workers of demoted individuals. Findings The findings suggest that an individual’s observation of the demotion of a co-worker has three stages: their perception of fairness, their emotional reaction and their behavioural reaction. The perception of fairness concerned issues of distributive, procedural, interpersonal and informational justice. The emotional responses identified were feelings of disappointment/disillusion, uncertainty, vulnerability and anger. Finally, the behavioural reactions triggered by their emotional responses included expressions of voice, loyalty, exit and adaptation. Originality/value Perceptions of (in)justice perpetrated on others stimulate emotional and behavioural responses, which impacts organisational functioning. Managers should therefore pay attention to the way a demotion is perceived, not only by those directly concerned, but also by co-workers as observers.


2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 455-471
Author(s):  
Jorge Cruz-Cárdenas ◽  
Jorge Guadalupe-Lanas ◽  
Ekaterina Zabelina ◽  
Andrés Palacio-Fierro ◽  
Margarita Velín-Fárez ◽  
...  

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand in-depth how consumers create value in their lives using WhatsApp, the leading mobile instant messaging (MIM) application. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts the perspective of customer-dominant logic (CDL) and uses a qualitative multimethod design involving 3 focus groups and 25 subsequent in-depth interviews. The research setting was Ecuador, a Latin American country. Findings Analysis and interpretation of the participants’ stories made it possible to identify and understand the creation of four types of value: maintaining and strengthening relationships; improving role performance; emotional support; and entertainment and fun. In addition, the present study proposes a conceptual model of consumer value creation as it applies to MIM. Practical implications Understanding the way consumers create value in their lives using MIM is important not only for organizations that offer MIM applications, but also for those companies that develop other applications for mobile phones or for those who wish to use MIM as an electronic word-of-mouth vehicle. Originality/value The current study is one of the first to address the topic of consumer behavior in the use of technologies from the perspective of CDL; this perspective enables an integrated qualitative vision of value creation in which the consumer is the protagonist.


2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 833-845 ◽  
Author(s):  
Youngsu Lee ◽  
Joonhwan In ◽  
Seung Jun Lee

Purpose As social media platforms become increasingly popular among service firms, many US hospitals have been using social media as a means to improve their patients’ experiences. However, little research has explored the implications of social media use within a hospital context. The purpose of this paper is to investigate a hospital’s customer engagement through social media and its association with customers’ experiential quality. Also, this study examines the role of a hospital’s service characteristics, which could shape the nature of the interactions between patients and the hospital. Design/methodology/approach Data from 669 hospitals with complete experiential quality and demographic data were collected from multiple sources of secondary data, including the rankings of social media friendly hospitals, the Hospital Compare database, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) cost report, the CMS impact file, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society Analytics database and the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care. Specifically, the authors designed the instrumental variable estimate to address the endogeneity issue. Findings The empirical results suggest a positive association between a hospital’s social media engagement and experiential quality. For hospitals with a high level of service sophistication, the association between online engagement and experiential quality becomes more salient. For hospitals offering various services, offline engagement is a critical predictor of experiential quality. Research limitations/implications A hospital with more complex services should make efforts to engage customers through social media for better patient experiences. The sample is selected from databases in the US, and the databases are cross-sectional in nature. Practical implications Not all hospitals may be better off improving the patient experience by engaging customers through social media. Therefore, practitioners should exercise caution in applying the study’s results to other contexts and in making causal inferences. Originality/value The current study delineates customer engagement through social media into online and offline customer engagement. This study is based on the theory of customer engagement and reflects the development of mobile technology. Moreover, this research may be considered as pioneering in that it considers the key characteristics of a hospital’s service operations (i.e., service complexity) when discovering the link between customers’ engagement through a hospital’s social media and experiential quality.


2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 313-343
Author(s):  
Aurora Garrido-Moreno ◽  
Víctor García-Morales ◽  
Stephen King ◽  
Nigel Lockett

PurposeAlthough Social Media use has become all-pervasive, previous research has failed to explain how to use Social Media tools strategically to create business value in today's increasingly digital landscapes. Adopting a dynamic capabilities perspective, this paper empirically examines the specific process through which Social Media use translates into better performance and the capabilities involved in this process.Design/methodology/approachA research model is proposed that includes both antecedents and consequences of Social Media use. Existing research was examined to derive the research hypotheses, which were tested using SEM methodology on a sample of 212 hotels.FindingsThe results show that Social Media use does not exert significant direct impact on organizational performance. Rather, the findings confirm the mediating role played by Social CRM and Customer Engagement capabilities in the value creation process.Practical implicationsThe results demonstrate how Social Media tools should be implemented and managed to generate business value in hotels. Implications yield interesting insights for hotel managersOriginality/valueThis study is a first attempt to analyze empirically the real impact of digital media technologies, particularly Social Media use, drawing on the dynamic capabilities perspective and focusing on service firms (hotels). Including the variable “Organizational Readiness” as a basic prerequisite to benefit from Social Media use enhances the study's novelty and contribution.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document