Anu Helkkula

Characterizing Value as an Experience: Implications for Service Researchers and Managers

Within contemporary discourse around service-dominant logic, phenomenologically (experientially) determined value has been placed at the center of value discussion. However, a systematic characterization of value in the experience has not been presented to date. In this article, the authors outline four theoretical propositions that describe what value in the experience is, which are then illustrated using a narrative data set. The propositions consider both lived and imaginary value experiences and posit that current service experiences are influenced by previous and anticipated service experiences. The article contributes to the service literature by characterizing value in the experience as an ongoing, iterative circular process of individual, and collective customer sense making, as opposed to a linear, cognitive process restricted to isolated service encounters. The authors recommend that service researchers should consider the use of interpretive methodologies based on the four theoretical propositions outlined in order to better understand the many ways that service customers experience value in their lifeworld contexts, which extend well beyond the service organization’s zone of influence. Service managers should also consider how a richer understanding of past, current, and imaginary value in the context in service customers’ individual lifeworld contexts might generate novel insights for service innovations.

Characterising the concept of service experience

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review the characterisation of the concept of service experience in service marketing research.Design/methodology/approach – Using content analysis, 30 articles and two books published in the period from 2005 to 2007 are analysed.Findings – Three characterisations of the concept of service experience are identified in the literature review: phenomenological service experience (which relates to the value discussion in service‐dominant logic and interpretative consumer research); process‐based service experience (which relates to understanding service as a sequential process); and outcome‐based service experience (which relates to understanding service experience as one element in models of service linking a number of variables or attributes to various outcomes).Research limitations/implications – To facilitate meaningful research in this area, it is important that researchers critically consider the nature of the concept of service experience in terms of who experi...

Service experience co-creation: conceptualization, implications, and future research directions

Purpose – The collective, interactive aspects of service experience are increasingly evident in contemporary research and practice, but no integrative analysis of this phenomenon has been conducted until now. The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize service experience co-creation and examines its implications for research and practice. Design/methodology/approach – To map the multi-approach research area of service experience co-creation, the study draws on literature in the fields of service management, service-dominant logic and service logic, consumer culture theory, and service innovation and design, together with invited commentaries by prominent scholars. Findings – A conceptualization is developed for “service experience co-creation,” and multiple dimensions of the concept are identified. It is postulated that service experience co-creation has wider marketing implications, in terms of understanding experiential value creation and foundational sociality in contemporary markets, as well as in t...

Narratives and metaphors in service development

Purpose – The aim of this is to present a new combined, projective technique, the event‐based narrative inquiry technique (EBNIT), and analyze how it adds to traditional interviewing techniques in service development contexts for yielding new service ideas and evaluating current service.Design/methodology/approach – The paper proposes and tests the new EBNIT technique in three service development projects in the information and communication technology field. The technique combines principles from the narrative inquiry technique and critical incident technique (CIT) as well as the use of projective elements in the form of metaphors.Findings – Metaphors combined with lived critical and imaginary events helps to generate creative new service ideas. Customer experiences may be employed to interpret unspoken, tacit knowledge, which is beneficial when companies want to learn and create something new with the customer.Research limitations/implications – Metaphors are necessary in order to find truly new, custom...

How do customers and pharmacists experience generic substitution

Purpose – The substitution of generic prescription medicines for branded medicines is being practiced in most westernised countries, with evidence of a strong focus on evaluating and monitoring its economic impacts. In contrast, the purpose of this paper is to explore the generic substitution experience of customers and pharmacists in a pharmacy practice setting.Design/methodology/approach – The study applied a phenomenological method using the narrative inquiry technique combined with critical event analysis, in order to understand the generic medicine experience as perceived by customers and pharmacists as key substitution actors. Interviews were conducted with 15 pharmacists and 30 customers in Australia, Finland and Italy, using a narrative inquiry technique combined with critical events and metaphors.Findings – The findings show that customers, with poor awareness of generic prescription medicine when offered as a substitute, were likely to become confused and suspicious. Pharmacists related how they...

The changing role of the health care customer: review, synthesis and research agenda

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to synthesize findings from health care research with those in service research to identify key conceptualizations of the changing role of the health care customer, to identify gaps in theory, and to propose a compelling research agenda. Design/methodology/approach This study combines a meta-narrative review of health care research, and a systematic review of service research, using thematic analysis to identify key practice approaches and the changing role of the health care customer. Findings The review reveals different conceptualizations of the customer role within the ten key practice approaches, and identifies an increased activation of the role of the health care customer over time. This change implies a re-orientation, that is, moving away from the health care professional setting the agenda, prescribing and delivering treatment where the customer merely complies with orders, to the customer actively contributing and co-creating value with service providers and other actors in the ecosystem to the extent the health care customer desires. Originality/value This study not only identifies key practice approaches by synthesizing findings from health care research with those in service research, it also identifies how the role of the health care customer is changing and highlights effects of the changing role across the practice approaches. A research agenda to guide future health care service research is also provided.

Am I worth it? Gifting myself with luxury

Purpose – Consumers gift themselves with luxury fashion brands, yet the motives for self-gifting are not well understood. Whereas traditionally, self-gifting is defined as self-orientated in nature, luxury brands are seen as social statements, and self-gifting of luxury fashion brands that combine these two controversial areas is an interesting research topic. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue by exploring the self-gifting behaviour of consumers, in particular focusing on the personal motives of gifting oneself with luxury fashion brands. Design/methodology/approach – The study takes a multi-qualitative approach involving a small (n=19) but rich sample. Data collection and analysis were triangulated to reduce researcher biases. Findings – The study provides key dimensions for understanding consumers’ perceptions of luxury fashion brands and self-gifting motives (self and socially orientated). The findings reveal that reflections from others are part of the self-gifting phenomenon. It appe...

Archetypes of Service Innovation : Implications for Value Cocreation

Service innovation is a key source of competitive differentiation across firms and markets. Despite growing attention from practitioners and academics alike, systematic scholarly inquiry into service innovation’s diverse theoretical foundations has to date been limited. This article explores different approaches to service innovation and proposes a typology of four archetypes, each informed by a distinct theoretical perspective and by different underlying assumptions. Process-based and output-based archetypes focus on value-adding phases and output value, respectively. Experiential and systemic archetypes have attracted less attention but become central for firms seeking to cocreate phenomenologically determined value within the service ecosystem. The article also contributes to service innovation research and practice by bringing together the existing archetypes, which were previously treated separately. Juxtaposing these archetypes and emphasizing value and value cocreation, the article proposes an integrative view of how novel value cocreation can be enhanced in service innovations. Finally, we develop an agenda for future research, encouraging researchers and managers to plan service innovations systematically, deploying each archetype in value cocreation, and combining them within an integrative approach.

A Systematic Review of Artificial Intelligence and Robots in Value Co-creation: Current Status and Future Research Avenues

Abstract As artificial intelligence (AI) and robots are increasingly taking place in practical service solutions, it is necessary to understand technology in value co-creation. We conducted a systematic literature review on the topic to advance theoretical analysis of AI and robots in value co-creation. By systematically reviewing 61 AI and robotics articles, which have been published in top marketing and service research journals, we identified four themes in literature, namely, generic field advancement, supporting service providers, enabling resource integration between service providers and beneficiaries, and supporting beneficiaries’ well-being. With the identification of the first set of literature on AI and robots in value co-creation, we push forward an important sub-field of value co-creation literature. In addition, to advance the field, we suggest building on actor–network theory and science and technology studies to understand the agency of technology in value co-creation. Considering that technology has agency, it opens new interesting research avenues around shopping bots and human-to-non-human frontline interaction that are likely to influence resource integration, customer engagement and value co-creation in the future. We also encourage our colleagues to conduct postphenomenological research to be better geared for analysing how technology (including AI and robots) mediates the individual experience of value.

Value Proposal Co-Creation in Online Community-Based Idea Contests

The purpose of this chapter is to examine why and how participants co-create value proposals in online community-based idea contests (OCBICs), following an open call by service organisations for participation. More specifically, we explore participant motivations, roles, and behaviours as they co-create service ideas that emerge as value proposals. We present a multiple case study of three OCBICs in the global automotive sector. All three OCBICs studied were developed by the same platform host but were otherwise distinct in design and implementation. The findings reveal three propositions in relation to value proposal co-creation in OCBICs: (1) participants are intrinsically and extrinsically motivated to compete and collaborate to co-create value proposals in OCBICs, (2) participants iteratively adopt a number of diverse and overlapping roles when co-creating value proposals in OCBICs, and (3) participant behaviour in OCBICs involves complex negotiations of the contest rules enforced by the host organisation and the norms and values of the community. In order to optimise open service innovation, we conclude that service organisations need to provide participants in OCBICs with an appropriate combination of monetary and nonmonetary incentives and rewards, based on their motivation and expertise. This is one of the few studies to examine the co-creation of value proposals in the context of OCBICs in the global automotive sector.