Per Echeverri

Co-creation and co-destruction: A practice-theory based study of interactive value formation

Drawing on an empirical study of public transport, this paper studies interactive value formation at the provider—customer interface, from a practice—theory perspective. In contrast to the bulk of previous research, it argues that interactive value formation is not only associated with value co-creation but also with value co-destruction. In addition, the paper also identifies five interaction value practices — informing, greeting, delivering, charging, and helping — and theorizes how interactive value formation takes place as well as how value is intersubjectively assessed by actors at the provider—customer interface. Furthermore, the paper also distinguishes between four types of interactive value formation praxis corresponding with four subject positions which practitioners step into when engaging in interactive value formation.

Video-based Methodology: Capturing Real Time Perceptions of Customer Processes

Purpose – A recurring problem for research into services is the question of validity – i.e. knowing which quality factors really are relevant for measurement and analysis. Retrospective data collection of customer perceptions has shortcomings in “fuzzy” and dynamic service processes. This paper focuses on the customer experience as an active resource for developing service systems.Design/methodology/approach – Using a video‐based methodology for collecting naturally occurring data and a “think‐aloud” methodology for collecting real‐time user perceptions, the study reveals concrete cues in the service environment that determine quality from a customer perspective. The study then presents an empirical case to test and develop this methodology.Findings – The study involves able‐bodied and disabled passengers using public transport and identifies environmental and processual factors that are critical for the customer base.Research limitations/implications – The study demonstrates the potential for more advanc...

Exploring internal mechanisms forming customer servicescape experiences

Purpose - The aim of this paper is to explore customer interactions with servicescapes and to explain in more depth the internal mechanisms that form the customer service experience. Design/methodo ...

Dealing with customer misbehaviour Employees’ tactics, practical judgement and implicit knowledge

Much current research fails to provide in-depth explanations as to how and with what resources frontline employees deal with incidents where customers display dysfunctional behaviour. By drawing on theory of implicit knowledge and practical judgement this paper aims to explain this and conceptualize inherent structures and sub-mechanisms, central to service marketing. The analysis is based on in-depth interviews and narratives from four different industries, each representing service provision wherein customer misbehaviour is found to be frequent. The results display linkages between the central dimensions of dealing with customer misbehaviour. When incidents of misbehaviour occur they are met by tactics ranging from routinized action to more analytical and strategic approaches. These tactics are guided by underlying mechanisms in the form of practical judgements based on rules, balanced adjustment or reflection, with the judgements in turn being informed by implicit knowledge based on norms, schemes, or multi-perspective thinking. The study reveals patterns of linkages between these.

Professional identity in service work: why front-line employees do what they do

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the key elements of professional identity in service work in order to provide more in-depth theoretical explanations as to why service workers do as they do while co-creating service. Design/methodology/approach This study takes a multi-perspective on professional identity, i.e. using both an employee and a customer perspective, arguing that the phenomenon mainly consists of what these interactants jointly do during the service interaction and of the meanings that are attributed to it. The authors draw on a detailed empirical study of professionals working at a customer centre. Methodologically, the study is based on practice theory, which helps us to illuminate and analyse both the micro practices and the meaning attributed to the professional identity of service workers. Findings The key elements of professional identity in service work are outlined within a framework that describes and explains three different facets of the service workers’ professional identity, i.e. as a core (i.e. individual resources, cognitive understanding, interaction), as conditions (i.e. service prerequisites), and as contour (i.e. demeanour and functions). Research limitations/implications The findings are based on an empirical data set from a public transport customer centre. As the results are limited to one context, they do not provide statistical generalizability. Although limited to one service industry, the findings may still be of high relevance to a wide range of service organisations. Practical implications The study shows the significance of managers not just talking about the importance of being service-minded; more exactly, a wide range of service prerequisites, beyond cognitive understanding, needs to be in place. It is crucial that service workers are given the time to develop their contextual knowledge of their customers, and of other parts of the service organisation. Originality/value This study offers original empirical contributions concerning the key elements of professional identity. An alternative conceptualization of professional identity is provided, through which the paper adds to service research, explaining more specifically what kinds of knowledge and skills are in use during the co-creation of services.

Embodied Value Co-creation: A Turn-taking Perspective on Service Encounter Interactions

Abstract This article aims at advancing research on value creation in service marketing by applying theories of turn-taking and multimodality. It is argued that there is a need to uncover what is inherent in the prefix ‘co’ in value co-creation and that focus needs to be broadened, from perception of value to the production of value, that is, the specific reciprocal and embodied actions in service encounters. For the analysis, an empirical study of complex interactions between service providers and customers is used. A practice approach is applied, combining interviews and observations of interactants in situ. The article identifies four specific turn-taking patterns, ranging from ‘simple’ to ‘elaborated’, defined by their character and that uncover how the interactants reciprocally use multiple modes in the production of social outcomes. Theoretically, the study contributes to more fine-grained explanations to what explains the creation (and destruction) of value.

Co-creating sociality: organizational identity and marketing in voluntary organizations

ABSTRACT A traditional understanding of voluntary organizations with a social mission is that they are offering social services. In this article, this understanding is argued to be misleading. In a study of 59 social voluntary organizations (SVOs) an alternative view is proposed. Instead of offering social services, these organizations co-create sociality, and this is realized in collaboration with clients and in the contexts of social networks. This shift in understanding regarding what these organizations provide is mirrored in their marketing approach and managerial practice. The study is based on theory of organizational identity and service-dominant logic (S-D logic) and the findings advances our understanding of marketing approaches of SVOs, identifying the dialectical relation between organizational identity and managerial action, an organizational action embedded in integrative and excluding forces in the local society. The study also adds to research of transformative service research unfolding how service organizations create up-lifting services.