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

Elina Jaakkola (Department of Marketing and International Business, Turku School of Economics, University of Turku, Turku, Finland)
Anu Helkkula (Department of Marketing, Centre for Relationship Marketing and Service Management (CERS), Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki, Finland)
Leena Aarikka-Stenroos (Department of Marketing and International Business, Turku School of Economics, University of Turku, Turku, Finland)

Journal of Service Management

ISSN: 1757-5818

Article publication date: 20 April 2015

11814

Abstract

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 the renewal of marketing methods and measures.

Research limitations/implications

The authors call for cross-field research on service experience, extending current contextual and methodological reach. Researchers are urged to study the implications of increasing social interaction for service experience co-creation, and to assist managers in coping with and leveraging the phenomenon.

Practical implications

For practitioners, this analysis demonstrates the complexity of service experience co-creation and provides insights on the aspects they should monitor and facilitate.

Originality/value

As the first integrative analysis and conceptualization of service experience co-creation, this paper advances current understanding on the topic, argues for its wider relevance, and paves the way for its future development.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Professor Maria Holmlund for her comments on this manuscript. The authors are also indebted to Professors Eric Arnould, Bo Edvardsson, Christian Grönroos, Jay Kandampully, Hope Jensen Schau, and Stephen L. Vargo for their contribution to this paper. Dr Jaakkola and Dr Aarikka-Stenroos gratefully acknowledge The Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (TEKES) for financial support.

Citation

Jaakkola, E., Helkkula, A. and Aarikka-Stenroos, L. (2015), "Service experience co-creation: conceptualization, implications, and future research directions", Journal of Service Management, Vol. 26 No. 2, pp. 182-205. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-12-2014-0323

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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