Experiential Value in Multi-Actor Service Ecosystems: Scale Development and Its Relation to Inter-Customer Helping Behavior
Interactions in service ecosystems, as opposed to the service dyad, have recently gained much attention from research. However, it is still unclear how they influence a customer’s experiential value and trigger desired prosocial behavior. The purpose of this study is to identify which elements of th...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.593390/full |
| _version_ | 1818591903648579584 |
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| author | Patrick Weretecki Patrick Weretecki Goetz Greve Jörg Henseler Jörg Henseler |
| author_facet | Patrick Weretecki Patrick Weretecki Goetz Greve Jörg Henseler Jörg Henseler |
| author_sort | Patrick Weretecki |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Interactions in service ecosystems, as opposed to the service dyad, have recently gained much attention from research. However, it is still unclear how they influence a customer’s experiential value and trigger desired prosocial behavior. The purpose of this study is to identify which elements of the multi-actor service ecosystem contribute to a customer’s experiential value and to investigate its relation to a customer’s interaction attitude and inter-customer helping behavior. The authors adopted a scale development procedure from the existing literature. Service, brand, retail and tourism management research as well as expert feedback is used to generate a pool of 33 items. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were conducted. The scale was validated based on more than 468 responses to a CASI at one of the world’s largest trade shows. Scale-development procedure was followed by structural equation modeling. CFA supports that experiential value in multi-actor ecosystems comprises five dimensions. The functional value of personnel (professionalism), the perception of other customers’ appearance (similarity), the perception of other customers’ behavior (suitable behavior), multisensory stimuli (sensory appeal), and a customer’s enjoyment (playfulness). Experiential value positively and directly relates to a customer’s interaction attitude and inter-customer helping behavior. Furthermore, the effect of experiential value on inter-customer helping behavior is partially mediated by interaction attitude. Managers interested in getting more out of interactions with customers will develop an understanding for the interplay between the physical environment and individuals within a multi-actor ecosystem. Social scientists and managers can use the scale to assess experiential value, encourage a customer’s interaction attitude and utilize the customers’ influence on their peers. This paper synthesizes insights from existing research on experiential value, from various fields, in one scale. This holistic approach is the first to simultaneously account for a customer’s interactions with the multisensory physical environment, personal interactions with employees and interactions between customers in a multi-actor service ecosystem. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-16T10:19:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b7418cd607124b579bafebb5f2773496 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-16T10:19:50Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-b7418cd607124b579bafebb5f27734962022-12-21T22:35:21ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782021-01-011110.3389/fpsyg.2020.593390593390Experiential Value in Multi-Actor Service Ecosystems: Scale Development and Its Relation to Inter-Customer Helping BehaviorPatrick Weretecki0Patrick Weretecki1Goetz Greve2Jörg Henseler3Jörg Henseler4Hamburg School of Business Administration, Hamburg, GermanyFaculty of Engineering Technology, Chair of Product-Market Relations, University of Twente, Enschede, NetherlandsHamburg School of Business Administration, Hamburg, GermanyFaculty of Engineering Technology, Chair of Product-Market Relations, University of Twente, Enschede, NetherlandsNova Information Management School, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, PortugalInteractions in service ecosystems, as opposed to the service dyad, have recently gained much attention from research. However, it is still unclear how they influence a customer’s experiential value and trigger desired prosocial behavior. The purpose of this study is to identify which elements of the multi-actor service ecosystem contribute to a customer’s experiential value and to investigate its relation to a customer’s interaction attitude and inter-customer helping behavior. The authors adopted a scale development procedure from the existing literature. Service, brand, retail and tourism management research as well as expert feedback is used to generate a pool of 33 items. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were conducted. The scale was validated based on more than 468 responses to a CASI at one of the world’s largest trade shows. Scale-development procedure was followed by structural equation modeling. CFA supports that experiential value in multi-actor ecosystems comprises five dimensions. The functional value of personnel (professionalism), the perception of other customers’ appearance (similarity), the perception of other customers’ behavior (suitable behavior), multisensory stimuli (sensory appeal), and a customer’s enjoyment (playfulness). Experiential value positively and directly relates to a customer’s interaction attitude and inter-customer helping behavior. Furthermore, the effect of experiential value on inter-customer helping behavior is partially mediated by interaction attitude. Managers interested in getting more out of interactions with customers will develop an understanding for the interplay between the physical environment and individuals within a multi-actor ecosystem. Social scientists and managers can use the scale to assess experiential value, encourage a customer’s interaction attitude and utilize the customers’ influence on their peers. This paper synthesizes insights from existing research on experiential value, from various fields, in one scale. This holistic approach is the first to simultaneously account for a customer’s interactions with the multisensory physical environment, personal interactions with employees and interactions between customers in a multi-actor service ecosystem.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.593390/fullcustomer engagementmulti-actor service ecosystemprosocial behaviorinteraction attitudeinter-customer helping behaviorscale development |
| spellingShingle | Patrick Weretecki Patrick Weretecki Goetz Greve Jörg Henseler Jörg Henseler Experiential Value in Multi-Actor Service Ecosystems: Scale Development and Its Relation to Inter-Customer Helping Behavior Frontiers in Psychology customer engagement multi-actor service ecosystem prosocial behavior interaction attitude inter-customer helping behavior scale development |
| title | Experiential Value in Multi-Actor Service Ecosystems: Scale Development and Its Relation to Inter-Customer Helping Behavior |
| title_full | Experiential Value in Multi-Actor Service Ecosystems: Scale Development and Its Relation to Inter-Customer Helping Behavior |
| title_fullStr | Experiential Value in Multi-Actor Service Ecosystems: Scale Development and Its Relation to Inter-Customer Helping Behavior |
| title_full_unstemmed | Experiential Value in Multi-Actor Service Ecosystems: Scale Development and Its Relation to Inter-Customer Helping Behavior |
| title_short | Experiential Value in Multi-Actor Service Ecosystems: Scale Development and Its Relation to Inter-Customer Helping Behavior |
| title_sort | experiential value in multi actor service ecosystems scale development and its relation to inter customer helping behavior |
| topic | customer engagement multi-actor service ecosystem prosocial behavior interaction attitude inter-customer helping behavior scale development |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.593390/full |
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