Co-creation by engaging beyond oneself: the influence of task contribution on perceived customer-to-customer social interaction during a group service encounter

Abstract

Research has increasingly focused on investigating not only interactions between companies and customers in business-to-consumer settings, but also on analysing the influence of accidental or occasional customer-to-customer interactions on the service experience. To date, there has been little research on the effects of planned co-creation efforts of customers in service encounters – where multiple customers simultaneously engage in producing and consuming a service experience. During such encounters, each customer's contribution to tasks related to creating the service experience can be analysed in terms of its influence on social dynamics within the group. Drawing on a sample of 249 customers who have experienced a group service encounter, we demonstrate that customer engagement in the group task has a positive influence on perceived customer-to-customer social interaction. We also show how the perceived task contribution of other customers significantly influences an individual's perception of their own input.

Keywords:

• group service encounter
• co-creation
• task activity
• social activity
• interaction
• contribution

Acknowledgements

This research was funded through a research grant from the College of Business and Economics, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand.