Customer Participation in Services: Review and Synthesis

Abstract

By participating in the service process, customer participation benefits the service organization and also the customer themselves. Customer participation is often a fundamental part of services, and is particularly important in human services where a customer's effort or experience is the core of the service. However, a lack of consistency and clarity exists regarding appropriate conceptualization and relevant empirical research of this critical strategic construct. Therefore, this article discusses customer participation in existing service research, and intends to contribute to the foundations and future direction of the research.