Exploring Customers’ Co-Learning Practices in Co-Creating Value with Self-Service Technologies

Abstract

Value co-creation is becoming a prominent business practice, particularly in the service sector, demarcating a diversion of business strategies to produce mutually valued outcomes. Self-service technology, as a technology-based service encounter, allow customers to perform many service transactions independently. Customers’ collaborative learning becomes essential to successfully co-create value in self-service technologies since they perform service transactions on their own without the support of organizations’ service employees. However, scholarly attention given to understanding customer co-learning in value co-creation at SSTs are sporadic. Therefore, this study aims at exploring customer co-learning in self-service technologies. Aligning with the research objectives, qualitative methodology has been adopted. Accordingly, semi structured interviews were conducted, and data were analyzed using Thematic analysis approach. The study identified five customer co-learning practices in self-service technologies; searching information, sharing information, recalling information, following instructions, and providing feedback. Further, the study extended to categorize customers based on their co-learning abilities and performance at SSTs and three types of customer groups were recognized as ‘Dire performer’, ‘Fair performer’ and ‘Full performer’. Business organizations can effectively use this understanding to provide customer learning, conduct training programs, and design communication and promotional programs targeting different customer groups, ensuring superior customer experiences in self- service technologies.