Heterogeneity of customers of personal image services: a segmentation based on value co-creation

Abstract

The aim of this work is to gain an understanding of the heterogeneity of the customers of service firms dedicated to personal care. This comes from their participation in the value co-creation process. We later analyze if the distribution of the satisfaction variable is the same between the previously-identified groups. This analysis is carried out via a latent class segmentation. The empirical research data was obtained from a sample of users of firms from the Spanish sector of hairdressing and aesthetics. This is mostly made up of young, self-employed entrepreneurs and microenterprises. 547 questionnaires were correctly completed and included in the study. The use of the customers’ involvement in value co-creating as a segmentation criteria resulted in the users being put into two groups. It was thus verified that there are differences in the distribution of the satisfaction variable between the two groups studied. The main contribution of the study stems from considering the value co-creation behavior as a valid criterion for the segmentation of customers of aesthetics and personal care services. This facilitates the decision-making related to the marketing policies of the firms in the sector.