Leveraging Highly Relational Service Performance Through The Participation of Empowered Customer

Abstract

Objective: As highly relational services are so heavily dependent on customer participation, it is relevant to understand how organizations can turn mandatory participation into more productive interaction; and how customer empowerment can be used as a mechanism to enhance participation and subsequently affect service evaluations and behavioral intentions. Method:Conceptual article analyzing the literature on customer participation and empowerment and presenting a framework that explores the effects of these constructs on service evaluations and behavioral intentions. Main Result: Service providers that offer opportunities to customers to move from the audience to the stage turn customers into competent partners, empowered-to-act, who can impact processes and outcomes. Under these conditions, the company together with the customer co-create personalized experiences, and the company can achieve a competitive advantage. Contributions:The distinction between different empowerment mechanisms and their effects on how participation develops in highly relational services contributes to the literature on service marketing, which may consider distinctive effects in models explaining service performance. The article discusses that customer empowerment impact on participation follows an inverted-U curve shape. Relevance/Originality:The empowerment-to-act mechanism described may contribute to a reduction in value co-destruction risk, as customers will be more prepared to assume their roles. Social and Managerial Implications: Organizations can clarify the effects of chosen strategies to promote customer empowerment; and public policies can also benefit from a more comprehensive understanding of mechanisms influencing customers behavioral intentions toward institutions, as customers who are more capable of taking decisions are less vulnerable.