Do task and relation-oriented customers co-create a better quality of service? An empirical study of consumer-dominant logic

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how task- and relation-oriented customers co-create high quality services with frontline employees from the perspective of customer-dominant (C-D) logic.

Design/methodology/approach
The authors reviewed the service management literature and identified a number of critical components that help service providers understand the psychology and behaviour of their customers, and how their customers perceive service encounters. The authors tested the theoretical model using a random survey sample of 707 consumers in Hong Kong.

Findings
The authors found that information sharing fully mediated the interactive effects of customer involvement and customer motivational orientation on customer perceived service quality and customer satisfaction. These findings support the C-D logic that customers as co-creators of value play a dominant role in service encounters.

Research limitations/implications
The authors contribute to the existing management literature by identifying the importance of the C-D logic for service delivery and management. In particular, the involvement of customers with different motivational orientations through information sharing significantly affects customers’ perceived service quality and satisfaction.

Originality/value
The paper enhances the understanding of customer’s logic by exploring the conditions and process between customer involvement and service delivery. Further directions for theoretical and empirical research are suggested.