The influence of customer involvement and engagement on co-creation of services, satisfaction, and loyalty: The case of Software as a Service
-
DOIhttp://dx.doi.org/10.21511/im.19(2).2023.03
-
Article InfoVolume 19 2023, Issue #2, pp. 27-37
- Cited by
- 735 Views
-
486 Downloads
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Software as a digital product has been shown to improve companies’ performance and efficiency. One product that is now at the core of many businesses is Software as a Service (SaaS). By utilizing cloud computing platforms, SaaS is a method of providing applications as a service. SaaS applications have unique characteristics that can be customized to meet customers’ needs. Hence, SaaS has become suitable for companies of all types and sizes, including small- and medium-sized enterprises. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of customer involvement on the development of SaaS applications and the impact of customer engagement on the co-creation of services, satisfaction, and loyalty, with the co-creation level used as a moderating variable. Data were collected from responses to an online questionnaire by 282 users of a SaaS application in Indonesia who were the decision-makers of the selected SaaS provider. The data were then analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results show that customer involvement in developing SaaS applications significantly positively affects the co-creation of services, satisfaction, and loyalty (t-value > 1.645). Moreover, the level of co-creation was proven to strengthen the impact of customer involvement on the co-creation of services with an interaction Standardize Loading Factor (SLF) path of 1.36. Hence, the findings indicate that higher customer involvement promotes collaborative activities with service providers, and the optimum level of co-creation raises customer satisfaction.
- Keywords
-
JEL Classification (Paper profile tab)M31, M15
-
References43
-
Tables5
-
Figures2
-
- Figure 1. Research model
- Figure 2. Research model with results
-
- Table 1. Respondent characteristics
- Table 2. Goodness of fit
- Table 3. Path coefficient direct effect
- Table 4. Standardized direct effect, indirect effect, and total effects
- Table 5. Path coefficient moderated effect
-
- Aarikka-Stenroos, L., & Jaakkola, E. (2012). Value co-creation in knowledge intensive business services: A dyadic perspective on the joint problem solving process. Industrial Marketing Management, 41(1), 15-26.
- Ahrholdt, C. D., Gudergan, S. P., & Ringle, Ch. M. (2019). Enhancing loyalty: When improving consumer satisfaction and delight matters. Journal of Business Research, 94, 18-27.
- Ali, A. Q., Sultan, A. B., Abdghani, A. Z., & Zulzalil, H. (2019). A systematic mapping study on the customization solutions of Software as a service applications. IEEE Access, 7, 88196-88217.
- Andrades, L., & Dimanche, F. (2014). Co-creation of experience value: A tourist behaviour approach. In N. K. Prebensen, J. S. Chen, & M. S. Uysal (Eds.), Creating experience value in tourism (pp. 95-112). Boston, MA: CABI International.
- Assouad, A., & Overby, J. (2019). The impact of culture on customer expectations. Journal of Management Policy and Practice, 17(2), 19-32.
- Athey, S., & Luca, M. (2019). Economists (and economics) in tech companies. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 33(1), 209-230.
- Biscaia, R., Trail, G., Ross, S., & Yoshida, M. (2017). A model bridging team brand experience and sponsorship brand experience. International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, 18(4), 380-399.
- Boehm, M., & Thomas, O. (2013). Looking beyond the rim of one’s teacup: A multidisciplinary literature review of product-service systems in information systems, business management, and engineering & design. Journal of Cleaner Production, 51, 245-260.
- Bowden, J. L. H. (2009). The process of customer engagement: A conceptual framework. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 17(1), 63-74.
- Byrne, B. M. (2010). Structural equation modeling with AMOS: Basic concepts, applications, and programming (2nd ed.). Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.
- Campbell, P. (2017). The anatomy of SaaS pricing strategy. Price Intelligently.
- Cheung, M. F. Y., & To, W. M. (2021a). The effects of customer involvement on perceived service performance and word-of-mouth: The mediating role of service co-creation. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 33(4), 1014-1032.
- Cheung, M. F. Y., & To, W. M. (2021b). Effect of customer involvement on co-creation of services: A moderated mediation model. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 63, 102660.
- Cheung, M. F. Y., & To, W. M. (2011). Customer involvement and perceptions: The moderating role of customer co-production. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 18(4), 271-277.
- Coelho, P. S., & Henseler, J. (2012). Creating customer loyalty through service customization. European Journal of Marketing, 46(3/4), 331-356.
- Evanschitzky, H., Ramaseshan, B., Woisetschläger, D. M., Richelsen, V., Blut, M., & Backhaus, C. (2012). Consequences of customer loyalty to the loyalty program and to the company. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 40(5), 625-638.
- Fang, S., Zhang, C., & Li, Y. (2020). Physical attractiveness of service employees and customer engagement in tourism industry. Annals of Tourism Research, 80, 102756.
- Folkes, V. S., & Patrick, V. M. (2003). The positivity effect in perceptions of services: Seen one, seen them all? Journal of Consumer Research, 30(1), 125-137.
- Franke, N., & Schreier, M. (2020). Why customers value self-designed products: The importance of process effort and enjoyment. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 27(7), 1020-1031.
- Grissemann, U. S., & Stokburger-Sauer, N. E. (2012). Customer co-creation of travel services: The role of company support and customer satisfaction with the co-creation performance. Tourism Management, 33(6), 1483-1492.
- Grönroos, C. A. (2012). Conceptualising value co-creation: A journey to the 1970s and back to the future. Journal of Marketing Management, 28(13/14), 1520-1534.
- Heidenreich, S., Wittkowski, K., Handrich, M., & Falk, T. (2015). The dark side of customer co-creation: exploring the consequences of failed co-created services. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 43, 279-296.
- Howat, G., & Crilley, G. (2007). Customer service quality, satisfaction and operational performance: A proposed model for Australian public aquatic centres. Annals of Leisure Research, 10(2), 168-195.
- Jin, R., & Chen, K. (2021). Impact of value co creation on customer satisfaction and loyalty of online car-hailing services. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, 16(3), 432-444.
- Johnston, R., Clark, G., & Shulver, M. (2012). Service operations management: Improving service delivery (4th ed.). Harlow: Pearson.
- Kotler, Ph., & Armstrong, G. (2014). Principles of marketing. Australia: Pearson.
- Lovelock, C., & Wirtz, J. (2011). Services marketing: People, technology, strategy. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
- Madupu, V., & Cooley, D. O. (2010). Antecedents and consequences of online brand community participation: A conceptual framework. Journal of Internet Commerce, 9(2), 127-147.
- Naumann, K., & Bowden, J. L.-H. (2015). Exploring the process of customer engagement, self-brand connections and loyalty. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 13, 56-66.
- Oertzen, A. S., Odekerken-Schröder, G., Brax, S. A., & Mager, B. (2018). Co-creating services – Conceptual clarification, forms and outcomes. Journal of Service Management, 29(4), 641-679.
- Patterson, P., Yu, T., & de Ruyter, K. (2006). Understanding customer engagement in services, advancing theory, maintaining relevance. Proceedings of ANZMAC 2006 Conference. Brisbane.
- Prahalad, C. K., & Ramaswamy, V. (2004). Co-creating unique value with customers. Strategy & Leadership, 32(3), 4-9.
- Riedl, D. F., Kaufmann, L., Zimmermann, C., & Perols, J. L. (2013). Reducing uncertainty in supplier selection decisions: Antecedents and outcomes of procedural rationality. Journal of Operations Management, 31(1-2), 24-36.
- Samala, N., & Katkam, B. S. (2020). Fashion brands are engaging the millennials: A moderated-mediation model of customer-brand engagement, participation, and involvement. Young Consumers, 21(2), 233-253.
- So, K. K. F., King, C., & Sparks, B. (2014). Customer engagement with tourism brands: Scale development and validation. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 38(3), 304-329.
- Tseng, F. M., & Chiang, L. L. L. (2016). Why does customer co-creation improve new travel product performance? Journal of Business Research, 69(6), 2309-2317.
- Vargo, S. L., Maglio, P. P., & Akaka, M. A. (2008). On value and value co-creation: A service systems and service logic perspective. European Management Journal, 26(3), 145-152.
- Vega-Vazquez, M., Ángeles Revilla-Camacho, M., & J. Cossío-Silva, F. (2013). The value co-creation process as a determinant of customer satisfaction. Management Decision, 51(10), 1945-1953.
- Wijanto, S. H. (2015). Metode Penelitian menggunakan Structural Equation Modelling dengan LISREL 9. Yogyakarta: Penerbit Grha Ilmu. (In Indonesian).
- Wolter, J. S., Bock, D., Smith, J. S., & Cronin, Jr, J. J. (2017). Creating ultimate customer loyalty through loyalty conviction and customer-company identification. Journal of Retailing, 93(4), 458-476.
- Zaichkowsky, J. L. (1985). Measuring the involvement construct. Journal of Consumer Research, 12(3), 341-352.
- Zhang, M., & Huo, B. (2013). The impact of dependence and trust on supply chain integration. International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management, 43(7), 544-563.
- Zhang, Y., Fang, Y., Wei, K. K., Ramsey, E., McCole, P., & Chen, H. (2011). Repurchase intention in B2C e-commerce – A relationship quality perspective. Information & Management, 48(6), 192-200.