Human-computer interaction and value co-creation in electronic service
| Date | 05 February 2018 |
| Pages | 218-235 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-03-2017-0095 |
| Published date | 05 February 2018 |
| Author | Lei Li,Qingyun Huang,KwanHo Yeung,Zhaoquan Jian |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information systems,Data management systems,Knowledge management,Knowledge sharing,Management science & operations,Supply chain management,Supply chain information systems,Logistics,Quality management/systems |
Human-computer interaction
and value co-creation in
electronic service
Lei Li
Business School, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin, China and
School of Management, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
Qingyun Huang
Business School, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin, China, and
KwanHo Yeung and Zhaoquan Jian
School of Business Administration, South China University of Technology,
Guangzhou, China
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to investigatethe effect of human-computer interaction (HCI) on customers’
perceived electronic service (e-service) value and the mediating role of task-technology fit (TTF) in that effect.
Design/methodology/approach –This paper develops a model based on service-dominant logic (SDL) and
TTF theory, and validates it using a hierarchical regression with the data collected from 634 online banking
customers in Guangdong Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in China.
Findings –The findings reveal that HCI in e-service contexts comprisesfivecomponents. Three fundamental
components (i.e. technology functionality, customer technology readiness and task routine) contribute to value
co-creation. Two core components (i.e. interaction between customer technology readiness and technology
functionality, and interaction between task routine and technology functionality) are inhibitors, but the inhibitory
effect of the former is only significant in the Guangdong sample. TTF takes a mediating role in these relationships,
but the mediating effect of the former core component is only significant in the Guangdong sample.
Originality/value –This paper explains two basic questions about the trigger points of value co-creation in
e-service contexts (i.e. what their operational definitions are and how to measure them) and unlocks the
“black box”of value co-creation by taking TTF as a mediator. SDL and TTF theory are extended. The paper
provides suggestions for how practitioners can efficiently advance value co-creation with customers.
Keywords Value co-creation, Service-dominant logic, Human-computer interaction,
Electronic service context, Task-technology fit theory
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
As electronicservice (e-service) applicationsaffect various aspectsof our digital lives, the need
for better service encounters based on human-computer interaction (HCI) becomes more
significant (Yang et al., 2016). However, it is difficult to ensure that the HCI design follows
service-oriented design, especially when the “black box”of how HCI affects customers’
perceived value co-creation is unlocked (Tsao et al., 2016). Focusing on th is issue, this stu dy
develops and validates a model of “HCI components –task-technology fit (TTF )-customers’
perceived e-service value”through the lens of service-dominant logic (SDL) and TTF theory.
The findings helpto explain two basic questions aboutthe trigger points of value co-creation
in e-service contexts (i.e. what the operational definitions of the trigger points are and howto
measure them) and unlocks the “black box”of value co-creation by introducing TTF as a
mediator. SDL and TTFtheory are extended. This study may also help managers to improve
service encounter environments and facilitate value co-creation activities.
The remaining sections of the paper are structured as follows. We review the literature
on value co-creation in SDL and related studies in the next section. In Section 3,
Industrial Management & Data
Systems
Vol. 118 No. 1, 2018
pp. 218-235
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0263-5577
DOI 10.1108/IMDS-03-2017-0095
Received 11 March 2017
Revised 18 July 2017
Accepted 22 August 2017
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0263-5577.htm
218
IMDS
118,1
we operationalize five components of HCI in e-service contexts and propose a set of
hypotheses about the effects of these components on customer perceived e-service value.
Integrating TTF theory, a set of hypotheses about the mediating role of TTF in these
relationships is proposed. We outline the development of questionnaires and the collection
of data in Section 4, and describe respondent profiles, test reliability, validity and
hypotheses and report findings in Section 5. The last two sections highlight the theoretical
contributions, managerial implications, conclusions and limitations.
2. Literature review
Vargo and Lusch (2004) proposed SDL. After several improvements, it has been widely
recognized by scholars. SDL is expressed as ten propositions, of which propositions 6 (i.e. the
customer is always a co-creator of value), 7 (i.e. the enterprise cannot deliver value, but only
offer value propositions) and 10 (value is always uniquely and phenomenologically determined
by the beneficiary) mainly focus on value co-creation (Vargo and Lusch, 2008). These three
propositions recognize customers, enterprises and the interactions between them as trigger
points of value co-creation, and recognize customer perceived value in context as the end.
Based on SDL, several studies of value co-creation have been conducted from three
perspectives. Value co-creators –Maglio et al. (2009) focus on the interactions between
participants in a service system or between service systems, and point out that the
participantsin the service system, includingindividuals, teams, familiesand governments are
value co-creators. Akaka and Vargo (2015) and Vargo and Lusch (2016) believe that actors in
economic and social activities constitute a service ecosystem, in which there are no
distinctionsbetween actors, and that theseactors co-create value. Processof value co-creation.
Some scholars choose the service system as their observation unit (Maglio et al., 2009),
proposing that value co-creation is achieved via resourceintegration and service exchangein
a service system or between service systems. Other scholars discuss value co-creation from
the perspective of se rvice ecosystems (Ak aka and Vargo, 2015; V argo and Lusch, 2016) ,
viewing service,interactions and institutions asthe unique factors of value co-creation. They
describe the processof value co-creation as involving a wide rangeof actors, constrained and
coordinated by institutions, which create value for themselves or other systems through the
integrationof resources and the exchangeof service. Context of valueco-creation. Edvardsson
et al. (2011) believe that value co-creation always occurs in a social context. Akaka et al. (2013)
define value as a contingent on cultural contexts and emphasize theinfluences of symbol and
social structureon the connotation of valuein a dynamic and complex context.Moreover, they
suggest that scholars consider the elements of cultural institutions when elaborating the
connotation of value from micro-, meso- or macro-perspectives.
Although researchers have made some progress on value creation, research gaps still
exist. SDL views customers and enterprises as value co-creators, and related studies that use
the SDL lens mainly focus on the scope of value co-creators, yet two basic questions about
value co-creators (i.e. what their operational definitions are and how to measure them) have
received little attention. SDL identifies the means (i.e. enterprise, customer and interaction
between them) and ends (i.e. customer perceived e-service value) of value co-creation,
but scholars have rarely analyzed the relationship between the means, ends and mediators
empirically. In this paper, we take TTF, defined as “the degree to which a technology-based
interactive interface assists a customer in performing his or her task in the process of
enjoying e-service”(Goodhue and Thompson, 1995) as a mediator between the means and
ends of value co-creation. We therefore unlock the “black box”of value co-creation. Value
co-creation is usually demonstrated in a general context (e.g. cultural or social context).
However, e-service contexts have inherent characteristics in which HCI becomes the trigger
point of value co-creation. E-service interfaces have no subjective intuitions, so the customer
becomes dominant in value co-creation rather than the mere co-creator that SDL suggests.
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HCI and value
co-creation in
e-service
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