The effects of customer involvement on perceived service performance and word-of-mouth: the mediating role of service co-creation

Purpose: This study aims to use the framework of customer dominant logic to explore the mediating role of service co-creation on the relationships between customer involvement and perceived service performance and between customer involvement and word-of-mouth (WOM). It also investigates the moderating role of customer relational-motivational orientation on the relationship between customer involvement and service co-creation. Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire survey was conducted to collect responses from 289 Hong Kong's customers in different service settings. Structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed research model. Findings: The results of structural equation modeling showed that the freedom of co-creation and the degree of collaboration fully mediated the effect of customer involvement on perceived service performance and WOM. Additionally, relational-motivational orientation moderated the relationships between customer involvement and the freedom of co-creation and between customer involvement and the degree of collaboration. Practical implications: This research provides implications to managers on how to facilitate an environment that stimulates customer co-creation. Customer-contact employees must be trained with the necessary interpersonal skills to serve customers with different levels of relational-motivational orientation. Originality/value: The study is one of the first to identify customer involvement as a key antecedent of service co-creation attributes and the moderating role of relational-motivational orientation on the relationships between customer involvement and service co-creation attributes.