Purpose – The collective, interactive aspects of service experience are increasingly evident in contemporary research and practice, but no integrative analysis of this phenomenon has been conducted until now. The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize service experience co-creation and examines its implications for research and practice. Design/methodology/approach – To map the multi-approach research area of service experience co-creation, the study draws on literature in the fields of service management, service-dominant logic and service logic, consumer culture theory, and service innovation and design, together with invited commentaries by prominent scholars. Findings – A conceptualization is developed for “service experience co-creation,” and multiple dimensions of the concept are identified. It is postulated that service experience co-creation has wider marketing implications, in terms of understanding experiential value creation and foundational sociality in contemporary markets, as well as in the renewal of marketing methods and measures. Research limitations/implications – The authors call for cross-field research on service experience, extending current contextual and methodological reach. Researchers are urged to study the implications of increasing social interaction for service experience co-creation, and to assist managers in coping with and leveraging the phenomenon. Practical implications – For practitioners, this analysis demonstrates the complexity of service experience co-creation and provides insights on the aspects they should monitor and facilitate. Originality/value – As the first integrative analysis and conceptualization of service experience co-creation, this paper advances current understanding on the topic, argues for its wider relevance, and paves the way for its future development.

Purpose-The purpose of this study is to synthesize findings from health care research with those in service research to identify key conceptualizations of the changing role of the health care customer, to identify gaps in theory, and to propose a compelling research agenda. Design/methodology/approach-This study combines a meta-narrative review of health care research, and a systematic review of service research, using thematic analysis to identify key practice approaches and the changing role of the health care customer. Findings-The review reveals different conceptualizations of the customer role within the ten key practice approaches, and identifies an increased activation of the role of health care customer over time. This change implies a reorientation , that is, moving away from the health care professional setting the agenda, prescribing and delivering treatment where the customer merely complies with orders, to the customer actively contributing and co-creating value with service providers and other actors in the ecosystem to the extent the health care customer desires. Originality/value-This study not only identifies key practice approaches by synthesizing findings from health care research with those in service research, it identifies how the role of the health care customer is changing and highlights effects of the changing role across the practice approaches. A research agenda to guide future health care service research is also provided.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review the characterisation of the concept of service experience in service marketing research.Design/methodology/approachUsing content analysis, 30 articles and two books published in the period from 2005 to 2007 are analysed.FindingsThree characterisations of the concept of service experience are identified in the literature review: phenomenological service experience (which relates to the value discussion in service‐dominant logic and interpretative consumer research); process‐based service experience (which relates to understanding service as a sequential process); and outcome‐based service experience (which relates to understanding service experience as one element in models of service linking a number of variables or attributes to various outcomes).Research limitations/implicationsTo facilitate meaningful research in this area, it is important that researchers critically consider the nature of the concept of service experience in terms of who experiences it, the scope, content, and context of the service experience, and how service experience relates to other concepts, such as value.Originality/valueNo systematic literature review of the characterisation of the concept of service experience has previously been undertaken.

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Within contemporary discourse around service-dominant logic, phenomenologically (experientially) determined value has been placed at the center of value discussion. However, a systematic characterization of value in the experience has not been presented to date. In this article, the authors outline four theoretical propositions that describe what value in the experience is, which are then illustrated using a narrative data set. The propositions consider both lived and imaginary value experiences and posit that current service experiences are influenced by previous and anticipated service experiences. The article contributes to the service literature by characterizing value in the experience as an ongoing, iterative circular process of individual, and collective customer sense making, as opposed to a linear, cognitive process restricted to isolated service encounters. The authors recommend that service researchers should consider the use of interpretive methodologies based on the four theoretical propositions outlined in order to better understand the many ways that service customers experience value in their lifeworld contexts, which extend well beyond the service organization’s zone of influence. Service managers should also consider how a richer understanding of past, current, and imaginary value in the context in service customers’ individual lifeworld contexts might generate novel insights for service innovations.