Extensive literature suggests that a solution to the current problems of healthcare sustainability is the active involvement of patients in health management through the empowerment of their abilities. Latest marketing frameworks suggest that patients are important resources for co-creating health value together with operators. This research aims to analyze the effects of patient empowerment on patients’ value co-creation behaviors. An empirical survey was conducted on 250 patients with chronic diseases in Italy. The results, analyzed using the structural equation modeling, showed that their empowerment enhanced value co-creation behaviors. Patients apply their health competencies and resources in their co-creation of health service with operators. It is, therefore, important to empower patients in their transformation from passive to active stakeholders, working with providers for the most optimal health outcomes. This research provides practitioners with suggestions for patient involvement which utilizes their knowledge, capabilities and responsibility to improving healthcare services.

Purpose Nowadays, international healthcare agendas are focused on patient centeredness. Policies are aimed at improving patient’s satisfaction by enhancing patient empowerment and value co-creation. However, a comprehensive model addressing the relationships between these constructs has not so far been developed. The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a model which explains the effects of patient empowerment and value co-creation on patients’ satisfaction with the quality of the services they experience. Design/methodology/approach The links between patient satisfaction, empowerment and value co-creation are theoretically outlined via an in-depth literature review. The resulting model is tested through a survey administered to 186 chronically ill patients. The results are analyzed through covariance-based structural equation modeling. Findings The results show that patient empowerment positively influences value co-creation which, in turn, is positively related to patient satisfaction. In addition, the analysis reveals that patient empowerment has no direct effects on satisfaction. Research limitations/implications Although the cross-sectional design made it possible to clearly estimate the relationships among variables, it overlooked the longitudinal dimensions of co-creation processes. Practical implications The study provides practitioners with suggestions to design patient-centered healthcare services by leveraging on patient knowledge, participation, responsibility in care and involvement in the value-creation process. Originality/value Over the last decade, healthcare management literature has shifted its focus from healthcare organizations to patients. The number of contributions about patient satisfaction, empowerment and value co-creation exponentially increased. However, these dimensions are often studied separately. This work advances available knowledge by clarifying and testing the relationships between these three constructs.

Customer loyalty is a topic of great interest for marketing scholars due to its importance in gaining sustainable competitive advantages and financial outcomes. Literature is prolific of works regarding customer loyalty and brand management. In order to improve the quantity and quality of research publications, research themes mapping of published studies is required. The aim of this paper is to provide scholars with a systematization and mapping of the contributions on this topic to develop an effective research road map for future research. A bibliometric analysis and a mapping study have been conducted on 337 publications on customer loyalty and brand management from 2000 to 2018. The results present the most cited works on the topic, an evaluation map showing the most frequent and cited words and six clusters of words based on their co-occurrence. From the analysis of the clusters, the most relevant research findings, trends, and issues emerge, suggesting interesting theoretical and practical implications.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need to manage complex relations within the healthcare ecosystem. The role of new technologies in achieving this goal is a topic of current interest. Among them, blockchain technology is experiencing widespread application in the healthcare context. The present work investigates how this technology fosters value co-creation paths in the new digital healthcare ecosystems. To this end, a multiple case study has been conducted examining the development and application of blockchain by 32 healthcare tech companies. The results show blockchain technology adoption’s current and potential impacts on value co-creation regarding data and resource sharing, patient participation, and collaboration between professionals. Three main areas of activity emerge from the case studies where blockchain implementation brings significant benefits for value co-creation: improving service interaction, impacting actors’ engagement, and fostering ecosystem transparency.

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Internationalization represents an obligatory path for firms in order to compete and survive in the current competitive environment. However, many enterprises, especially the SMEs, sometimes lack the necessary resources to grow and succeed in international markets. Several authors argue that SMEs constantly need to create, adapt and reconfigure their relationships and network resources to remain competitive in an international environment, that is, they need to develop dynamic capabilities. The aim of this paper is to analyze the international growth of gradual global SMEs by adopting the dynamic capabilities framework. Through the case study of a firm from South Italy, this paper aims to analyze the role played by dynamic capabilities in the growth and success of a gradual global SME in international markets. The results show that the capabilities to perceive opportunities and threats in the international context, to seize opportunities through adaptation, reactivity and reconfiguration, have been fundamental for the international success of the company analyzed.

PurposeThere is a lack of research proving how electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) is a valuable source of information in the hospitality industry for developing hotels' intellectual capital. To fill this gap, this study aims to examine hotel managers' decision-making processes regarding the acceptance and management of eWOM and its impact on the Italian hotel ecosystem.Design/methodology/approachThis work takes advantage of the previous contributions to present a hotel's decision-making process model regarding structural capital. It includes eWOM as a context variable and changes implemented as a dependent variable in a comprehensive model. The structural equation modelling applies to a database obtained through a survey addressed to Italian hotel managers.FindingsThe results show that eWOM plays an essential role in managers' motivations to explain hotel changes implementation. The hotel leverages eWOM information and interaction through structural, relational and human capital to enhance products, services and strategies.Research limitations/implicationsThis work contributes to the extant literature by providing a comprehensive framework to explain the consequences of eWOM knowledge management from the intellectual capital view in the Italian hotel ecosystem.Practical implicationsFor practitioners, this research demonstrates how hotel managers should accept and manage eWOM knowledge through intellectual capital to make determinant decisions that improve hotel performance.Originality/valueThere is a scarcity of research on modelling the acceptability and management of eWOM in the hotel ecosystem from practitioners' perspectives. This work is the first attempt to determine how eWOM knowledge management boosts hotel intellectual capital and improves service innovation and performance.