Servitization strategies from customers’ perspective: the moderating role of co-creation

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the moderating role of co-creation in the implementation of servitization strategies in the pharmaceutical industry in a business-to-business (B-to-B) context. More specifically, this investigation explores the impact of different levels of services (base, intermediate and advanced) on servitization and on performance by using co-creation as a moderating factor. Design/methodology/approach A research framework was developed and empirically tested in the pharmaceutical sector. Data collection was conducted through the online distribution of questionnaires. The final sample included 219 pharmacy stores, and the data were analysed using structural equation modelling. Findings Main findings suggest that when the level of co-creation of the design of services is high, there are significant effects of servitization on firm performance. The moderating effect of co-creation is illustrated in regard to intermediate and advanced services, but results referring to the impact of intermediate services on servitization appear non-significant with a low degree of co-creation. No significant effects could be found for the impact of base services on performance and servitization for both high and low degrees of co-creation. Findings show an impact of advanced services on performance through the mediating effect of servitization when the degree of co-creation is high. Originality/value Most research concerning servitization has been done from the perspective of manufacturers and service providers. This study adds value to the literature because it was designed from a customer’s perspective. Moreover, it contributes towards the conceptualization of the servitization research strategy and business models in a B2B context. This is accomplished through the investigation of the moderating effect of co-creation on the impact of the different levels of services on servitization and on performance.

Industrial customers’ organizational readiness for new advanced services

“…Similarly, all services are not useful for all customers, and some customers may be better off without adopting the new services from the manufacturer due to, for example, their organizational context. Innovation-adoption research acknowledges the variety of innovation adopters, such as early and late adopters (and non-adopters), typically at the individual level (Rogers, 1983). The current study encourages manufacturers to consider customer organizations as innovation adopters at the organizational level, to take the adoption stage into account in new service introductions, and to modify sales activities accordingly.…”

“…The discussion of customers' readiness to adopt new technologies and services is one stream in the general innovation-adoption literature, with long traditions leaning on the perceived characteristics of an innovation (Rogers, 1983), the theory of reasoned action (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975) and the model of technology acceptance (Davis, 1986), among others. These models have been widely used to explain human behavior and the adoption of innovations such as information technologies (Oke et al, 2014).…”

“…Previous research has often assumed that the customer was ready and willing to procure the services, but this is not always so. New services are innovations, and innovation adoption is not straightforward, as illustrated by decades of research (Davis, 1986;Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975;Planing, 2014;Parasuraman, 2000;Rogers, 1983). In the servitization context, for example, Martinez et al (2010) noted that, even if the service-providing company recognizes added value for the customer from the company's offering, the customer may not.…”

Mapping Value Co-creation Literature in the Technology and Innovation Management Field: A Bibliographic Coupling Analysis

“…With a more specific focus, Parida and Wincent (2019) relate the concepts of sustainability, business models, innovation, and networks to examine new trends in digitization, the circular economy, and servitization. Ruiz-Alba et al (2019) study, from the client’s perspective, the moderating role of co-creation in the implementation of servitization strategies and its effects on performance.…”

“…We have named the yellow cluster "Servitization" because all the documents this group contains deal with this topic. We have found several conceptual papers (Huikkola and Kohtamäki, 2017;Palo et al, 2019;Raddats et al, 2019;Ruiz-Alba et al, 2019) and some case studies (Windahl, 2015;Windler et al, 2017) that contribute to set the fundamentals of this literature. This cluster has a high density, which implies that papers comprising it have a strong connection.…”