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1 – 10 of over 2000
Open Access
Article
Publication date: 30 January 2024

Diego Monferrer Tirado, Miguel Angel Moliner Tena and Marta Estrada

This study aims to examine the co-creation of customer experiences at different levels in service ecosystems, analyzing the case of a tourist destination.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine the co-creation of customer experiences at different levels in service ecosystems, analyzing the case of a tourist destination.

Design/methodology/approach

A questionnaire was designed based on previously validated scales. The questionnaire was distributed through the social media platforms Facebook and Instagram. The survey yielded 1,476 valid responses for three types of destinations. Structural equation modeling and multigroup analysis were performed to test the hypotheses.

Findings

Aggregate service experience and memorable customer experience (MCE) in service ecosystems are determined by customer experiences at a dyadic level. Service experience at the ecosystem level is formed from ordinary experiences at the actor level, while MCE is formed from extraordinary experiences at the dyadic level. The type of ecosystem moderates the relationships between the variables but does not alter the importance of each of them.

Originality/value

The relationship between the co-creation of customer experiences at different levels of service ecosystems (dyadic vs aggregate) is addressed. A relationship is established between the ordinary and extraordinary character of experiences and their memorability at the ecosystem level.

Details

Journal of Services Marketing, vol. 38 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0887-6045

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 24 May 2022

Jacob Mickelsson, Ulla Särkikangas, Tore Strandvik and Kristina Heinonen

People with complex health conditions must often navigate landscapes of uncoordinated public, private and voluntary health-care providers to obtain the care they need. Complex…

1477

Abstract

Purpose

People with complex health conditions must often navigate landscapes of uncoordinated public, private and voluntary health-care providers to obtain the care they need. Complex health conditions frequently transcend the scope of typical health-care service systems. The purpose of this paper is to explore and characterize such unique assemblages of actors and services as “user-defined ecosystems”.

Design/methodology/approach

Building on literature on customer ecosystems, this paper introduces the concept of the user-defined ecosystem (UDE). Using an abductive approach, the authors apply the concept in an interpretive, qualitative study of ten families with special needs children.

Findings

This study uncovers complex UDEs, where families actively combine a broad range of services. These ecosystems are unique for each family and extend beyond the scope of designed service ecosystems. Thus, the families are forced to assume an active, coordinating role.

Research limitations/implications

This paper shows how to identify ecosystems from the user’s point of view, based on the selected user unit (such as a family) and the focal value-creating function of the ecosystem for the user.

Social implications

This paper highlights how service providers can support and adapt to UDEs and, thus, contribute to user value and well-being. This can be used to understand users’ perspectives on service and systems in health and social care.

Originality/value

This study develops the concept of the UDE, which represents a customer-focused perspective on actor ecosystems and contrasts it with a provider-focused and a distributed perspective on ecosystems. This study demonstrates the practical usefulness of the conceptualization and provides a foundation for further research on the user’s perspective on ecosystems.

Details

Journal of Services Marketing, vol. 36 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0887-6045

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 24 April 2020

Tiina Tuominen, Bo Edvardsson and Javier Reynoso

This study aims to understand and explain how institutional change occurs at the level of value co-creation practices in service ecosystems. Despite the centrality of collective…

2627

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to understand and explain how institutional change occurs at the level of value co-creation practices in service ecosystems. Despite the centrality of collective practices to the service ecosystems perspective, theoretically grounded explanations of how practices change and become institutionalized remain underdeveloped. Applying the theory of routine dynamics, this paper addresses two questions as follows: what does the institutional change mean at the level of value co-creation practices and what processes underlie these changes?

Design/methodology/approach

The study develops a conceptual framework that characterizes value co-creation practices as routines involving three aspects, namely, ostensive, performative and artifactual. As a key element in institutional change, the interplay between these informs an account of institutional change processes in service ecosystems.

Findings

The proposed conceptual framework specifies the conditions for institutional change in terms of value co-creation routines. First, any such change is seen to be grounded in alignment between changing institutional rules and the ostensive, performative and artifactual aspects of routines. Second, this alignment is seen to emerge through a dialectics of planned and practice-based activities during institutional change. An empirical research agenda is proposed for the analysis of institutional change processes in different service ecosystems.

Originality/value

This conceptual framework extends existing accounts of how service ecosystems change through the contributions of multiple actors at the level of value co-creation practices.

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 10 November 2023

Jinlin Yang and Dahong Zhang

Currently, there is a conflict in developing countries between the requirements for the self-development of forestry and the insufficient investment in the forestry sector, and…

Abstract

Purpose

Currently, there is a conflict in developing countries between the requirements for the self-development of forestry and the insufficient investment in the forestry sector, and the forest ticket system is an innovative forestry management method to solve this contradiction. In the research on the forest ticket system, the study of its price formation mechanism is relatively important. The key issues of the forest ticket system are how to form the forest ticket price and whether the forest ticket pricing methods are reasonable. Solving these problems is the purpose of this study.

Design/methodology/approach

This study will use three methods, namely the forest ecosystem service value evaluation index method, the ecosystem service value based on per unit area evaluation method and the contingent valuation method, to study the forest ticket price formation mechanism, filling the gap in the current research on forest ticket pricing methods. It will analyze how these three pricing methods specifically price the forest ticket and evaluate whether these pricing methods are reasonable. This study will then summarize and comprehensively study the forest ticket price formation mechanism and provide policy recommendations for decision-making departments.

Findings

The contingent valuation method and the forest ecosystem service value evaluation index method should be mainly used and given priority in the forest ticket pricing process. When the forest ticket is mainly issued for local residents' willingness to compensate for the forestry ecological value, the contingent valuation method should be mainly considered; when the forest ticket is mainly issued for compensating for the ecological value of local used forest land, the forest ecosystem service value evaluation index method should be mainly considered. The ecosystem service value based on per unit area evaluation method does not need to be the focus.

Originality/value

Compared with existing research studies, which focus more on the forest ticket system itself and the definition of forest ticket, this study mainly focuses on the forest ticket price formation mechanism, emphasizing how to form the forest ticket price and whether the forest ticket pricing methods are reasonable, which has a certain degree of innovation and research value and can partially fill the gap in related fields. At the same time, this study has certain help for the enrichment of the forest ticket system and the extension of related research studies.

Details

Forestry Economics Review, vol. 5 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2631-3030

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 4 April 2023

Orlando Troisi, Anna Visvizi and Mara Grimaldi

Digitalization accelerates the need of tourism and hospitality ecosystems to reframe business models in line with a data-driven orientation that can foster value creation and…

4075

Abstract

Purpose

Digitalization accelerates the need of tourism and hospitality ecosystems to reframe business models in line with a data-driven orientation that can foster value creation and innovation. Since the question of data-driven business models (DDBMs) in hospitality remains underexplored, this paper aims at (1) revealing the key dimensions of the data-driven redefinition of business models in smart hospitality ecosystems and (2) conceptualizing the key drivers underlying the emergence of innovation in these ecosystems.

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical research is based on semi-structured interviews collected from a sample of hospitality managers, employed in three different accommodation services, i.e. hotels, bed and breakfast (B&Bs) and guesthouses, to explore data-driven strategies and practices employed on site.

Findings

The findings allow to devise a conceptual framework that classifies the enabling dimensions of DDBMs in smart hospitality ecosystems. Here, the centrality of strategy conducive to the development of data-driven innovation is stressed.

Research limitations/implications

The study thus developed a conceptual framework that will serve as a tool to examine the impact of digitalization in other service industries. This study will also be useful for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) managers, who seek to understand the possibilities data-driven management strategies offer in view of stimulating innovation in the managers' companies.

Originality/value

The paper reinterprets value creation practices in business models through the lens of data-driven approaches. In this way, this paper offers a new (conceptual and empirical) perspective to investigate how the hospitality sector at large can use the massive amounts of data available to foster innovation in the sector.

Details

European Journal of Innovation Management, vol. 26 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1460-1060

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 24 October 2017

Kennedy Wahome Muthee, Cheikh Mbow, Geoffrey Mugo Macharia and Walter Leal-Filho

The purpose of this paper is to assess the extent to which adaptation projects have incorporated ecosystem services, as well as their redesigning options. The projects selected…

2249

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to assess the extent to which adaptation projects have incorporated ecosystem services, as well as their redesigning options. The projects selected are listed under National Adaptation Programme of Action in West African region.

Design/methodology/approach

A desktop survey approach was used to review 168 projects from 13 countries across West Africa. The projects were categorized and analyzed according to their adaptation goal, thematic focus, their implementation duration and level of investment.

Findings

The adaptation initiatives are dominated by actions in the agricultural sector accounting for 32 per cent of the total. Further, they were characterized by small grants consideration with 63 per cent falling under US$1m budget, short-term implementation duration with 46 per cent having three years’ execution period. A large portion of projects (55 per cent) mentioned directly one or more ecosystem services, with provisioning services being referred to in 50 per cent of the cases.

Originality/value

Adaptation projects with ecosystem services components are more sustainable and beneficial to the community. Hence, more consideration of nature benefits during project design, more financial consideration and localizing of the projects to realize the global adaptation goal should be considered.

Details

International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, vol. 10 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-8692

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 14 October 2021

Roberta Sebastiani and Alessia Anzivino

This paper aims to investigate the eHealth ecosystem’s evolution during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and its effects on the progression of care for patients…

1501

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the eHealth ecosystem’s evolution during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and its effects on the progression of care for patients with chronic cardiovascular disease.

Design/methodology/approach

To attain the aim of the study, this study chose to adopt a qualitative method that matches the complexity of the issue. The study was conducted in a real context through 44 face-to-face semi-structured interviews of key informants at different levels of the Italian eHealth service ecosystem, via Microsoft Teams. The interviews were carried out from June 2020 to January 2021. In this research, we adopted an abductive approach that enabled a process where the theoretical framework and the data analysis evolved at the same time.

Findings

The study results were used to develop a conceptual framework that considers the key factors enabling and constraining the evolutionary process of the eHealth service ecosystem. In particular, the drivers that emerged from the study were actor role empowerment, actor–network engagement and resource reconfiguration while the inhibitors were inter- and intra-actor misalignment, resource myopia and the platformisation gap. The findings also revealed the pivotal role of the meso level in the development of the eHealth service ecosystem, boosted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Originality/value

By adopting a service ecosystem perspective, this paper contributes, at both a theoretical and a managerial level, to a better understanding of the dynamics related to the diffusion of eHealth. The study identifies the main issues that researchers, managers and policymakers should address to support the evolution of the eHealth service ecosystem, with particular regard to chronic cardiovascular disease.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 37 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 11 November 2020

Md. Hafiz Iqbal

This study provides empirical evidence of the economic valuation of ecosystem services. It examines the willingness-to-pay (WTP) and compensating surplus (CS) in response to…

1753

Abstract

Purpose

This study provides empirical evidence of the economic valuation of ecosystem services. It examines the willingness-to-pay (WTP) and compensating surplus (CS) in response to policy change based on focus group discussion (FGD) and survey.

Design/methodology/approach

A randomized conjoint analysis based experiment was conducted in seven villages of Sundarbans in Bangladesh to elicit stated preference data and measure WTP and CS. Each respondent faced three options in every choice card-two hypothetical alternatives and one status quo scheme. Four alternatives – payment for ecosystem services, storm protection, erosion control and habitat for fish breeding – are randomly and simultaneously assigned to the two alternatives.

Findings

The findings suggest that age, income, education, family size and occupational status are the influential factor to choice the relevant attributes of ecosystem services and their levels. Villagers would like to pay annually Tk. 703, Tk. 281, and Tk. 59 for lower, moderate, and higher ecosystem services. With these WTP, they get surplus Tk. 760, Tk. 138, and Tk. 346 respectively.

Research limitations/implications

The lower WTP does not necessarily imply low demand for ecosystem service, as the findings from WTP illustrate potential demand for ecosystem services of Sundarbans.

Practical implications

The study provides an important insight into the ecosystem services and values of Sundarbans mangrove forests for welfare and can inform policy for sustainable use of resources of this forest.

Originality/value

There is a crucial gap in understanding what could villagers be ready for WTP for better ecosystem services of Sundarbans mangrove forest, how do payment based ecosystem services, as a proxy for the conservation of Sundarbans mangrove, and to what extent the policy can be strengthened.

Details

Forestry Economics Review, vol. 2 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2631-3030

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 18 March 2022

Michaela Lipkin and Kristina Heinonen

This study aims to characterize how ecosystem actors shape customer experience (CX). The study also proposes implications for managers and research regarding the customer ecosystem

5465

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to characterize how ecosystem actors shape customer experience (CX). The study also proposes implications for managers and research regarding the customer ecosystem, its actors and actor constellations in the context of CXs.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative study is conducted among activity tracker users to identify how actors within their ecosystems shape CXs. Data include 28 in-depth interviews and ten self-reported diaries.

Findings

This study delineates six actor categories in the customer ecosystem shaping CX within and beyond the service. The number of actors and their importance to the focal customer in various actor constellations form individual-, brand- and socially driven ecosystems. These customer ecosystem types show how actors combine to drive CXs.

Research limitations/implications

Researchers should shift their attention to experiences emerging in the customer’s lifeworld. A customer ecosystem highlights the customer-centered actor configuration emergent within the customer’s lifeworld. It is self-constructed based on the customer’s reference point.

Practical implications

Managers should aim to locate, monitor and join the customer’s lifeworld to gain more insight into how CXs emerge in the customer ecosystem based on customer logic.

Social implications

Customers are not isolated actors simply experiencing service; rather, they construct idiosyncratic actor constellations that include various providers, social groups and peers.

Originality/value

This paper extends the theory on CXs by illustrating how the various actors and actor constellations forming the customer ecosystem shape CXs.

Details

Journal of Services Marketing, vol. 36 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0887-6045

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 3 October 2018

Ephias Mugari, Hillary Masundire, Maitseo Bolaane and Mark New

Between 2006 and 2016, local communities in semi-arid Bobirwa sub-district in the Limpopo Basin part of Botswana had endured notable fluctuations in the delivery of critical…

2708

Abstract

Purpose

Between 2006 and 2016, local communities in semi-arid Bobirwa sub-district in the Limpopo Basin part of Botswana had endured notable fluctuations in the delivery of critical ecosystem services. These changes have been coupled with adverse effects on local people’s livelihood options and well-being. However, a few such studies have focussed on the semi-arid to arid landscapes. This study therefore aims to provide recent knowledge and evidence of consequences of environmental change on semi-arid arid landscapes and communities.

Methodology

To examine these recent changes in key ecosystem services, the authors conducted six participatory mapping processes, eight key informant interviews and several rapid scoping appraisals in three study villages. The analyses were centred on changes in seasonal quantities, seasonality, condition of ecosystem service sites, distance to ecosystem service sites and total area providing these services. Drivers of change in the delivery of key ecosystem services and the associated adverse impacts on human well-being of these recent changes in bundles of ecosystem services delivered were also analyzed.

Findings

Results show that adverse weather conditions, drought frequency, changes in land-use and/or land-cover together with unsustainable harvesting because of human influx on local resources have intensified in the past decade. There was circumstantial evidence that these drivers have resulted in adverse changes in quantities and seasonality of key ecosystem services such as edible Mopane caterpillars, natural pastures, wild fruits and cultivated crops. Similarly, distance to, condition and total area of sites providing some of the key ecosystem services such as firewood and natural pastures changed adversely. These adverse changes in the key ecosystem services were shown to increasingly threaten local livelihoods and human well-being.

Research limitations/implications

This paper discusses the importance of engaging rural communities in semi-arid areas in a participatory manner and how such information can provide baseline information for further research. The paper also shows the utility of such processes and information toward integrating community values and knowledge into decisions regarding the management and utilization of local ecosystem services under a changing climate in data-poor regions such as the Bobirwa sub-district of Botswana. However, the extent to which this is possible depends on the decision makers’ willingness to support local initiatives through existing government structures and programmes.

Originality/value

This study shows the importance of engaging communities in a participatory manner to understand changes in local ecosystem services considering their unique connection with the natural environment. This is a critical step for decision makers toward integrating community values in the management and utilization of ecosystem services under a changing climate as well as informing more sustainable adaptive responses in semi-arid areas. However, the extent to which decision makers can integrate such findings to inform more sustainable responses to declining capacity of local ecosystems in semi-arid areas depends on how they value the bottom-up approach of gaining local knowledge as well as their willingness to support local initiatives through existing government structures and programmes.

Details

International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, vol. 11 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-8692

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 2000