Co-creation of the consumption experience in the heritage sector: conceptualisation, operationalisation and validation

© 2013 Dr. Joanna MinkiewiczThis thesis investigates co-creation of the consumption experience in the context of the heritage sector. The following overarching research problem guides this study: How is co-creation of the consumption experience manifested in the heritage sector, and what are the antecedents and outcomes? Case study methodology was employed with three organisations (an art gallery, a science and history museum and a zoological garden) chosen as the objects for the research. The three case studies represent varying points on an experience continuum, offering scope for investigating varying degrees of co-creation of the consumption experience. The positions on the continuum progress, depending on the degree of interaction offered by the organisation between the consumer and employees, the consumer and the experience space and the scope for consumers to tailor the experience to their needs. Previous literature on co-creation is largely conceptual in nature, with a number of areas of contention. Firstly, there is an evident lack of consensus as to what is being co-created (value or the experience). This thesis contributes to this debate with its contention that value is an outcome of the consumption experience, arguing that what is actually being co-created is the consumption experience itself, with value as a derived outcome for the consumer. Secondly, the limited empirical research around co-creation, the various perspectives taken and divergent conceptualisations have resulted in a lack of a consistent conceptualisation of co-creation that incorporates the processes that both organisations and consumers go through in co-creating consumption experiences. This thesis seeks to overcome this deficiency in existing research and move beyond conceptualisation alone through the operationalisation of the co-creation of the consumption experience construct. This study therefore considers both the organisation (Study 1) and the consumer (Study 2) in exploring co-creation of the consumption experience in a heritage context. Moreover, this research strives to explain potential differences in organisational and consumer co-creation through the investigation of antecedents to co-creation of the consumption experience for both consumers and organisations. The exploratory findings support extant literature and therefore a multi-dimensional conceptualisation of co-creation of the consumption experience is proposed. Co-creation of the consumption experience for both organisations and consumers is found to be in alignment and is conceptualised as consisting of three dimensions: co-production, engagement and personalisation. In terms of the organisational antecedents to co-creation of the consumption experience, the findings reveal a competitive marketplace, changing consumer needs and profiles, organisational employees, strong visionary leadership and a consumer orientation as facilitators of organisational co-creation efforts. In contrast, a dominant curatorial orientation and the ensuing tensions between it and a consumer orientation, a traditional hierarchical organisational structure and competing priorities for internal funding resources are inhibitors to the facilitation of a co-created consumption experience within heritage organisations. In relation to consumer antecedents to co-creation of their consumption experience, other individuals, experience space design and previous exposure to the experience were revealed as co-creation facilitators. Interestingly, these same factors, when considered from the opposite angle, also inhibited consumer co-creation of the consumption experience. An understanding of both the organisational and consumer antecedents provides heritage organisations with an idea of the resources that they need to harness to facilitate co-creation of the consumption experience with consumers, simultaneously making them aware of the impediments that they need to be aware of and work to overcome. In line with literature and the exploratory results, co-creation of the consumption experience was conceptualised as a reflective construct using a disaggregated model, with three first order reflective dimensions. It was operationalised as consisting of: co-production, engagement and personalisation. Throughout Studies 3-5, coefficient alpha, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, correlation analysis, composite reliability and discriminant validity are all used to examine the reliability and validity of the co-creation of the consumption experience scale. The results highlight that co-creation of the consumption experience is a valid and reliable construct with good psychometric properties. To test the explanatory and predictive power of the co-creation of the consumption experience construct, the conceptual model developed on the basis of extant theory and also informed through the exploratory research, is tested. This conceptual model proposes the relationships between the aspects of co-creation, its antecedents and the outcomes of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. The resultant research propositions and related hypotheses are investigated using structural equation modelling (SEM) and Multiple-Analysis-of-Variance (MANOVA). SEM is used to examine the direct effects of the dimensions of co-creation of the consumption experience on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty as well as the mediating effect of customer satisfaction on the relationship between the individual co-creation dimensions and customer loyalty. MANOVA is used to explore the effects of the consumer antecedents of perceived crowding, previous exposure to the experience, age and accompaniment on each of the individual aspects of co-creation of the consumption experience. As each of the case study organisations is located at different points on the experience continuum, the findings are interpreted in relation to each individual case study. In relation to the gallery, the case study at the lower end of the experience spectrum, it is found that engagement is the only driver of customer satisfaction, with neither co-production nor personalisation being significant predictors of customer satisfaction. In terms of customer loyalty, specifically positive word-of-mouth, both engagement and personalisation were significant drivers, with engagement being a stronger driver than personalisation. In terms of the museum, in the middle of the experience continuum, only co-production is found to play a significant role in customer satisfaction. The results also reveal that consumers who are cognitively and emotionally engaged in their museum experience will share stories about their experience with others, spreading positive word-of-mouth. In regards to the zoo, at the higher end of the experience continuum, both co-production and engagement play a role in driving customer satisfaction, with the role played by engagement being more important. Moreover, consumers will be more likely to share positive stories and recommend the zoo experience to others if they have been cognitively and emotionally engaged. In regards to the mediating influence of customer satisfaction, the results reveal that customer satisfaction fully mediates the relationship between co-production and customer loyalty for zoo experiences, suggesting that the relationship between co-production and loyalty with a zoo experience is explained by customer satisfaction. These results suggests that for experiences at different points along the experience continuum, some aspects of co-creation of the consumption experience are more important than others in driving customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. In particular, for experiences at the lower ‘e’ end of the experience continuum, only engagement drives satisfaction whilst both engagement and personalisation drive customer loyalty. For experiences at the mid-point of the continuum, co-production drives customer satisfaction whilst engagement drives customer loyalty. Finally, for experiences at the higher “E” end of the experience continuum, both co-production and engagement drive customer satisfaction, whilst only engagement results in customer loyalty. However, as customer satisfaction mediates the relationship between co-production and customer loyalty for “E” experiences, co-production only results in customer loyalty through customer satisfaction, highlighting the importance of customer satisfaction for experiences at this end of the continuum. Finally, this thesis provides a psychometrically sound operationalisation of the co-creation of the consumption experience construct, which advancing researchers can use across different industries