Firm-Customer Interactions and New Service Development: Mediation of Customer Post Service Information

This paper examines the mediating role of customer post service information between firm-customer interactions and New Service Development (NSD) across tourism firms. Themes in this study are drawn from the usefulness and the attention of Service Dominant Logic and Customer Dominant Logic, which envisage that, both the customer and the firm share knowledge and skills on a mutual benefit. However, only the customer context has been placed as the key benefit for most literature and less on a firm context. This study used a survey method to obtain data from a sample of 290 tourism firms. Then the relationships of firm-customer interactions, customer post service information on new service development were tested through Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) in AMOS 23. Prior to that, the data was open up for factor analysis in order to confirm the measurement model. The findings reveal that both firm-customer interactions and customer post service information have a positive influence on new service development. The results further suggest a partial mediation of customer post service information on firm-customer interactions and new service development. Regardless of the partial mediation, the direct relationship of firm-customer interactions to new service development was weaker than the indirect relationship. This suggests that interactions are highly associated with the customer post service information which further helps in the development of new services. The study offers an extension of the theoretical understanding in interactions as applied in the service dominant logic. Apart from the exchange focus, interactions can be used as an information stimulation tool used for new service development across firms. Practically, managers should emphasize strong interactions with their customers in all stages of service production. This would influence their customers in providing post service information which is termed essential for the development of new services across industries.