Customer participation in service innovation using SNS smartphone apps: an investigation of the Indian hotel service industry

Purpose - Existing research lacks a comprehensive understanding of the individual factors that may transform an “ordinary” customer into an active participator in the service innovation process and/or the situational factors that determine a customer's participation in any stage of the service innovation process. The purpose of this paper is to fill these research gaps by developing and validating a conceptual framework on CPSIB in the Indian hotel industry by using smartphones to access SNS apps. Design/methodology/approach - A cross-sectional survey design method was used in this study to collect representative samples with greater response rates. The target population included in this study were hotel guests of all of the star category hotels in New Delhi who had earlier experiences of staying in star category hotels. Structured questionnaire was formulated, which was later pre-tested to confirm its reliability and validity. Out of 400 questionnaires, 348 usable responses were obtained. Findings - This research examines CPSIB in the Indian hotel industry using SNS smartphone apps. It confirms that user innovativeness and perceived trust in the service provider determine customers' participative service innovation behavior, which further results in positive adoption intention via SNS smartphone apps. Research limitations/implications - This research provides valuable insights into the hotel industry, specifically in the context of India. However, it has a few limitations that must be taken into account when generalizing its results. Practical implications - First, investigating the key antecedents and consequences of CPSIB has important implications for marketing practitioners. Moreover, it was observed that hotel guests with higher innovativeness and trust in the service provider would show positive participative service innovation behavior toward innovating new services along with the hotel service providers, which may result in a positive adoption intention toward the newly developed services. Second, hoteliers should integrate hotel guests into hotel service innovation via the use of SNS smartphone apps. Social implications - This research conceptualizes that user innovativeness is a driving factor for CPSIB that may further generate a positive adoption intention toward newly developed services. Originality/value - To the best of the authors’ knowledge, only a very few studies have tested the interrelationships between individual factors and customer participation behavior in the mobile technology-mediated service ecosystem simultaneously. Furthermore, research examining the individual and situational factors influencing CPSIB and adoption intention towards newly developed services using SNS smartphone apps is still in a nascent stage.