Consumer and co-producer roles in e-service: analysing efficiency and effectiveness of e-service designs

摘要

Many electronic services are distinguished by the active and significant participation of customers in real-time service design and delivery, a phenomenon referred to as service co-production. Because e-service often involves higher levels of service co-production than in traditional person-to-person services, it has become important to incorporate customers' needs both as a service consumer and as a service co-producer into the design of e-service systems. In this paper we propose a two-stage approach to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of e-services. We focus on meeting customers' needs as both consumers and co-producers. The approach is demonstrated in an exploratory empirical study of the e-service operations of a sample of internet food retailers.