The role of information and information provision channels in customer value creation process: Imperial College Business School Careers Service as an illustration

摘要

This research aimed to increase the understanding of the role that information and information provision channels play in the customer value creation process within the Higher Education (HE) Careers Service environment, by investigating customer opinions, experiences, beliefs and impressions. Imperial College Business School was used as the instrumental study case.udLiterature review within the broad area of Marketing shows that the concept of customer value creation is widely accepted as being an integral part of the service delivery process, especially so in the light of the Service-Dominant Logic. The literature also supports the idea of seeing students as customers and education as a service. However, there has been little research on student value creation and co-creation within the education setting, in general, and on the role that information and information provision channels play in customer value creation in HE Careers Services, in particular.udThe methodology adopted in the study made use of the mixed method sequential exploratory research, which consisted of a qualitative phase followed by a quantitative one. The results show that the provided information and information provision channels offered by the Careers Service contribute to the customer value creation process by increasing student knowledge base, competence, confidence, efficiency, convenience and by widening student perspective.udIn conclusion, this study serves as a first step towards understanding the role that information and information provision channels play in the customer value creation process within the HE Careers Service environment and proposes a framework for researching the subject further.