Researchers in Switzerland and the UK have delved into the intricate world of digital interactions, using a unique combination of theories to shed light on the often-overlooked aspects of how customers engage with online services. By merging two theoretical frameworks, Activity Theory (AT) and Service-Dominant Logic (SDL), the study focuses on deciphering how user actions contribute to the overall value of digital services.
When one uses a voice assistant or interacts with a smart application, one is not simply completing a task but also creating value in different ways. Writing in the International Journal of Web Engineering and Technology, researchers break down this value creation into various dimensions. These are dematerialization (moving away from physical interactions), objectification (transforming actions into tangible outcomes), institutionalization (establishing patterns), modularization (breaking down tasks into manageable parts and streamlining processes), and platformization (building on existing digital structures and helping enhance them). These different dimensions can benefit both the customer and the service provider.
Uwe V. Riss and Michael Ziegler of the Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences in St. Gallen, Switzerland, and Lindsay J. Smith of the University of Hertfordshire in Hatfield, UK focused on understanding how user activities, defined by AT, integrate into the theoretical framework of service systems represented by SDL. Their findings shed light on the various dimensions of customer value with a specific application to voice assistants.
The team explains that this integration provides a deeper insight into customer interactions within service systems, essential for investigating customer experience in the context of service ecosystems. The study underscores the significance of smart products, highlighting the inseparable intertwining of service and material interaction in what we might call digital ecosystems. Moreover, the work reconciles the different focuses of AT and SDL, which are both centred on customers using services within action objectives or service ecosystems but with differences. AT emphasizes specific actions and outcomes, while SDL concentrates on the interplay of various service providers.
The common thread, the work suggests, is the concept of cocreation of value, either as the success of action in AT or as resource integration in SDL. The research thus brings together the understanding offered by each approach. Given that the customer experience plays a pivotal role in representing digital ways of value creation, it is important to encompass customer activities with that understanding.
Riss, U.V., Ziegler, M. and Smith, L.J. (2023) ‘Value dimensions of digital applications and services: the example of voice assistants’, Int. J. Web Engineering and Technology, Vol. 18, No. 4, pp.319–343.
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