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CHAPTER 12:
CUSTOMERS’ ROLES IN SERVICE DELIVERY
CHAPTER TOPICS
The Importance of Customers in Service Cocreation
Customers’ Roles
Self-Service Technologies—The Ultimate in Customer Participation
Strategies for Enhancing Customer Participation
Technology Spotlight: Technology Facilitates Customer Participation in Health Care
Global Feature: At Sweden’s IKEA, Customers Around the World Cocreate Customized Value
Strategy Insight: Customer Cocreation of Value: An Important Strategy Frontier
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
1. Illustrate the importance of customers in successful service delivery and cocreation of service
experiences.
2. Discuss the variety of roles that service customers play: productive resources for the organization,
contributors to quality and satisfaction, and competitors.
3. Explain strategies for involving service customers effectively to increase satisfaction, quality, and
productivity.
LECTURE TIPS & AIDS
1. The topic of customers’ roles in service delivery is a very interesting one to discuss in a classroom
setting. To prepare students to take an active role in the lecture, students might be asked during the
meeting prior to the discussion of this chapter to do the following:
Your assignment is to choose a service that requires a moderate or high level of your participation as
a customer. Table 12.1 provides examples of such services. You should pick a unique service, one
that few people in the class are likely to select. The following questions pertain to the service you
have selected. In addition to answering the questions on this sheet, you should be prepared to discuss
any (or all) of these questions in class. Students will be randomly selected to discuss their responses
to these questions to illustrate various concepts included in the chapter.
1. What service have you selected?
2. Describe your role, as a customer, in the service delivery.
3. How did you learn your “role”?
4. How important is the customer to the service delivery process?
5. How would you describe your level of participation (low/medium/high)? Explain.
6. What influence do other customers have on your service experience?
7. When might other customers enhance your experience?
8. When might other customers diminish your experience?
9. Could you be considered a “partial employee” of this organization? Explain.
10. When might you, as the customer, be able to enhance your experience?
11. When might you, as the customer, be able to do something that diminishes your experience?
12. Is this a service that you might, at some point, be able to provide yourself (without the service
provider’s assistance)? Why or why not?
The combination of providing the actual discussion questions in advance, allowing students to select a
service they are familiar with, and providing the opportunity for students to think through questions
prior to class can significantly help in increasing class participation. This activity is particularly good
in encouraging (or even “forcing”) participation from students who are normally very quiet in class.
If students are expected to turn in written answers to these questions, most of them will be fairly
prepared to contribute to class discussion. In a class of 20 or more, the instructor can easily move
from one question to another and from one student to another so that many students are involved in
co-creating the classroom experience.
1. The following suggestion is for those instructors that want to try something very different in their
class. This activity will, in effect, “turn the tables” in the classroom by having the students take on
the role of instructor and having the instructor become a student. In particular, the last part of the
chapter (on strategies for enhancing customer participation) will be “taught” by teams of students.
The class is divided into teams in the meeting prior to this one. (The example below is for seven
teams, but the outline could easily be altered for a different number of teams.) Team 1 is instructed
(privately) that the instructor will be a couple of minutes late and that they should begin the
discussion at the normal starting time for the class. Each team will be expected to cover their
assigned material in 3-5 minutes.
In our next class, we will begin class by having each team “produce” a brief (3-5 minute)
presentation related to a specific issue for enhancing customer participation. Your task is to
address the major elements of the section of textbook that you have been assigned. Each
segment should highlight the major points of the section and provide an example of each
relevant issue (other than what is in the textbook). (Although you will not have to discuss it, be
sure to observe your own roles in the service delivery of this class session, as you will be
“co-creating” the service.)
Team 1 Overview/Introduction/Goals of a Customer Participation Strategy (p. 365)
Team 2 (1) Define Customers’ Roles (pp.365-367)
Customer’s Job:
Helping Oneself
Helping Others
Team 3 Customer’s Job: (pp. 367-369)
Promoting the Company
Individual Differences: Not Everyone Wants to Participate
Team 4 (2) Recruit, Educate, and Reward Customers (pp. 370-373)
Recruit the Right Customers
Educate and Train Customers to Perform Effectively
Team 5 Reward Customers for Their Contributions (pp. 373)
Team 6 (3) Manage the Customer Mix (pp. 373-374)
Team 7 Summary of Customer Participation Strategies (pp. 365-375)
The instructor’s role is to play a disruptive student. The following is a list of some “disruptive behaviors”
that students exhibit from time to time:
Come to class late (and take a seat not so quietly)
Dress in sweats, shorts, baseball cap (backwards, of course)
Bring in backpack with noisy food (e.g., chips, apple, can of pop) and a newspaper
Forget to bring notebook paper, a pencil, or the textbook
Ask fellow students about what the topic is (and why the instructor is not up front)
Pass notes, food, pencils, or whatever to students on the other side of the classroom
Take a little nap (with head down on the desk)
Read a newspaper, send text messages, have your cellphone ring
Work on an assignment for another class
Continually talk and make negative comments about wanting to be somewhere else
(you probably have your own observations to add to the list…)
As the student teams attempt to deliver their 3-5 minutes worth of material they were assigned, others
in the class will most likely be distracted by the “new student” (the instructor) in the class. It is
unlikely that much of the material that is covered will be remembered by anyone other than the team
that prepared it. However, this exercise can be an extremely insightful lesson about the role the
service employee, customers themselves, and other customers can play in the delivery of the service.
Once the student teams are finished (you may want to stop them early) and you as the instructor are
now “back in charge,” the class can discuss what just occurred. Students can reflect on (1) the
difficulty (as the service provider) in delivering the service—even without the “disruptive student”
(instructor), (2) the difficulty of delivering the service when there is an uncooperative customer, and
(3) the difficulty of learning/paying attention when a fellow customer (“student”) is not doing his/her
part. The following questions can help to stimulate some interesting discussion:
What problems can occur when the customer is a “co-producer” or “co-creator” of the
service?
In what ways can a student take an “active” role in the delivery of a university class?
Why is it important for the student to take an “active” role in the delivery of a university
class?
How can other students’ participation in the service delivery process enhance your experience
with and satisfaction in a class such as this?
What did you learn from the “customer participation” experience?
QUESTIONS TO USE WITH CHAPTER OPENING VIGNETTE
Chapter 12: Customers as Creators and Co-creators of Service Value
1. Discuss what is meant by customer creation and customer co-creation and highlight their similarities
and differences. Provide examples from your own experiences of creating and co-creating service
value for yourself. What did you do? What companies or organizations were involved? How were
they involved?
2. What is meant by a service ecosystem?
3. For the examples you described in #1, consider and describe the broader ecosystems of services,
products, and people that were involved. What are some potential opportunities within each
ecosystem for companies to innovate and expand the ways in which they serve customers?
ACTIVE LEARNING ACTIVITY
This activity requires the instructor to break the class into groups of 3-4 people. Each group is then
assigned a category of “levels of customer participation” from Table 12.1. Ideally, one third of the groups
will be assigned to each of the three categories. Groups complete the following activities:
Decide on a service in your category that your group would like to discuss.
Attempt to describe the “typical” customer behavior for your service.
Develop a plan for enhancing customer participation.
POTENTIAL VIDEO CLIPS TO USE IN ILLUSTRATING CHAPTER 12 CONCEPTS
“Planes, Trains, and Automobiles” – In one scene from this movie, John Candy and Steve
Martin are traveling on a bus with s1everal other customers. Their experience is clearly affected by
the other (fellow) customers traveling on the bus with them, including two customers are making out
across aisle from them. The clip can be used to demonstrate the influence of other (fellow) customers
in service delivery.
“As Good As It Gets” – In one scene an2 obnoxious customer (Jack Nicholson) chases off
customers from his favorite table by making derogatory remarks about them while standing over the
table. Then, he makes a mean comment about a waitress’ sick child. Later he barges into his
psychologist’s office and demands to be seen immediately. Finally he returns to the restaurant, only
to be kicked out. This clip demonstrates how a fellow customer can diminish the service experience.
It could also be used with Chapter 12 to provide examples where employees must exert emotional
labor in dealing with a customer.
“Ellen Degeneres: Here and Now” – In this HBO special from 2003, Ellen does a stand-up comic
routine where she discusses annoying behaviors of others while you are watching a movie in a theater.
The behaviors include describing when you are at the movies and the person behind you distracts you
by kicking and tapping your seat. This is a good illustration of how other (fellow) customers can
affect a customer’s experience (in this case, at the movies).
“The Blues Brothers” (Theatrical Version) (1980). Chapter 7 / 41:50 - 47:20 (length 6:30) . The
scene shows customers interrupting and disrupting a service atmosphere at a restaurant where they
obviously do not fit in to. Illustrates customer roles in service delivery, including: the customer
may not always be right, how other customers can detract from customer satisfaction.
“It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” Episode: "Dennis Reynolds: An Erotic Life" (2008) FX
Network. 2 scenes: 10:45 - 12:31 (length 01:46); 17:19 - 18:08 (length 00:49); Dennis, the
main character, has to make things he describes in one of his books in order to make the stories
behind to be really true. The scenes show him in two of those situations. In the first one he is harassed
by two men in a hospital. In the second one his book is stolen. Illustrates how other customers detract
from satisfaction in service delivery.
“Kicking and Screaming” (2005). 59:53 mark (1:30 in length). In this video clip, Will Ferrell's
character is a loyal customer to a local coffee store, "Bean Town." During this visit, he is upset about
having to wait in a long line due to the fact that he is a "regular" at this service provider. He begins to
grow impatient and starts making loud verbal attacks towards the women who is deciding on what to
order and consequently, the cause of the long line. His actions cause the employees at Bean Town to
grown upset and they warn him to calm down or else they will be forced to remove him from their
store. However, Will Ferrell's character believes that he is not allowed to be kicked out due to the fact
that he is a "regular" there and deserves special treatment. Illustrates that the customer is not always
right and sometimes a firm has to fire a customer.
POSSIBLE WEB SITES FOR CHAPTER 12
Company Location
Amazon.com www.amazon.com
Charles Schwab & Company www.schwab.com
Cisco Systems www.cisco.com
Christie’s International www.christies.com
eBay www.ebay.com
IKEA www.ikea.com
iPrint.com www.iPrint.com
John Deere www.deere.com
Ritz-Carlton www.ritzcarlton.com
Weight Watchers International www.weightwatchers.com
APPROPRIATE CASES FOR CHAPTER 12
From previous Zeithaml, Bitner, and Gremler Services Marketing texts:
Zappos.com 2009: Clothing, Customer Service, and company Culture [included in the sixth
edition of this text: Zeithaml, Bitner, and Gremler (2013) Services Marketing: Integrating
Customer Focus Across the Firm, New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies]
Merrill Lynch: Supernova [included in the sixth edition of this text: Zeithaml, Bitner, and
Gremler (2013) Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm, New York,
NY: McGraw-Hill Companies]
Shouldice Hospital Limited (Abridged) [included in the fifth edition of this text: Zeithaml, Bitner,
and Gremler (2009) Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm, New
York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies]
Hong Kong Disneyland [included in the fifth edition of this text: Zeithaml, Bitner, and Gremler
(2009) Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm, New York, NY:
McGraw-Hill Companies]
easyCar.com [included in the fourth edition of this text: Zeithaml, Bitner, and Gremler (2006)
Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm, New York, NY: McGraw-Hill
Companies]
The Quality Improvement Customers Didn’t Want [included in the fourth edition of this text:
Zeithaml, Bitner, and Gremler (2006) Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across
the Firm, New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies]
General Electric Medical Systems – [included in the fourth edition of this text: Zeithaml, Bitner,
and Gremler (2006) Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm, New
York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies]
Ernst & Young LLP [included in the third edition of this text: Zeithaml and Bitner (2003)
Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm, New York, NY: McGraw-Hill
Companies]
EuroDisney: The First 100 Days [included in the second edition of this text: Zeithaml and Bitner
(2000) Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm, New York, NY:
McGraw-Hill Companies]
From other sources:
Zipcar: Refining the Business Model [Harvard Business School Case 9-803-096, 2005]
Alaska Airlines: For the Same Price, You Just Get More... [Harvard Business School Case,
9-800-004, 2000]
Building Brand Community on the Harley-Davidson Posse Ride [Harvard Business School Case
9-501-015, 2000; Teaching Note 5-501-052; Video 9-501-801]
