۱- Introduction

۲- Theoretical background

۳- Model and hypotheses

۴- Materials and methods

۵- Results

۶- Discussion

References

Abstract

Value co-creation for service innovations involves integrating inputs from multiple actors within service ecosystems. Traditionally, value co-creation has been considered in light of business-to-consumer (B2C) interactions. The emergence of digital information platforms allowing consumer-to-consumer (C2C) communications is changing how service ecosystems establish and create value for service innovations. In this paper, we develop a Digital Information Flow Continuum that includes B2C, external provider and consumer co-created (B2C/C2C combined) and C2C digital communications. Using Service-Dominant Logic (SDL), we assess the impact digital information flow elements have on the perceptions and usage likelihood for telemedicine (TM) services. We use structural equation modeling to analyze online survey results from 827 health consumers collected as part of a healthcare organization’s TM launch. The results demonstrate that the Digital Information Flow Continuum impacts the acceptance of the TM innovation directly, and indirectly through value perceptions of comparable service quality relative to alternatives and ease of access to care.

Introduction

Value enhancing innovations have the potential to positively or negatively impact service ecosystems (Dedehayir, Ortt, & Seppänen, 2017; Reinhardt & Gurtner, 2018). Academic researchers are particularly interested in innovations that focus on digital services (Larivière et al., 2017), and especially those that have the potential to transform service delivery via new processes, technologies, and deliverables (Chandler, Danatzis, Wernicke, Akaka, & Reynolds, 2019). Digital information and digital service delivery represent the use of online resources and platforms available to learn about and utilize innovations (i.e., Internet, social media, apps, etc.). For example, researchers have investigated digital service delivery in mobile banking (Payne, Peltier, & Barger, 2018) and digital health (Dahl, Milne, & Peltier, 2019). A common thread across this evolving research stream is that technologybased innovations impact how employees interface with customers and the extent to which consumers benefit from these digital service encounters (Larivière et al., 2017). Marketing communications are critical to the launch, acceptance, and adoption of innovations within service ecosystems (Alexander, Jaakkola, & Hollebeck, 2018). Although business-to-consumer (B2C) communications play a key role in the adoption process, marketers are going beyond B2C information flows and dyadic relationships, to digital marketing platforms that allow consumers to create and share information amongst themselves, thereby co-creating value for a service innovation (Chandler & Vargo, 2011). Service experiences have thus transitioned from pure “one-to-one” communication and engagement processes to “many-to-many” informational touchpoints (Vargo & Lusch, 2016). Framed through the lens of Service-Dominant Logic (SDL) (Vargo & Lusch, 2017), actors within service ecosystems co-create value for innovations through the sharing of unique experiences with and perceptions of the innovation. Despite this interest, research is limited on how B2C and consumer-to-consumer (C2C) information flows impact the acceptance and adoption of service innovations (Gruner, Vomber, Homburg, & Lukas, 2019). Although the literature has begun to investigate interaction mechanisms needed to support value cocreation in service ecosystems, the role of communication integration is not well understood. Virtually silent is research showing how different digital formats and platforms along an information flow continuum from B2C to C2C impact consumers’ perceptions of service innovations and adoption likelihood (Dahl et al., 2019; Kim & Baker, 2017).