Customer Participation in Services and its Effect on Employee Innovative Behavior

Customer participation in services has received increasing attention in hospitality research. Despite the growing attention, research on perceived customer participation (PCP) from an employee perspective remains limited. It may be valuable to inspect the service dominant logic from the perspective of employees. Thus, this study attempts to develop a measurement scale for PCP. The effect of PCP on employee innovative behavior (EIB) is also examined from a hospitality context. Both qualitative and quantitative methods are used to address the research problem. Three dimensions of PCP are identified, and the high reliability and validity of the scale are confirmed. The analysis based on the main survey data from 514 restaurant employees also reveals that customer information and emotional participation positively affect EIB, whereas the relationship between behavioral participation and EIB is insignificant. The research findings carry implications for research on PCP and the management of EIB in hospitality firms.