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Customer-to-customer interactions in service
Kristina Heinonen1 and Richard Nicholls2
1 Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki, Finland
2 Worcester Business School, University of Worcester
When citing this work, cite the original book chapter. This is a pre-print version of the book
chapter (author’s version as accepted for publishing after the review process but prior to
finallayout and copy editing).
Heinonen, K., Nicholls, R. (2022). Customer-to-Customer Interactions in Service. In:
Edvardsson, B., Tronvoll, B. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Service Management.
Palgrave Macmillan, Cham., ch. 32, 629-654 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91828-
6_32
Introduction
A few weeks ago, I was travelling to London by train. I arrived at the railway
station about 15 minutes before the scheduled departure time. Unfortunately,
there was a long queue to the ticket counter. A few minutes later, when I was
2nd in the queue and very close to buying my ticket, the customer being served
started asking questions about connections to Edinburgh. He could not make
up his mind and it took up a lot of time. At last he bought a ticket and it was
for travel on the next day! Other passengers, including me, were irritated and
frustrated – especially as the counter had a big sign saying, ‘Tickets only – no
information given’. There was no time left to buy a ticket, and I had to board
my train without a ticket and buy one from the conductor at extra cost.
Customers are constantly influenced not only by the activities of service organizations but
also by the activities of other actors and resources in the service setting. Other customers
present during the service are one such influence on the service. Usually referred to as
customer-to-customer interaction (CCI), interactions among customers are a significant
phenomenon and, indeed, in some service settings more significant than employee-to-
customer interactions (Zhang et al., 2010; Colm et al., 2017). Furthermore, as technology and
the sharing economy develops, there are more and more interactions between customers in
various contexts. Many millions of customer-to-customer interactions take place each day,
and some have a profound and lasting effect on value creation and the customer’s overall
perception of the service and its provider. Whilst service organizations are usually not blamed
for negative influence on customers by peer customers, they are typically held responsible
for dealing with it (e.g. Baker & Kim, 2018) and will be blamed for failing to do so (e.g. Colm
et al., 2017). Furthermore, CCI and the failure to manage it can impact employee satisfaction
and retention (Nicholls & Gad Mohsen, 2019), making CCI a challenging phenomenon for
organizations in general.
The interaction between the provider and the customer has traditionally been a way for
managers to build customer loyalty and relationships, by managing the service environment,
improving service quality and creating customer satisfaction (Barsky & Labagh, 1992; Bitner,
1992). This is not surprising since the nexus of the service has classically been on customer-
provider relationships and service encounters: “The focal relationship is the one between a
supplier or provider of goods or services and buyers and users of these goods or services”
(Grönroos, 2004, p. 101). The classic notion of service was manifested in customers’
perceptions of service encounters, that is, the “moment of interaction between the customer
and the firm” (Bitner et al., 1990, p. 71). Nonetheless, the mainstream marketing literature
has been largely silent on the effect of interactions among customers on the service
experience (Brocato et al., 2012).
However, the seminal study by Martin and Pranter (1989) approached service from a different
perspective and was one of the first to explicitly explore customer-to-customer interactions,
suggesting that other customers in the service environment are also part of the service.
Although service research has also acknowledged the influence of other aspects than
customer-employee interactions on customers’ service experience, such as servicescapes
(e.g. Bitner, 1992), the notion of other customer influence has received considerably less
attention in mainstream service research (Nicholls, 2010; Colm et al., 2017). This
phenomenon is generally referred to as CCI and can be defined as the customer-to-customer
(C2C) interaction between out-groups, usually viewed as a stranger(s), in the same physical
service setting, behaving and/or appearing in a way that influences the service of the focal
customer(s). These outgroups are different to in-groups, such as accompanying friends and
family. CCI research has tended to focus on interpersonal interaction in the service
environment. For instance, customers support each other in the service, for example by
providing “product/service related information that employees would normally be expected
to supply” (Harris & Baron, 2004, p. 299). CCI links to other service roles customers take, such
as self-service, participation and co-creation (Bateson, 1985; Bitner et al., 1997; Bendapudi &
Leone, 2003; Dong & Sivakumar, 2017).
Whilst CCI is classically construed as occurring onstage in a physical service setting, the
growing infusion of technology in services in recent decades has resulted in more interaction
opportunities and widespread connections between customers and other actors. Service
delivery is increasingly outside the service provider’s domain highlighting interactions and
behavior that influence customers in their own domain, often through technology, when they
live their everyday lives (Heinonen et al., 2010, Grönroos & Voima, 2013): “what customers
do beyond the point of interaction with the service provider may be just as vital for enabling
customer engagement as what happens during service encounters” (Heinonen & Strandvik,
2018, p. 148). Indeed, social value creation and customer-to-customer interactions represent
alternative opportunities for customer value creation (Grönroos & Voima, 2013; Heinonen et
al., 2018). The aim of this chapter is thus to explore interactions among customers – labelled
customer-to-customer interactions (CCI) – in the service setting. We review scholarly
contributions on CCI with the purpose to present an overview of how customers’ perceptions
of the service are influenced by the other customers present in the service. The focus is on
conceptualizing the range of CCI, including key terms used for CCI as well as the main methods
for studying CCI. The conceptualization of CCI is further used to direct attention to the
managerial strategies for supporting CCI.
This chapter is structured into four sections. The first section provides a brief outline of the
background of CCI and distinguishes it from customer-provider interactions. This is followed
by a conceptualization of the main ways in which customer-to-customer interactions occur.
This central section of the chapter digs deeper into the characteristics of CCI. The third section
discusses the managerial approaches to CCI. And the fourth section concludes the chapter by
putting forward an agenda for future research into CCI.
Customer interactions as service encounters
Service encounters as interactions and touchpoints between the customer and the provider
Service encounters are one of the key phenomena in service research and the foundation of
customers’ service experiences. Service encounters denote interactions and touchpoints
between the customer and the provider, typically a service employee, and essentially
represent the service as experienced by the customer (Bitner et al., 1990). In other words,
they involve all interactions that influence a customer’s overall perception of the service. The
interactions are different based on whether the customer goes to the service organization,
the service organization comes to the customer, or whether the interaction occurs at arm’s
length (Lovelock, 1983). Service encounters were traditionally categorized in three types
(Shostack, 1985): the direct personal encounter referred to direct human interaction, the
indirect personal encounter verbal but no face-to-face interaction, and the remote encounter
occurring without human interaction with the service provider, such as through mail or
machine.
Today, it is widely acknowledged that customers’ service experiences are formed not only in
the actual service encounter, or, moment of truth (Normann, 1984), but interactions also
occur pre-service and post-service (c.f. Lemon & Verhoef, 2016). These interactions or
touchpoints are individual contacts, either physical or virtual, between the firm and the
customer at distinct points which customers encounter products, services, brands, places,
people, processes, channels, technologies (Lemon & Verhoef, 2016; Buttle & Maklan, 2019).
Service researchers often enumerate these points in terms such as service setting; service
systems and technologies; frontline employees and other customers. A number of
service/retailing frameworks attempt to capture the elements that customers interact with
during their service experience (Bitner, 1992; Tombs & McColl-Kennedy, 2003; Turley &
Chebat, 2002; and Lemon & Verfhoef, 2016).
An important aspect of most interaction frameworks is human interaction. Indeed, some
service management researchers use the term interaction to refer specifically to human
interaction, commonly investigating the interaction taking place between employees and
customers (E2C). The scope of this research includes identifying component parts of E2C
interaction (e.g. Price, Arnould & Deibler, 1995); employee value-added (e.g. Bettencourt &
Gwinner, 1996); employee empathy, courtesy, reliability and responsiveness (e.g. Wieseke et
al., 2012; Parasuraman et al., 1985), examining specific interaction contexts such as cross-
cultural interaction (e.g. Sharma et al., 2015), exploring interactions with certain groups (e.g.
Baker et al., 2007); and service recovery (e.g. Fernandes et al., 2018). However, it is largely
assumed that the service interaction and customer-service relationship are the customer’s
key focus (Heinonen et al., 2010; McColl-Kennedy et al., 2015).
Yet, although service encounters strongly highlight customer-employee interactions,
encounters include interactions with other actors as well. Customers also encounter other
actors in the service setting, such as friends, peers and strangers, however, these interactions
have received relatively less focus in research (Nicholls, 2010). To some extent service
frameworks have taken ‘other customers’ into account (e.g. Eiglier & Langeard, 1977; Booms
& Bitner, 1981; Gummesson, 1993; Tombs & McColl-Kennedy, 2003; and Baron & Harris,
2010), but given that the extent of C2C interaction often exceeds that of E2C interaction (e.g.
Miao & Mattila, 2013), this inattention is surprising. Whilst the C2C literature is relatively
small compared to the E2C literature, it is no longer negligible (Colm et al., 2017).
Customer-to-customer interactions (CCI) in service settings
Researchers examining CCI have been strongly influenced by the meaning of interaction
between customers conveyed in seminal service management contributions such as the
servuction system (Eiglier & Langeard, 1977; Bateson, 1985). Despite early conceptual
contributions (e.g. Eiglier & Langeard, 1977), Martin and Pranter’s seminal article in 1989 is
often recognized as the breakthrough point in research attention to onstage CCI within the
service management community. It was followed by a period of ‘crawling out’ of CCI literature
during the 1990s. In the 21st century, however, the amount of scientific literature identifying
itself as addressing CCI has grown rapidly and, since around 2010, explosively. This section
discusses some of the factors that have influenced this growth.
The interest in CCI has been influenced by wider, paradigmatic shifts in marketing. Significant
changes in how marketing science is comprehended led to a re-conceptualization of how the
customer’s role is understood. The growth of interest in relationships in marketing, and
influential frameworks such as the 30Rs (Gummesson, 1997), stimulated interest in
relationships beyond the focal firm, and raised the profile of CCI. Indeed, the emergence of
the term C2C, given the well-established usage of B2B, highlighted the conceptual relevance
of CCI
1
. Customers are increasingly portrayed as having an active role in value creation
(Grönroos, 2008). Consumption can be usefully understood in terms of value which is co-
created by the provider and the consumer (Prahalad & Ramaswamy, 2004). The service-
dominant logic perspective (Vargo & Lusch, 2004), with its portrayal of customers as operant
resources, together with the customer-dominant logic highlighting the customer’s domain of
1
While CCI and C2C interaction are often used interchangeably to refer to customer-to-customer interaction,
in this chapter we use CCI.
service (Heinonen et al., 2010), have provided an enhanced theoretical foundation to the
research of CCI.
The growing interest in CCI over the last three decades is partly due to the realization that CCI
is applicable to a wide range of service. The pervasiveness of CCI is evident in the fact C2C
interactions outnumber interactions between customers and employees in some service
settings (Nicholls, 2010). Early work emphasizes CCI’s relevance to retailing and leisure
settings (e.g. Harris et al., 1995; Grove & Fisk, 1997). As the number of empirical studies grew
it became apparent that CCI is relevant in a diverse range of service, including education (e.g.
Hoffman & Lee, 2014); tourism and hospitality (e.g. Huang & Hsu, 2010; Nicholls, 2011),
leisure (e.g. Zhang et al., 2010; Kim et al., 2020), passenger transportation (e.g. Harris &
Baron, 2004; Small & Harris 2014), personal services (e.g. Moore et al., 2005) and membership
organizations (e.g. Gruen et al., 2000). Other factors explaining the increasing relevance of
CCI include the growth of self-service technologies, and the attendant reduction in employee
presence (Kim & Yi, 2017), and the emergence of the sharing economy (Heinonen et al., 2018).
The amount of research on CCI is actually greater than is first apparent. This is because a wide
range of terminology, other than ‘CCI’, has been used to refer to CCI or aspects of it (Table 1),
and a wide range of research methods utilized to study CCI (Table 2). These methods, often
qualitative and exploratory in nature, range from asking consumers to recall CCI, through the
observation of CCI, to methods rooted in the physical sciences.The next section explores the
conceptualizations of CCI with the main emphasis on physical service settings.
Table 1. Key terms used for CCI
CCI term
Reference
General CCI
compatibility management
Martin & Pranter, 1989
Observable Oral Participation between
customers (OOPS2)
Harris et al., 1995
fellow customer
Martin, 1995
unacquainted influence
McGrath & Otnes, 1995
other customers
Grove & Fisk, 1997
Negative CCI
interclient conflict
Shamir, 1980
other-customer failure
Huang, 2008
other customer service failures /
other customer-generated service failures
Baker & Kim, 2018
other customer caused service failures
Kim & Baker, 2020
CCI in service sub-sector
guest-to-guest interaction
Papathanassis, 2012
tourist-to-tourist interaction
Huang & Hsu, 2009
student-to-student interaction
Rowley, 1996
Table 2. The range of CCI research methods
Method
References (examples)
Recall of CCI
Critical incident technique
Grove & Fisk, 1997; Zhang et al., 2010; Nicholls, 2020
Observable oral participation -
OOP2 (a service setting exit
interview technique that asks
customers about C2C
conversations)
Baron et al., 1996; Harris et al., 1995
In-depth interviews
Schmidt & Sapsford, 1995; Nicholls & Gad Mohsen,
2019
Introspection
Baron et al., 2007; Epko et al., 2015; Lloyd-Parkes &
Deacon, 2021
Questionnaires
Martin, 1996; Huang & Hsu, 2010
Observation
Video observation
vom Lehn, 2006
Participant observation
Arnould & Price, 1993; McGrath & Otnes, 1995,
Cheang, 2002; Harris & Baron 2004; Rihova et al., 2018
Netnography
Ekpo et al., 2015; Gursoy et al., 2017
Experiments
Field experiments
Schmitt et al., 1992; Levy, 2015; Schaefers et al., 2016
Scenarios
Thakor et al., 2008; Huang, 2010; Miao, 2014
Methods based on physical sciences
Biometric studies
(e.g. analyzing saliva samples;
micturition delay)
Evans & Wener, 2007; Middlemist et al., 1976
Conceptualizing the range of customer-to-customer interactions
Much research attention has been paid to exploring different types of CCI. Common
phenomena of CCI types include the provision of information to other customers, the sharing
of space with other customers and social exchange between customers (Heinonen et al.,
2018). Most research that identifies itself as concerning CCI has focused on direct on-site CCI,
and mainly in physical, rather than virtual, service settings. This section conceptualizes the
scope of CCI.
C2C interactions are generally seen as verbal and/or behavioral (e.g. Grove & Fisk, 1997;
Nicholls, 2010; Söderlund, 2011). Whilst verbal C2C interaction (i.e. “one customer says
something to another customer” – Söderlund, 2011, p. 176) normally meets the dictionary
meaning of interaction (e.g. “mutual or reciprocal action or influence” – Merriam-Webster),
the use of the term interaction in the CCI literature can extend beyond the dictionary meaning
of the term. In other words, behavioral interaction such as physically assisting another
customer can also be seen as interacting. ‘Interaction’ might also be considered as including
interactions where both customers are directly and explicitly engaging with each other, as
well as more implicit interactions where, for example, only one customer is aware they are
having a relevant interaction (e.g. overhearing a long phone conversation on the train).
Research has recognized the explicit and implicit aspects to CCI (e.g. Martin & Pranter, 1989;
Nicholls, 2010; Tombs & McColl-Kennedy, 2010; Kim & Choi, 2016) Both explicit and implicit
interactions may influence the focal customer’s perceptions of a service. The conceptual
framework (Figure 1) provides an overview of CCI types based on these two dimensions:
behavior representing verbally-centered and physically-centered interaction, as well as
explicitness representing explicit and implicit interaction. Figure 1 is depicted for analytical
reasons in a two-by-two matrix; although some CCI types may be located in multiple
quadrants, the matrix is useful to provide an abstraction of the CCI typologies.
Figure 1. Conceptual framework of CCI
The lower-left corner (Quadrant A) of Figure 1 labelled physical interaction accommodates
CCI situations in which other customers influence the service experience primarily through
their actions rather than verbally. It involves explicit behavioral and bodily interactions
between customers, such as pushing others or standing in the way. Research contributes
several significant categories here. For example, transaction efficiency (Nicholls, 2020)
concerns other customer behavior at the point of transaction that impacts the time of the
focal customer (e.g. another customer being slow at the checkout). Queuing discipline (Grove
& Fisk, 1997) relates to other customer behavior that is perceived as contravening queuing
conventions (e.g. jumping the queue). Assigned space (Nicholls, 2020) concerns behavior by
another customer that infringes space that has been allocated to the focal customer (e.g. a
reserved train seat). Violence or physical misbehavior (Harris & Reynolds, 2004) covers a
range of misbehaviors by other customers, sometimes extreme (e.g. hitting a customer), that
impact the focal customer’s experience. For a review of studies which include aspects of
explicit behavioral C2C interaction see Heinonen et al. (2018) and Nicholls (2020).
Explicitness
Behavior
Physically-
centered
Verbally-
centered
ImplicitExplicit
APhysical interaction
Transaction efficiency;
Queuing discipline;
Assigned space;
Violence/ physical
misbehaviour
CAssistive interaction
Problem solving/Assistance
Knowledge exchange/
Information Provision;
Endorsement;
Social conversation;
Policing;
BAmbient interaction
Perceived
crowding/density;
Observation of others;
Presence;
Disrespect to others;
Undesired/ camouflaged
Behavior;
Noise
DCommunal interaction
Singing psalms;
Chanting at sports events;
Mimicking;
Verbal misbehavior
Quadrant B in the lower-right of Figure 1 also refers to behavioral interactions, but unlike
Quadrant A, it is less explicit and more covert. This ambient interaction may involve looking
at or overhearing others. Often these other customers simply form part of the overall service
setting. Collectively they may create a certain ambiance that influences the focal customer’s
experience (e.g. Ekpo et al., 2015; Nicholls & Gad Mohsen, 2015). For example, Quadrant B
accommodates mass communal behaviors such as spectators performing a Mexican Wave or
a Viking Thunderclap at a sports stadium
2
. Similarly, the sheer numbers of other customers
may contribute to a perception of crowding (Hui & Bateson, 1991). Observation of the
behavior of other customers (Colm et al., 2017) can also provide useful informational cues
about how to consume the service (e.g. do other customers order their drink at the bar or at
the table?). Such learned behavior is typically picked up without the other customers realizing
that they are being helpful and without verbal exchange, so is implicit C2C behavior and
different in intent and gratitude to the verbal assistance that is found in Quadrant C.
Observation can also bring about C2C comparison (and envy) of service levels received by
others (e.g. Anaya et al., 2016; Ludwig et al., 2017) or awareness of another customer treating
others with disrespect (e.g. Dorsey et al., 2016; Henkel et al., 2017). The appearance of
another customer, which includes visual and olfactory aspects, although more specific than
the general ambiance, is also a type of implicit CCI. The appearance of another customer
might cause a customer to anticipate a certain sort of behavior or at least suggest a raised
degree of unpredictability, for example, if hotel guests are swimming nude in the pool (Bitner
et al., 1994). Appearance is a common aspect of undesired customers (e.g. Harris & Reynolds,
2004). Noise in the shared use space (Nicholls, 2020) impacts the service experience of a
customer who also has the use of that space (e.g. another customer’s mobile ringing during a
movie).
Quadrant B also involves mere presence of another customer. Mere presence refers to C2C
situations where another customer is simply present, and not explicitly interacting or seeking
to interact, and this very presence influences the focal customer. Some service research is
based on other customers merely being present and thus potentially influencing the focal
customer’s behavior and self-awareness. Examples include (1) others being present when
buying an embarrassing product or revealing personal information (Nichols et al., 2015); (2)
the presence of others making concentration on tasks more difficult (e.g. Luck & Benkenstein,
2015); and (3) experiencing the pressure of the noninteractive social presence of a queue
behind (e.g. Dahm et al., 2018).
The upper-left corner of Figure 1 (Quadrant C), labelled assistive interaction, is perhaps the
most common type of CCI. This type involves conversations between customers, frequently
goal-oriented for assistance or support or merely spending time while waiting. Information
provision by another customer, including product endorsement, is one of the most common
C2C types in retail (e.g. McGrath & Otnes, 1995; Baron et al., 1996). C2C assistance is widely
reported in the literature (e.g. Grove & Fisk, 1997; Parker & Ward, 2000; Nicholls & Gad
Mohsen, 2015; Tomazelli et al., 2017; Kim & Yi, 2017). Social conversations (cf. consumption-
2
To the extent that such mass ambiance actions include verbal aspects, they might be considered to cross
both quadrants B and D.
related conversations - Nicholls, 2020) between customers are common in travel and leisure
contexts (e.g. Harris & Baron, 2004; Yin & Poon, 2016). Some explicit verbal C2C interaction
takes place to police or protest in response to what is deemed inappropriate other customer
behavior and is sometimes referred to as ‘echo-CCI’ (Nicholls, 2010).
Finally, Quadrant D in the upper-right corner of Figure 1 depicts implicit verbal interaction.
This type of CCI labelled communal interaction occurs commonly in large social gatherings
such as sports events, concerts or group activities when other customers are singing, chanting
or generally making noise, but it is not directed at specific customers. Such implicit verbal
exchange can often be understood in terms of making a collective meaning, that is, sharing of
rituals symbolic behavior, mimicking and in other ways acting symbolically (Gainer, 1995;
Heinonen et al., 2018). Limited research attention has been paid to collective meaning making
by CCI researchers, but it is present in brand communities (e.g. Schau et al., 2009), sports and
entertainments events (e.g. Fairley & Tyler, 2012), or festivals (e.g. Rihova et al., 2018). This
type of implicit verbal interaction also involves implicit verbal misbehavior, such a crying baby
in a restaurant or other customers complaining or shouting to a service employee (Martin,
1996).
How can CCI be managed?
Although, the “customer may be less easily controlled than employees (and the physical
environment)” (Söderlund, 2011, p. 174), there are possibilities for influencing CCI (Martin,
2016; Nicholls, 2010). This position contrasts to the early days of service science when
interactions between customers, whilst included within the ‘participant’ label of the 7P
services marketing mix, were considered rarely to be within the control of the marketer
(Booms & Bitner, 1981). In Table 3 we outline four key thematic strategies how managers can
attempt to influence CCI. These strategies are aligned to the four quadrants in Figure 1.
Contextual mediation is concerned with managing explicit physically-centered interaction
(Quadrant A) and focuses on issues such as designing the environment to give customers
adequate space, and creating and managing rules surrounding behavior. Perceptual
enhancement concerns managing the more implicit aspects of physically-centred interaction
(Quadrant B), and includes the management of the collective impression that customers form
of the density, flow and crowdedness of the service setting, and providing a sense of social
predictability and orderliness. Customer advocacy concerns explicit verbally-centred
interaction (Quadrant C) and focuses on issues such as designing the environment to assist
appropriate customers verbal exchange and supporting C2C good citizenship. Social bonding
concerns the more implicit, collective aspects of verbally-centred interaction (Quadrant D),
and includes actions designed to generate collective verbal responses from audiences and
other gatherings.
Table 3. Strategies for managing CCI
Topic
Strategy
Description
Example
Contextual mediation
(Quadrant A)
Designing spatial and
temporal convenience
Sociofugal
design
Designing the space to
separate customers and give
them their own ‘bubble’
Own cubicle for
customers in library
Hygienic
environment
Designing and maintaining
the environment to minimise
customer-to-customer
hygiene issues
Frequent cleaning of
gym equipment
Behavior rules
Creating, communicating,
monitoring and enforcing
rules relating to the use of
shared space and queuing
‘No feet on seat’
posters on trains
Employee
intervention
Training employees to spot
misbehavior and to
intervene effectively
Staff monitoring and
controlling customers
at a pool or ice rink
Perceptual
enhancement
(Quadrant B)
Influencing indirect
behavior between
customers
Psychological
management of
queues
Organisational efforts to
reduce the time perception
of waiting and generally
make waiting a more
positive experience
Entertainers in theme
park queues
Density and
space
perception
management
Designing customer flows
and other customer visibility
to reduce perceptions of
crowding and to optimise
actual and perceived density
levels
Seating customers in
restaurants to make it
appear livelier
Segmentation
Physical and sequential
segmentation of customers
in order improve
compatibility
Swimming pools with
physical and/or time
zones for serious
swimmers and leisure
swimmers
Policing and
surveillance
Patrolling the service setting
to provide reassurance and
ensure a suitable
environment and to deter
undesired behaviors
Security patrols at
shopping malls
Customer advocacy
(Quadrant C)
Catalyzing and
mediating appropriate
communication
between customers
Customer
education
Training customers how to
use the service and to
interact appropriately with
others
Directional signage
Communication
support
Facilitating customers’ verbal
interactions through
relevant channels
Bulletin board or
online discussion
forum for sharing tips
and resources
Support
citizenship
Encouraging and expressing
gratitude to customers who
have provided verbal
assistance to other
customers
Thanking a customer
who has helped
translate for a
foreigner
Sociopetal
design
Designing the service setting
to encourage verbal
exchange between
customers
Lounge area on a
cruise ship
Social bonding
(Quadrant D)
Fostering and
stimulating indirect
communication in
groups
Sociopetal
design
Designing the service setting
so that customers are more
socially aware that they form
a collective group
At a sports stadium a
camera zooming in on
supporters and
showing them on a
big screen
Service cheer-
leading
Designing the service setting
to involve customers, often
in the audience, to
contribute to the
atmosphere.
Includes actions that
enhance the bonding of a
group by making it more
removed from everyday life
Performer
encouraging the
audience to join in
the chorus of a song.
Boat tour guide telling
passengers to hold on
tight as a big wave is
approaching
Going forward: avenues for future CCI research
The chapter has so far conceptualized and discussed the interaction occuring between
customers, labelled customer-to-customer interactions, showing a broad range of CCI
influencing the focal customer’s perceptions of service. Based on this we develop
implications for further research in C2C interactions and suggestions for broadening the
conceptual understanding of C2C behavior.
A main avenue for future research is to explore the conceptual reach of C2C behavior. It is
essential to explore how CCI relates to other theoretical constructs such as service
experience, customer loyalty, and customer purchase behavior. Such research can advance
the understanding of how other customers influence a focal customer’s experiences and
behavior. Moreover, to appreciate the full scope of CCI research it is important to recognize
the existence of a body of literature that researches the same topics as the so-called ‘CCI
literature’ but which typically does not identify itself conceptually as researching CCI, for
example research into topics such as crowding, mobility and third places. This literature,
partly because it tends not to contain the typical terms used in systematic literature searches
on CCI, is often overlooked by CCI researchers. Awareness of this literature questions existing
assumptions about the extent of CCI-related research and the historical timeline of CCI
research. It becomes clearer that research into CCI is far from ‘minimal’ and that it includes
important contributions from before the field was formally identified and staked-out in
Martin and Pranter’s (1989) seminal paper.
Also many non-marketing disciplines contain studies that deal with CCI without identifying or
labelling themselves as such. Within psychology, for example, relevant topics include the
social psychology of queues (e.g. Schmitt et al., 1992); crowding (e.g. Hui & Bateson, 1991);
and personal space and its intrusion (e.g. Evans & Wener, 2007). Sociologists have provided
insights into how people interact with each other in urban and other environments (e.g.
Gorman, 1979; Honkatukia & Svynarenko, 2018). Mobility researchers have studied issues like
quiet carriage atmosphere (Hughes et al., 2017) on passenger trains. Some authors focus on
a CCI-related concept but without making connections to CCI. For example, user noise in
libraries; outdoor recreational conflict; and third places. Many tourism and leisure studies,
such as high-risk leisure consumption (e.g. Celsi et al., 1993), serious leisure (e.g. Kane & Zink,
2004), and tourist authenticity (e.g. MacLennan & Moore, 2011), contain significant
undercurrents of CCI content that is not usually explicitly recognised as such. Embracing such
studies can expand the granular understanding of CCI and carry several lessons for aspiring
CCI researchers. Firstly, the CCI literature is far more extensive and older than most
mainstream CCI writings suggest. Secondly, much relevant literature will be undetected in so-
called ‘systematic’ search that centers on self-identifying search terms such as ‘customer-to-
customer interaction’, ‘fellow customers’, ‘C2C’ etc. Search strategies that draw on
approaches such as manual searching and pearling are recommended. Thirdly, there are
research methods available (e.g. Evans & Wener, 2007) beyond the usual ones employed in
service management and marketing research. Indicating a need to extend the C2C research
domain, Heinonen et al. (2018) developed an extensive list of further research questions
around the theoretical and conceptual perspectives, the methods and the research contexts
of C2C in the service research field.
There is therefore a pronounced need for future research to further identify and integrate
research outside the mainstream service management area that is based on CCI. Certain
disciplines, such as social psychology and urban sociology, are likely to be fertile grounds for
such research. Likewise, certain industry-specific research, such as adventure tourism,
cruises, or festivals, is likely to reveal CCI-related research. Also, certain interdisciplinary
research communities, such as mobility researchers, conduct research that is relevant to CCI.
Table 4 delineates key issues for future research. Within the scope of on-site interactions,
there is potential for further conceptual research into issues such as transtemporality and
reciprocity to help clarify what exactly constitutes a CCI. CCI can occur across time but in the
same physical space and still influence another customer; for example, a previous customer
at a gym may not have wiped down a piece of equipment after using it (Nicholls, 2005). Other
literature also shows customers can be aware of the past presence of other customers. For
example, consumer contamination concerns is detrimental to customer satisfaction when
knowing products had previously been touched by other shoppers (Argo, et al., 2006). The
current Covid-19 related contamination issues, including concern over touching of service
facility items by previous users, is likely to increase research interest in transtemporal CCI.
These examples indicate that while customers are not simultaneously in the service
environment, they still influence each other through their actions.
Table 4. Key issues for future research
Theme
Future research questions
Transtemporality
Are customers aware of each other and their role in others’ service
experience?
To what extent are customers perceptions of other customers
influenced by their previous customer-to-customer experience?
Reciprocity
Who is assisting who?
Are customers mutually benefiting each other?
How do customers differentiate between other customer behaviors
they deem to be (1) directed at them and (2) not directed at them?
How does the perception of other customers vary according to
whether the perceiving customer is alone or accompanied?
Digital CCI
How do CCI differ in a physical and digital context?
In an e-learning context what is the influence of other customers’
transaction efficiency, for example when a student takes an excessive
amount of time to ask a question?
Non-verbal interaction
How are customers observing each other? Are customer mimicking
each other?
What is the relative influence of spoken CCI in comparison to non-
verbal interaction?
Organizational
perspective
What is the role of triadic interactions, i.e. between the FLE and
Customers A and B, for service experience?
What strategies and tactics can be utilized by FLEs to handle CCI?
What is the impact of replacing of employee-based service with self-
service on CCI?
How can organizations train and support FLEs regarding CCI?
How can organizations detect and record CCI?
What are the consequences of CCI intervention on employee
satisfaction?
How can organizations support helpful CCI?
C2C Influence
How is the term ‘interaction’ used in C2C research?
In what ways is the term ‘influence’ broader than ‘interaction’?
To what extent is it useful, whether academically or managerially, to
have a broader perspective on C2C?
To what extent is WOM a pre-service experience phenomenon that
reflects a customer-to-potential-customer relationship (Martin, 2016)
rather than a customer-to-customer one?
What is the influence of other customers on focal customer(s)?
How are customers influencing each other’s value creation?
How is value created in different CCI?
The issue of CCI reciprocity is another area needing conceptual refinement. Colm et al. (2017,
p. 5) conceptualize CCI as having bidirectional exchange (i.e. “both parties participate”) or
unidirectional exchange (i.e. “one party is passive and unaware of participation”). In some
situations, the focal customer is aware of the behavior and/or appearance of another
customer, but that other customer is not necessarily aware of her/his behavior and of its
impact on others. For example, a customer may be unaware that they are blocking the view
of another customer at the cinema.
Moreover, given the technology advancements, it is clear that more research is needed in
online services and the occurrence of e-CCI
3
(Nicholls, 2005), or virtual C2C interaction
(Gummesson, 2009). Although most on-site CCI studies are based in physical service settings,
there are studies set in e-CCI contexts, such as online multiplayer games (Choi and Kim, 2020);
virtual health communities (Mpinganjira, 2019); mega events (Kharouf, 2020) and retailing
(Betzing, Kurtz and Becker, 2020). Further research needs to explore the role and interplay of
physical and virtual CCI. Interaction, as seen in the light of current multi-interface service
environments (c.f. Patricio, et al., 2008) is much broader in scope than traditionally depicted
in terms of physical encounters between two actors.
Another promising topic is nonverbal CCI. Research on CCI in physical settings has tended to
place more emphasis on spoken interaction. Sometimes this has been related to the
methodology employed focusing on C2C conversations as the raw data, for example the
Observable Oral Participation 2 (OOP2) research (Harris et al., 1995). It has, however, been
suggested that nonverbal interactions between customers may be more common than verbal
ones (Lin et al., 2020). Future research could specifically address this type of CCI. A wide range
of non-verbal CCI contexts exists in physical service settings, such as communicating waiting;
gaze avoidance, negotiating shared space; and body glossing. Likewise, research is needed
into how interacting customers combine both verbal and non-verbal messages.
The organizational and employee perspective of CCI represents an important area for future
research in CCI. Studies have examined themes such as service provider roles in managing CCI
(Pranter & Martin, 1991); how FLEs view CCI (Nicholls & Gad Mohsen, 2019); the impact of
perceived employee CCI service recovery effort on customer satisfaction (Huang, 2008); and
the effectiveness of FLE apologies on recovering other customer failure (McQuilken et al,
2017). Likewise, broad approaches to managing CCI, such as segmentation, service design,
employee training, and customer education, have been proposed (Martin, 2016; Nicholls,
2010). Many research opportunities, however, remain. Such research suggestions are in line
with the need “for CCI research to broaden its focus from studying CCI to studying the
effective management of CCI” (Nicholls & Gad Mohsen, 2019, p. 812).
Given the different angles from which C2C has been investigated, together with the wide
range of terminology and meaning, future research could usefully refocus conceptual
understanding of C2C Interaction as C2C Influence. By developing a more integrated
understanding of how various researchers have operationalized CCI phenomena, the field of
C2C behavior may be able to both spread its roots and organize its knowledge in a more
accessible way. In addition to the explicit and implicit outgroup interactions covered in Figure
1, areas of C2C that could be included within the wider scope are issues about word-of-mouth
or WOM (e.g. Libai et al., 2010; Rahman et al., 2015), interactions between owners of goods
3
The focus here is on e-CCI as interactions occurring between two or more customers during the delivery of an
e-service rather than as online interaction or communication occurring between a customer and a potential
customer (i.e. e-WOM, the online equivalent of traditional word-of-mouth).
(e.g. McAlexander et al., 2002), and in-group interactions such as the influence of friends and
family (e.g. Ward, 2006; Zhang et al., 2014). Therefore, a holistic understanding of C2C results
in greater awareness of logical distinctions and nuances between areas of C2C research.
Such research would serve both to highlight the significance of C2C and to encourage
researchers to be more aware of where their work fitted in terms of previous contributions.
With the increased awareness amongst researchers of the role of CCI in value creation, the
use of the term CCI continues to evolve. Whilst the term CCI is probably the prevalent term
used in the literature, it is applied with different meanings and this can cause confusion.
Research indicates that customers are influencing each other’s value creation either directly
or indirectly, with important emotional, functional and social outcomes (Heinonen et al.,
2018). More research is needed to understand how CCI “emerges, develops and builds toward
value outcomes over time” (Heinonen et al., 2018, p. 725). The complexity and many nuances
of CCI furthers the need to have an inclusive interpretation of the term customer-to-customer
interaction. Indeed, the term CCI might more appropriately be understood as Customer-to-
customer Influence rather than Customer-to-customer Interaction. The adoption of the term
C2C Influence to refer to this field would also overcome the semantic difficulty that some C2C
interactions are only perceived by one of the customers involved, and thus might not be called
‘interaction’ in the usual dictionary meaning of the word. The notion of C2C influence,
including C2C value creation, is clearly an important avenue for future research.
In conclusion, CCI is a diverse and maturing area of research, and the advancements in
technology has made interactions among customers easier and more prevalent. As a research
field it is thus growing and intersects with important research areas such as customer
experience, value creation, service failure and recovery as well as service design.
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