Senior customer value co-creation: Transforming social contact to social inclusion and subjective well-being.

Abstract

Participating in hospitality services can enhance older customers’ experience, however, what constitutes older customers’ values co-created through social contact in services and how these values could influence their social inclusion and well-being remain unexplored. A mixed methods approach with three studies established multidimensional measurements of senior customers’ value co-creation, namely, utilitarian, social and service aspects. Studies also illustrated that social contact positively related to all three aspects of value co-creation. Service value and social value, along with social inclusion, sequentially mediated the effect of social contact on subjective well-being. Findings develop rigorous instruments for measuring senior customers’ value co-creation, and illustrate how social contact and value co-creation in hospitality services could support inclusion and subjective well-being. Managerial implications for service providers and inclusive policy makers were also provided to support socially sustainable communities.