Consumer well‐being through engagement and innovation in higher education: A conceptual model and research propositions

• Published date: 01 February 2021
• Author: Oluwatobi A. Ogunmokun,Gunce I. Unverdi‐Creig,Hamad Said,Turgay Avci,Kayode K. Eluwole
• Date: 01 February 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2100

ACADEMIC PAPER

Consumer well-being through engagement and innovation

in higher education: A conceptual model and research

propositions

Oluwatobi A. Ogunmokun

1

| Gunce I. Unverdi-Creig

1

| Hamad Said

1

|

Turgay Avci

2

| Kayode K. Eluwole

2

1

Department of Business Administration,

Eastern Mediterranean University, North

Cyprus, Turkey

2

Faculty of Tourism Management, Eastern

Mediterranean University, North Cyprus,

Turkey

Correspondence

Oluwatobi A. Ogunmokun, Department of

Business Administration, Eastern

Mediterranean University, North Cyprus,

Turkey.

Email: oluwatobi.ogunmokun@emu.edu.tr

With globalization and the marketization of higher education, the relationship

between higher education institutions (HEIs) and students is becoming more com-

plex. As the cost of higher education increases, the expectations of students have

not only changed dramatically but, combined with heightened competition in the

market, it is clear that the balance of power has moved towards the students. Oper-

ating across this new landscape, HEIs are facing a different set of opportunities and

challenges. In order to survive, differentiation through service innovation is impera-

tive to achieving success in attracting and retaining students. While this has been

voiced by a number of authors, until now, there is a paucity of empirical research

examining the impact of service innovation in higher education on individual cus-

tomer outcomes. This paper explores the links between service innovation and well-

being and the mediating roles of perceived service quality and customer engagement

within the higher education context. The research is timely as previous studies have

not taken into consideration the mediating roles of customer engagement between

service innovation and customer well-being. Yet, unless customers are engaged and

participating in the service innovation process, or satisfied with the service innova-

tion, the innovation may not lead to the desired customer outcomes. HEIs cannot

afford to ignore the expectations of their primary customers (students). Hence, this

conceptual paper seeks to develop a conceptual model of how service innovation

leads to student/consumer well-being and the mechanism through which perceived

service quality and customer engagements affects this process.

1|INTRODUCTION

Not very long ago, innovation used to be about developing new tech-

nologies in manufacturing. Yet, recent years have seen an unprece-

dented increase in the mention of innovation in service-related

literature particularly with the birth of the service-dominant logic and

value co-creation concepts (Vargo & Lusch, 2004). Globalization, its

impact on the economy and the increased competition have pushed

service organizations to find ways of adapting and surviving by

successfully improving a competitive position, which in turn has led to

the concept of service innovation becoming a favoured strategy.

Higher education is not spared from these changes either (Danjuma &

Rasli, 2012). The landscape of world higher education has changed at

an unprecedented rate in the past 20 years. Similar trends as noted

above have made a big contribution to this change throughout the

worldwide higher education sector, and higher education institutions

(HEIs) across the world have faced increasing pressures to adapt to

a rapidly changing environment which also brought about

Received: 29 November 2019 Revised: 8 January 2020 Accepted: 14 February 2020

DOI: 10.1002/pa.2100

J Public Affairs. 2021;21:e2100. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 1of12

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2100