When Service Customization in Tourism Backfires: Exploring the Value Restoration Mechanism to Prevent Value Codestruction

Abstract

Although service customization is widely adopted in the tourism industry to cater to the heterogeneous needs of customers, the high interaction in customization often results in a value decrease for the service provider and tourists (i.e., value codestruction). However, the literature has not fully explored the restoration process when value codestruction occurs during the consumption stage of customized tourism. Based on conservation of resources theory, this study identified a systematic value restoration framework by investigating the factors of codestruction situation, restoration approach, and customer characteristics. Our experiments indicate that value can only be restored effectively when the restoration approach is congruent with the value reducer type. Moreover, customers with low self-efficacy rely more on such a congruency effect. The findings provide managers and tourists with insights into how to optimize tourism experiences by displaying flexibility in dealing with value codestruction in customized tourism.