From recipient to contributor: examining customer roles and experienced outcomes

In recent years, both management and marketing fields have emphasized the importance of a customer orientation. In this project, a different set of lenses is adopted to examine customer orientation from the customer’s point of view. Customers can enact four specific roles that enable them to create a partnership with human services firms. Customers can be important resources for the firm. They can actively participate in the firm’s activities as co‐producers of the service. As buyers, customers can develop a relationship with a service organization, and as recipients they register evaluations of their encounter. Analysis of an extensive survey of customer perceptions and investments in a firm’s activities provided an outside‐in look at customer orientation. The results present clear evidence that customers can influence the outcomes they experience. Avenues for future research and practical opportunities for managers to capitalize on their relationships with customers are discussed.