Service co-creation and innovation in shaping airline passenger experience value
Service Industries Journal, 2026 (SSCI, Scopus)
- Publication Type: Article / Article
- Publication Date: 2026
- Doi Number: 10.1080/02642069.2026.2675932
- Journal Name: Service Industries Journal
- Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, IBZ Online, ABI/INFORM, Geobase, Hospitality & Tourism Complete, Hospitality & Tourism Index
- Keywords: Airline industry, Customer experience, Perceived service innovativeness, Service co-creation
- Süleyman Demirel University Affiliated: Yes
Abstract
The airline industry is undergoing a profound digital transformation, marked by the widespread adoption of self-service technologies, data-driven personalization, and AI-enabled service tools. Yet these advancements have not consistently translated into improved customer experiences, revealing a gap between technological innovation and passengers’ lived service perceptions. Although Service-Dominant Logic (SDL) recognizes customers as co-creators of value, the process through which co-creation contributes to experiential outcomes remains insufficiently specified, particularly in complex service environments such as commercial aviation. This study builds on SDL to examine how customer co-creation bridges this gap by shaping perceived service innovativeness and, ultimately, the overall travel experience. Using survey data from 413 airline passengers and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), the findings show that co-creation significantly enhances perceived service innovativeness, which emerges as the strongest predictor of customer experience. Perceived service innovativeness also partially mediates the relationship between co-creation and experience, suggesting that passenger participation activates innovation mechanisms that meaningfully enrich the travel journey. The study clarifies the relationship between co-creation, innovation, and customer experience and highlights the importance of integrating passengers into service development to ensure that technological investments yield value.