Effect of perceived service outputs of customer participation behaviour on production in travel agencies

Co-production provides new business opportunities for companies and satisfaction for the customers' personalized requests, which affects not only provided but also perceived outputs. This taken into account, this study aims to investigate the relationship between customer's behaviors in co-production and perceived output of services provided by travel agencies. A questionnaire was prepared to collect data from local tourists who visited Istanbul and thus contributed to tourism by purchasing culture tours from travel agents through a co-production system. These data were then analyzed by explanatory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling, as result of which it was determined that consumers' co-production behaviors can have both direct and indirect impacts upon perceived service outputs. The analyses also indicate that while the behaviors of customers participating in co-production have direct positive effects upon perceived tourist service quality, perceived tourist value and repetition in participation in co-production, they may have direct negative effects upon consumer satisfaction. Finally, recommendations on co-production with customers have been provided for both travel agencies and researchers.