Socializing to Co-Produce

Abstract

Success rates of behavior change counseling programs (e.g., weight loss, smoking cessation, and debt management), where consumers seek to overcome their destructive habits and enhance well-being, are very low. Characterized by extended and complex service encounters, the providers of these programs face the challenge of gaining consumers’ compliance to adhere to the programs’ requirements and turning these consumers into effective co-producers of the service outcomes. This study investigates the process of customer organizational socialization in these programs, how it may promote co-production behaviors, and thus enhance consumers’ well-being as well as satisfaction with the organization. The context of debt management programs is used to test the model. Data were obtained from 364 clients of a major credit counseling organization in the United States. The results reveal the differential effects of three aspects of socialization (role clarity, task mastery, and goal congruence) on three different types of consumer co-production behaviors (compliance, individual initiative, and civic virtue). Overall, compliance has the greatest contribution to well-being, while both compliance and individual initiative enhance satisfaction with the organization. Furthermore, consumers with a higher or lower ongoing dependence on the organization have different routes to well-being, with the high-dependence group relying on individual initiative, and the low-dependence group favoring compliance. This study contributes to the literature of co-production, organizational socialization, and consumers’ well-being by showing how these three streams are connected. Managerial and policy implications focus on the need for these organizations to include efforts to ensure that consumers are effectively socialized into the program.

Keywords

organizational socialization co-production well-being extended service encounter citizenship behavior consumer financial decision making

Individuals commonly find themselves in a place where their habitual behaviors have, over time, left them in an undesirable situation. Examples of these situations include being overweight, in debt, and in poor health. In order to enhance their well-being, overweight individuals must adjust their eating and exercise habits, smokers must find a way to “quit the habit,” and those in financial debt need to reduce spending and pay off their credit cards. Because these required behaviors are typically the opposite of those ingrained habits, individuals often seek help by enrolling in behavioral change counseling programs designed to help them succeed at a goal and thus enhance their well-being. As a result, programs in weight loss, debt management/reduction, and smoking cessation have become big business. The Federal Reserve reported that by October 2012, the average credit card debt for the 54 million U.S. households with credit card debt was $15,256 and the revolving debt—98% of which is made up of credit card debt—in the United States totaled $857.6 billion. According to the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC), in 2010, 3.2 million consumers contacted their member agencies for help in managing their debt. Similarly, consumers are also reaching for help to manage their weight. Currently, 68% of Americans are either overweight or obese; and in 2011 alone, Americans are predicted to spend about $3.3 billion on weight loss services (IBISWorld 2011). While aggregate statistics are speculative, it is clear that in the United States alone, a large percentage of the adult population is currently involved in some sort of behavioral change counseling service designed to change destructive habits and enhance their well-being, whether it be weight loss, smoking cessation, debt management, or otherwise.

Much research, however, shows that the success rates of many of these service programs are abysmal. For example, 50% of those who begin weight loss programs quit or drop out within the first 6 weeks after starting (Inelmen et al. 2005). Similar results have been found in areas of debt management and smoking cessation. According to the NFCC, the dropout rate for debt management programs averaged at least 45% (Maeda 2011). For those entering a smoking cessation program, more than two thirds will quit the program rather than quit smoking (Reid, Selzer, and Rotrosen 2006). For those individuals who are not successful, personal ramifications can be immense, from general sense of failure to a return to the behaviors that caused their poor state of well-being. From a public policy perspective, such aggregate large failure rates show that the current approaches to solving what is recognized more and more as public issues are simply not working. From a business perspective, consumer trust and confidence is lost, and powerful word-of-mouth advertising ceases. As such, finding ways to engage consumers to triumph over their destructive habits and complete a program once they have entered will not only enhance consumers' well-being, but will also have significant managerial and policy ramifications.

One likely reason for the low success rate of the behavioral change counseling programs is due to their difficulty gaining consumers' compliance to consistently perform prescribed behaviors. To some degree, consumers who engage in a program are dependent on the program and the service provider to help them move out of their undesirable situation. Different from service encounters involving simple service delivery and one-time transactions, services in behavioral change counseling programs are characterized by extended and complex service encounters, wherein services are continuously provided over multiple service encounters (Bolton and Lemon 1999; Dagger and Sweeney 2007), and customer performance is crucial to ensure positive service outcomes (Arnould and Price 1993). Two potential avenues that may lead to increased success in these types of service encounters are socialization—studied in organizational behavior—and co-production—studied in services marketing. In order to become effective organizational members, employees need be socialized to learn the knowledge, values, and behavioral patterns (Bauer et al. 2007; Chao et al. 1994; Schein 1968) of the organization. Likewise, in extended and complex service encounters, customers need to be appropriately “socialized” to the program in order to fulfill their role expectations and become effective co-producers to a service delivery outcome (Goodwin 1988; Groth 2005; Kelley, Skinner, and Donnelly 1992). In this study, we establish and test a model of consumer socialization and co-production to discover the pathways to consumers’ well-being, applied to the context of programs designed to help consumers overcome behaviors that are destructive and hinder their well-being.

This study builds on and fills in gaps in marketing, management, and applied psychology literature. In marketing, empirical studies of consumer co-production have typically focused on its benefits to firms, such as increasing productivity (e.g., Bettencourt 1997; Mills, Chase, and Margulies 1983) and gaining customer loyalty (e.g., Auh et al. 2007), but very limited attention has been paid to the implications of co-production on consumers themselves. In psychology (Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, and Schkade 2005) and in marketing (Andreasen 1994; Sirgy 2001), enhancing an individual’s personal welfare and quality of life has become an increasingly important goal. The recent movement of transformative consumer research specifically advocates for research that enhances consumer welfare (Mick 2006). By bridging the link between consumer co-production and consumer well-being, this study will contribute to the consumer co-production literature and responds to the call of empirical research on consumer well-being (Andreasen 1994; Mick 2006; Sirgy 2001). Furthermore, the subjects of well-being and healthy/unhealthy behaviors and their antecedents have been topics of recent attention in the psychology and management literature (Judge, Ilies, and Dimotakis 2010; Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, and Schkade 2005; Scott et al. 2010). Co-production, however, has not been examined as an antecedent of individuals’ well-being.

In addition to examining the link of co-production to well-being, this study explores the role of consumer socialization as it influences co-production behaviors. Previous research on consumer co-production (e.g., Bendapudi and Leone 2003) has mainly focused on defining co-production behaviors and on explaining their impact on service delivery and customer loyalty. Only a few empirical studies (e.g., Auh et al. 2007; Bettencourt 1997; Rosenbaum and Massiah 2007) attempt to identify the antecedents of co-production behaviors. Based on the notion that consumers are “partial employees,” consumer researchers have recognized that organizational socialization may play a role in improving the effectiveness of customers’ participation in service delivery (Goodwin 1988; Kelley, Donnelly, and Skinner 1990). Despite the substantial research in the employee domain, empirical studies investigating the linkage between organizational socialization and co-production in a consumer domain are extremely limited (Büttgen, Schumann, and Ates 2012; Groth 2005; Kelley, Skinner, and Donnelly 1992). More importantly, the underlying process of how consumers can be socialized in their role as co-producers remains unclear. Applying the framework of the socialization process from organizational behavior (Chao et al 1994; Feldman 1981) into a consumer service context, we conceptualize consumer organizational socialization as three related processes. Building on the socialization research, we examine each of these socialization processes on consumer co-production behaviors.

Literature Review and Research Model

The research framework used in this study is shown in Figure 1. In this model, organizational socialization is posited to enhance consumer co-production, which in turn affects consumers’ own well-being as well as their satisfaction with the service. Previous research in organizational behavior (Feldman 1981) has shown that individuals are socialized through three related processes: learning their role expectations (role clarity), acquiring relevant capabilities (task mastery), and identifying with an organization’s goals (goal congruence). When consumers are properly socialized, they are more likely to engage in a variety of co-production behaviors. Consumers’ participation in service delivery as well as their performing of required behaviors may in turn augment consumers’ own well-being and increase their satisfaction with the service.

Figure 1.

A model of consumers’ socialization and co-production on total sample (n = 364). Sex, age, income, and relationship length were used as control variables in the model. *p < .05. **p < .01.

Consumer Co-Production

We define consumer co-production as consumers’ participation in the production, delivery, and development of the service (Bettencourt 1997; Dabholkar 1990; Gruen, Summers, and Acito 2000). In the behavioral change counseling programs context, in order to successfully deliver services to consumers, service providers have to engage consumers in the activities that can overcome their previous destructive habits, replacing unhealthy behaviors with new behaviors that lead to their well-being. Service in the behavioral change counseling programs is continuously provided over multiple service encounters (Bolton and Lemon 1999; Dagger and Sweeney 2007), and customer performance is crucial to a successful service delivery (Arnould and Price 1993).

We integrate the concepts of organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) in the organizational behavior field and value co-creation in the marketing field to elaborate on consumer co-production behaviors. We categorize co-production into three different types: compliance, individual initiative, and civic virtue, corresponding to three of the OCB types summarized by Podsakoff et al. (2000). Differences among the three types of co-production can be seen by examining the initiator, director, and the beneficiary of the value co-creation. For compliance, the company initiates and directs the value co-creation for the customers’ direct benefit. For individual initiative, the customers initiate and direct the value co-creation for the customers’ direct benefit. For civic virtue, the customers initiate and direct the value co-creation for the company’s direct benefit and ultimately (indirectly) to the customers’ benefits.

Compliance

Compliance refers to consumers’ adherence to a service provider’s requests, policies, or procedures (Podsakoff et al. 2000; Morgan and Hunt 1994; Smith, Organ, and Near 1983). It includes a number of basic or threshold level consumer activities that demonstrate a respect for instructions and task completion (Graham 1991). In the context of behavioral change counseling services, compliance would include following the counselors’ instructions and adhering to the recommended plan and guidelines. As consumers comply with the service provider’s directives, they approach their behavioral change goal and thereby enhance their well-being.

Individual Initiative

Individual initiative involves task-related behaviors beyond the minimally required or generally expected level (Podsakoff et al. 2000). These activities go above and beyond the basic role requirements for consumers and entail extra efforts and responsibilities in service production and delivery (Moorman and Blakely 1995). In the context of behavioral change counseling services, individual initiative would include actively seeking additional advice from the company, reporting ongoing progress, seeking ongoing feedback, and continuously seeking to improve skills and habits related to the desired behavior change. As consumers initiate and direct these activities, they are taking active steps to accomplish their behavioral change goal and contribute to their own well-being.

Civic Virtue

In an organizational behavior context, civic virtue concerns the responsibilities employees have as citizens of an organization (Organ 1988). Graham (1991) refers to this type of citizenship behavior as organizational participation. Using Graham’s (1991) perspective of civic virtue, Bettencourt (1997) defined and operationalized civic virtue in a service context. Similarly, we refer to civic virtue as customer behaviors indicating active and responsible involvement in the governance and development of the organization (Bettencourt 1997; Graham 1991; Gruen, Summers, and Acito 2000). Customers of behavioral change service providers gain considerable experience with the service over their periods of engagement with the organization. Customer complaints and suggestions may lead to remedying current service problems or enhancing service offerings (Bettencourt 1997).

Compared with compliance and individual initiative, this type of co-production behavior is above and beyond one’s own interests and may even incur personal cost (Podsakoff et al. 2000). While the consumer may ultimately benefit from these behaviors, the primary focus is to find ways to improve organizational functioning (George and Jones 1997). In the current service context, civic virtue includes such behaviors as proactively communicating with the organization about potential service-related problems or making suggestions to the organization about how to improve its services.

Customer Organizational Socialization and Co-Production

The organizational behavior literature describes organizational socialization as a learning process wherein employees acquire the behaviors, skills, and values necessary to fulfill their expected roles in organizations (Fisher 1986). Through socialization, employees become valuable organizational members and perform their duties effectively. Organizational socialization has been empirically linked to improved job performance of employees (Bauer and Green 1998; Saks 1995). In the services marketing literature, customers’ role as “partial employees” in service delivery has long been recognized (Bowen and Schneider 1985). The significance of this role is especially pronounced for extended and complex service encounters. Kelley, Donnelly, and Skinner (1990) argued that in service encounters that need consumers’ proactive participation to be successful, organizational socialization becomes a necessary method for service organizations to manage their customers and influence their performance. Similar to employee socialization, consumers need to be properly “socialized” in extended service situations in order to fulfill their role expectations and become effective co-producers (Groth 2005; Kelley, Skinner, and Donnelly 1992). As an example, consider the services provided by debt management programs. Individuals do not automatically develop healthy financial management behaviors upon their enrollment in the debt management programs. They need to be “socialized” to learn the required behaviors, skills, and values so as to perform their expected role to co-produce the desired service outcome.

In the organizational behavior literature, Feldman (1981) described organizational socialization of employees as three related processes: “the acquisition of a set of appropriate role behaviors, the development of work skills and abilities, and the adjustment to the work group’s norms and values.” We hereby use three constructs (role clarity, task mastery, and goal congruence) to capture each of the three socialization processes proposed by Feldman (1981) in a consumer service context.

Role Clarity

Role clarity refers to understanding the task to be performed (Feldman 1981). Clarity in behavioral requirements guides behavior and knowledge about appropriate conduct (Rizzo, House, and Lirtzman 1970). It reflects how individuals adjust themselves to fit and function within an organization in the socialization process (Bauer et al. 2007). Consumers with high role clarity will have a more precise understanding of what is required to function effectively with an organization and will experience less role ambiguity.

When individuals enroll in behavioral change counseling services, they receive guidance and gain direction through their interactions with the organization. In order to perform effectively in the program, not only do consumers have to work with counselors to determine an appropriate plan, but consumers also need to conform to the plan and develop healthy behaviors under the guidance of counselors. Compared to those with low role clarity, consumers with high role clarity may have a better idea of what their responsibilities are and have more knowledge of expected behaviors in order to achieve their desired goal. As a result, they will feel more comfortable with their role in the organization and are more likely to comply with counselors’ directions and perform the prescribed behaviors.

They may even engage in behaviors beyond the required or minimally expected level. As consumers become clearer regarding the basic task to be performed, they will be more likely to seek additional advice and ongoing feedback related to their desired behavioral change. We therefore predict the positive relationships between role clarity and the co-production behaviors of compliance and individual initiative, both of which focus on the benefit accruing to the customer. No relationship is hypothesized between role clarity and consumers’ civic virtue, because the focus of role clarity is on the consumers’ benefit rather than the organization’s benefit.

Hypothesis 1: Consumers’ role clarity is positively related to consumers’ compliance.

Hypothesis 2: Consumers’ role clarity is positively related to consumers’ individual initiative.

Task Mastery

Task mastery refers to learning the tasks of and gaining confidence in a new role (Feldman 1981). If role clarity is considered to be related to what is needed to function in the role, task mastery can reflect how well one is able to conform their behaviors to role requirements (Bauer et al. 2007). In the context of behavior change counseling services, consumers with high task mastery have a more positive self-appraisal of their ability to effectively perform in the program and have greater confidence in their ability to successfully complete the program.

In the organizational behavior literature, researchers found that individuals who master their tasks are more likely to exert efforts toward the task (Bandura 1999). Bateson (1992) also argued that consumers become active participants when the required service production-related skills match the abilities consumers have developed. We thus put forward that a higher level of consumers’ task mastery will lead to higher levels of consumers’ compliance and individual initiative behaviors. No relationship is hypothesized between task mastery and civic virtue, because the object of task mastery is one’s performance rather than one’s relationship with an organization (Kammeyer-Mueller and Wanberg 2003). The beneficiary of the outcomes of task mastery is the consumer rather than the organization. In contrast, civic virtue, involving consumers’ participation in the governance and development of the service organization, has organizations as its behavioral target.

Hypothesis 3: Consumers’ task mastery is positively related to consumers’ compliance.

Hypothesis 4: Consumers’ task mastery is positively related to consumers’ individual initiative.

Goal Congruence

In the organizational behavior literature, goal congruence refers to employees’ perceptions that their goals and values are a good fit with those of an organization (Vancouver and Schmitt 1991). For consumers in a behavioral change counseling service, goal congruence is consumers’ perceptions that their personal goals are consistent with the organization’s business objective. Consumers with greater goal congruence may desire to participate in service delivery and contribute to the organization since in so doing they are behaving in a manner congruent with their own values. Chao et al. (1994) reported that individuals who have a better understanding and gain an appreciation of an organization’s goals and values are more likely to be involved in their careers and adapt more easily to changes in their jobs. We thus argue that consumers’ goal congruence enhances their compliance and individual initiative behaviors. Furthermore, goal congruence may predict a broader range of co-production behaviors than do role clarity and task mastery. Consumers with greater goal congruence are more likely to develop identification with the organization (Kelley, Donnelly, and Skinner 1990). The strong identification developed by those consumers may motivate them to participate in the type of co-production that goes beyond their self-interests and directly benefits the organization (Ahearne, Bhattacharya, and Gruen 2005). In other words, consumers with greater goal congruence might be willing to proactively communicate with the organization about potential service-related problems and to make suggestions to the organization about how to improve its services. That is, goal congruence may predict their civic virtue behaviors.

Hypothesis 5: Consumers’ goal congruence is positively related to consumers’ compliance.

Hypothesis 6: Consumers’ goal congruence is positively related to consumers’ individual initiative.

Hypothesis 7: Consumers’ goal congruence is positively related to consumers’ civic virtue.

Consumers’ Well-Being

Well-being is the subjective perception of one’s personal situation (Judge, Ilies, and Dimotakis 2010; Lee et al. 2002). Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, and Schkade (2005) concluded that intentional activity, the actions or behaviors that an individual chooses to engage in and takes some degree of effort to enact, is the most promising means of altering one’s well-being. They further argue that there are several types of intentional activities that can enhance one’s well-being. One is related to people’s adoption of new behaviors. For example, Ransford and Palisi (1996) found that people who participate in a new exercise program and exercise regularly can boost their subjective well-being. This type of behavioral activity is similar to our definition of compliance. If consumers can comply with the behavioral change counseling program’s request and adopt and maintain the prescribed new behaviors, they can improve their well-being. The other type of intentional activity suggested by Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, and Schkade (2005) is related to volitional activity that people choose to engage in to achieve a personal goal. We argue that individual initiative is similar to volitional activity because individual initiative is initiated by consumers and defined as the behaviors that go beyond the service provider’s minimal requirement and takes on a proactive flavor. For example, individuals who commit to a debt management program and are determined to achieve the goal of paying off their debts may engage in activities that are beyond the general expected level of staying in the program and voluntarily make use of the knowledge and skills they learn in the program. Consistent with these arguments, we propose that consumers’ intentional co-production behaviors (i.e., compliance and individual initiative) can improve their well-being. Civic virtue, however, is not proposed to influence well-being as its behavioral target is organizations rather than consumers themselves.

Hypothesis 8: Consumers’ compliance is positively related to consumers’ well-being.

Hypothesis 9: Consumers’ individual initiative is positively related to consumers’ well-being.

Consumer Satisfaction

Consumers may experience pleasure in and have a positive evaluation of the consumption process as they are involved in the service delivery. By complying with the service provider’s guidance, consumers can increase satisfaction. Satisfaction refers to consumers’ overall evaluations of their consumption experience (Cronin, Brady, and Hunt 2000). Johnson et al. (2002) find that, in a health care service context, for certain types of patients, compliance with the treatment improves their satisfaction with the service. Examining consumers in a weight loss program, Dellande, Gilly, and Graham (2004) also indicate that those who comply with the service provider’s requirements experience greater satisfaction. Previous research in extended service encounters that entail consumer participation has also shown that those who proactively engage in the service delivery process have greater satisfaction with the service provider (Arnould and Price 1993). By transcending their role as passive service recipients and actively contributing to their own service outcome, consumers may feel more satisfied. This same research also suggests that civic virtue may result in satisfaction. The authors found that consumers who go out of their way to help other consumers overcome obstacles tend to experience greater overall satisfaction with the service provider. Auh et al. (2007) showed in both financial and medical services contexts that entail high customer involvement, customers’ cooperative contributions to the service process lead to increased attitudinal loyalty. We therefore argue that consumers who go beyond the basic requirements of the program—by suggesting improvements in the processes, proactively communicating potential problems and so on—will be more satisfied with the overall outcomes of the program.

Hypothesis 10: Consumers’ compliance is positively related to consumers’ satisfaction.

Hypothesis 11: Consumers’ individual initiative is positively related to consumers’ satisfaction.

Hypothesis 12: Consumers’ civic virtue is positively related to consumers’ satisfaction.

The Pathway to Well-Being in Different Consumer-Dependence Groups

Emerson’s (1962) power theory suggests that consumers’ level of dependence on a service provider arises from their motivational investment to achieve a goal facilitated by the service provider coupled with their inability to achieve that goal outside the relationship. In the context of behavioral change counseling organizations, consumers—by engaging the services of the organization—are dependent to some degree on the organization to help them overcome their current situation and achieve their goal of improving well-being. When behavioral counselors meet with a client, they develop a plan, which, if followed, will lead the consumer out of their current situation, whether it be losing weight or getting out of debt. Some consumers will be more dependent on the service provider on an ongoing basis to help them monitor their progress, while others follow the plan on their own, operating independently.

For high-dependence consumers, the service provider plays an irreplaceable role in assisting them to achieve the goal of improving their well-being. According to Baumeister, Heatherton, and Tice’s (1994) self-regulation theory, consumers’ high dependence on a behavioral change counseling program may be due to a lack of self-monitoring capability, inadequate self-regulation strength (i.e., willpower), or both in a specific behavior domain. For example, in a domain related to consumption, consumers’ specific ability to monitor and regulate their spending behaviors and decisions varies from individual to individual (Haws, Bearden, and Nenkov 2012). Consumers with low self-control need the behavioral counselor to provide constant feedback to help them monitor and evaluate behaviors relevant to their goal. They also rely on the ongoing coaching from the counselor to help them build up the self-regulation strength so as to implement their plan. In other words, high-dependence consumers may lack alternative internal resources to otherwise achieve their goal. As a result, they are more likely to engage in co-production behaviors beyond the basic requirements of compliance to the program.

Furthermore, these initiatives, such as seeking additional advice and reporting ongoing progress, encourage and facilitate self-monitoring. Because consumers are the initiators of these co-production activities, proactively engaging in these initiatives also helps them exercise self-control, which may lead to increased total self-regulation strength. According to Muraven and Baumeister (2000), self-control operates like muscular exertion, and exercising self-control may lead to a larger reservoir of self-regulation strength. As such, individual initiatives may present a better route for high-dependence consumers to achieve their goal of improving well-being. Compared with high-dependence consumers, low-dependence consumers may have higher self-control and thus have less need to proactively participate in ongoing interactions with the service provider. As long as their co-production behaviors meet the threshold level of activities required by the service provider (i.e., compliance), they can improve their well-being to the desired extent.

Hypothesis 13: For high-dependence consumers, the path to well-being will be through individual initiative, while for low-dependence consumers, the path to well-being will be through compliance.

Method

Research Context

As an exemplar of the various behavioral change counseling services embodied in the model, we selected the context of debt management programs. This context provides an opportunity to examine both consumers’ socialization into the programs and their co-production activities. The major companies that offer these programs are members of the NFCC, an association of more than 100 agencies with 800 offices throughout the United States. The NFCC accreditation of its members requires that counselors be certified and that members adhere to policies that ensure confidential and ethical services. Thus, research among these agencies will provide a better “laboratory” than research among less regulated and varied behavioral change counseling programs.

The credit counseling programs examined in this study serve consumers who, by continuously following their credit counselors’ advice, learn how to budget their expenses, increase savings, and reduce unnecessary spending. Consumers in the programs deposit their debt payments directly to the credit counseling firm, which serves as an intermediary receiving “fair share” payment from the creditors as well as collecting service fees from the consumer. The credit counseling company typically negotiates lower interest rates from each creditor so that the consumer will pay more toward the debt principal and have less interest to pay over the period they are enrolled in the program.

Data Collection and Sample

Data were collected via a self-administered survey. A total of 3,500 clients who have enrolled in the debt management program for at least 4 months of a national credit counseling organization were randomly selected to receive the survey. As an incentive, multiple cash prizes were offered to participating respondents. A random drawing procedure was used to determine prize winners.

A total of 374 questionnaires were received, of which 10 were unusable and eliminated from the study. Thus, a total sample of 364 respondents was obtained. Since 3,500 clients were approached in the study, a response rate of 10.7% was obtained, a rate similar to other studies in this type of context involving sensitive personal data (Hayhoe, Leach, and Turner 1999; Murphy and Polivka 2007). To check for nonresponse bias, early and late responses were compared on the basis of key demographic variables and constructs (Armstrong and Overton 1977). There was no indication of response bias.

Measure Development

Socialization

The measures for the three socialization constructs used in this study are adapted from existing literature. Role clarity is measured by three items adapted from Rizzo, House, and Lirtzman (1970). Task mastery is measured by three items adapted from Morrison (1993) and Chao et al. (1994). Finally, goal congruence is measured by three items adapted from Chao et al. (1994) and Coote, Price, and Ackfeldt (2004). All of these measures use 7-point Likert-type scales.

Co-Production

Because of a lack of preexisting scales related to consumers’ compliance, individual initiative, and civic virtue in the context of debt management programs, new scales had to be developed. An open-ended questionnaire, evaluated by 18 credit counselors from an NFCC member agency, was employed to develop the scale of these behaviors. Initially, this group was presented with the construct definitions as well as a list of proposed items of consumers’ compliance, individual initiative, and civic virtue that were adapted from Morgan and Hunt (1994), Bettencourt (1997), and Gruen, Summers, and Acito (2000) in other research contexts. They evaluated the degree to which these items capture consumers’ various types of co-production in debt management programs. Based on their experience, this group also generated additional items that could be considered as part of those desired behaviors.

Based on the feedback from the credit counselors, we developed a pool of items for the initial scales for consumer co-production behaviors. All of the measures use 7-point Likert-type scales, anchored by never (1) and always (7). We pretested the scale items of all the constructs for comprehension and relevance with 18 clients who were enrolled in the debt management program of a national credit counseling organization. After modifying the scales on the basis of the pretest, the scale items were presented to a panel of four academic experts. Items not having face validity were dropped. In order to further refine the scales, after the final data were collected, we randomly split the initial sample in half to conduct exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on separate samples. EFA was conducted first on one half of the sample, using principal axis factoring and promax rotation, to eliminate items that loaded poorly. Next, by using LISREL 8.8, CFAs were implemented on the other half of the sample to confirm the factor structure that emerged from the EFA, and further eliminated items that loaded at .5 or less. The final scale consisted of 3 items to measure compliance, 4 items for individual initiative, and 3 items for civic virtue.

Well-Being and Satisfaction

Based on the research context examined here, the focus of the measures is on consumers’ financial well-being. Three items assessing consumers’ current economic self-sufficiency were adapted from Fox and Chancey (1998) to measure their financial well-being. Each item is anchored by very hard (1) and not hard at all (7), not secure at all (1) and very secure (7), and very poor (1) and well-off (7). To measure satisfaction, three Likert-type scale items assessing consumers’ evaluation of their choice of the current service organization were adapted from Cronin, Brady, and Hunt (2000).

The descriptive statistics and correlations of study constructs are summarized in Table 1. Final measurement items for each construct appear in Table 2.

Table 1.

Descriptive Statistics and Correlations Among Study Constructs.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	M	SD
Role clarity	1.00								5.86	1.20
Task mastery	.68**	1.00							6.25	0.87
Goal congruence	.48**	.41**	1.00						6.03	0.97
Compliance	.66**	.69**	.46**	1.00					5.46	1.71
Individual initiative	.43**	.46**	.50**	.60**	1.00				6.22	0.80
Civic virtue	.18**	.20**	.21**	.21**	.69**	1.00			4.38	1.50
Financial well-being	.13*	.24**	.08	.11	.14*	.09	1.00		3.17	1.34
Satisfaction	.61**	.48**	.56**	.55**	.52**	.19**	.17**	.1.00	6.48	0.90

Note. M = mean; SD = standard deviation.

*Correlation is significant at the .05 level (two-tailed). **Correlation is significant at the .01 level (two-tailed).

Table 2.

Measurement Model Results.

Measures	Std. loading	Cronbach’s α	Average variance extracted	Scale
Goal congruence				1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree
1. I am in agreement with the business philosophy of this organization	.87
2. I am committed to this organization’s goals	.95
3. My personal goals are in agreement with the goals of this organization	.94	.94	84.3%
Role clarity				1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree
1. I know my responsibilities are	.84
2. I know exactly what is expected of me	.94
3. I am told how well I am doing in the program	.50	.70	61.2%
Task mastery				1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree
1. I feel competent to play my part in the program	.68
2. I have learned how to perform my part of the program in an effective manner	.97
3. I have mastered the requirements to successfully perform in the program	.91	.85	74.5%
Compliance				1 = Never, 7 = Always
1. I try to do what the counselors ask me to do	.77
2. I follow the recommended payment plan and guidelines	.63
3. I respond to any written or telephone inquiries from the company promptly	.68	.72	48.1%
Individual initiative				1 = Never, 7 = Always
1. I put the educational guidance and suggestions (e.g., financial tips or ideas) to good use in my life	.68
2. I actively seek advice from the company on financial decisions	.70
3. I consider myself a highly participating member of this credit counseling organization	.72
4. I provide feedback about the program through conversations or written correspondence	.74	.80	50.2%
Civic virtue
1. I proactively communicate with the organization about potential service-related problems	.59			1 = Never, 7 = Always
2. I make suggestions to the organization about how to improve its services	.82
3. I let the organization know of ways that can better serve my needs	.90	.79	60.6%
Financial well-being
1. It is ___for me to live on present income	.86			1 = Very hard, 7 = Not hard at all
2. I feel ___about my current financial situation	.47			1 = Not secure at all, 7 = Very secure
3. My current financial situation is ___	.76	.71	51.3%	1 = Very poor 7 = Well-off
Customer satisfaction
1. I am satisfied with my decision to choose this organization	.97			1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree
2. My choice of this organization was a wise one	.96
3. I think I did the right thing when I chose to receive service from this organization	.95	.82	92.7%

Control Variables

In estimating the model, based on past research, four variables not of theoretical interest are included in the model to control for rival explanations and unexplained variance (Auh et al. 2007; Verhoef, Franses, and Donkers 2002). These variables are gender, age, annual family household income, and relationship length.

Analysis and Results

A structural equation modeling approach was used to test the hypotheses. The measurement model was established first to assess construct validity before hypotheses testing in the structural model.

Measurement Model

The covariance matrix was put into LISREL 8.8 to implement CFA on the entire sample. The CFA results for overall model fit were χ² ₍₂₄₇₎ = 571.843, p = .0, comparative fit index (CFI) = .976, incremental fit index (IFI) = .976, nonnormed fit index (NNFI) = .970, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = .055. These indices were satisfactory (Bollen 1989), suggesting unidimensionality (Anderson and Gerbing 1988). All items load on their respective constructs, and each loading is sufficiently large and significant at the .001 level, indicating satisfactory convergent validity (Anderson and Gerbing 1988). In addition, the reliability of each scale indicated by Cronbach’s α is above .70 (see Table 2). To examine discriminant validity, a pairwise χ² difference test was conducted for each pair of constructs in both models (Bagozzi, Phillips, and Yi 1991). Discriminant validity is supported if an unconstrained model (in which the correlation between the two constructs is freely estimated) demonstrates significantly better fit than a constrained model (in which the correlation between the two constructs is constrained to 1). In each case, the χ² of the unconstrained model, compared with that of the constrained model, significantly decreased, indicating that discriminant validity was achieved. Furthermore, the amount of variance extracted by each construct was greater than the squared correlation between the two constructs, which further supports discriminant validity (Fornell and Larcker 1981).

Structural Model

After establishing the measurement model, a structural model was used to test the hypotheses. The results for the full structural model were χ² ₍₃₂₈₎ = 899.321, p = .0, CFI = .958, IFI = .958, NNFI = .948, RMSEA = .0645. Overall fit for all indices fell within satisfactory ranges (Bollen 1989). The estimated relationships in the model are shown in Figure 1.

The model results provide support for most hypotheses (see Table 3). Role clarity has a positive effect on compliance (β = .38, p < .01), supporting Hypothesis 1. However, role clarity has no effect on individual initiative. Thus, Hypothesis 2 is not supported. As hypothesized, task mastery is positively related to both compliance (β = .38, p < .01) and individual initiative (β = .20, p < .01), supporting Hypotheses 3 and 4. As hypothesized, goal congruence is positively related to compliance (β = .18, p < .01), individual initiative (β = .36, p < .01), and civic virtue (β = .21, p < .01), supporting Hypotheses 5, 6, and 7. Consistent with Hypothesis 8, compliance (β = .15, p < .05) has a positive effect on financial well-being. Individual initiative, however, has no effect on financial well-being. Hypothesis 9 is not supported. Consistent with Hypotheses 10 and 11, both compliance (β = .46, p < .01) and individual initiative (β = .39, p < .01) have positive effects on financial well-being. Surprisingly, as opposed to the positive effect proposed in Hypothesis 12, civic virtue has a negative effect on satisfaction (β = −.10, p < .05).

Table 3.

Structural Model Results.

	Overall model	Low-dependence group	High-dependence group
Hypothesis 1: Role clarity→compliance	.38**	.60**	.28**
Hypothesis 2: Role clarity→individual initiative	N.S.	.33*	N.S.
Hypothesis 3: Task mastery→compliance	.38**	N.S.	.43**
Hypothesis 4: Task mastery→individual initiative	.20**	N.S.	.40**
Hypothesis 5: Goal congruence→compliance	.18**	.21*	N.S.
Hypothesis 6: Goal congruence→individual initiative	.36**	.37**	.26**
Hypothesis 7: Goal congruence→civic virtue	.21**	N.S.	.21*
Hypothesis 8: Compliance→financial well-being	.15*	.24*	N.S.
Hypothesis 9: Individual initiative→financial well-being	N.S.	N.S.	.24*
Hypothesis 10: Compliance→satisfaction	.46**	.52**	.37**
Hypothesis 11: Individual initiative→satisfaction	.39**	.35**	.42**
Hypothesis 12: Civic virtue→satisfaction	−.10*	N.S.	N.S.
R ² compliance	.69
Individual initiative	.40
Civic virtue	.06
Financial well-being	.20
Satisfaction	.50

Note. N.S. = not significant.

*p < .05, two-tailed. **p < .01, two-tailed.

With regard to control variables, gender and relationship length do not have any significant impact on the focal variables. Age is only correlated with individual initiative, and income is correlated with both well-being and compliance. Specifically, older consumers present a higher level of individual initiative. As expected, wealthier consumers perceive a higher level of financial well-being and are less compliant, thus validating the need to control for this difference.

To test the extent to which common method bias poses a serious threat to the interpretation of the findings, a single latent method factor approach was employed. The hypothesized model shown in Figure 1 was reestimated with a first-order factor added to the indicators of the model variables (Podsakoff et al. 2003). By adding a latent method factor, this procedure has the effect of controlling for that portion of variance in the indicators that is attributable to obtaining the measures from the same source. The result shows that the overall pattern of significant relationships in the model is not affected by common method variance. All of the paths that were significant when common method variance was not controlled remained significant even when common method variance was controlled. The only relationship affected by common method variance was the nonsignificant link between individual initiative and financial well-being. After partialling out the effect of common method variance, this relationship becomes significant as hypothesized. Overall, common method variance is not an issue in this study.

Multigroup Analysis

To test Hypothesis 13, we ran a multigroup structural equation modeling analysis based on the relative ongoing dependence of the consumer with the financial credit counseling organization. To measure the extent of consumers’ overall dependence, we used a global dependence item adapted from Rinehart and Page (1992), “I am quite dependent on this organization.” The measure uses a 7-point Likert-type scale, ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (7). Using a mean split, we divided the sample into low- and high-dependence groups. The sample was normally distributed with 187 in the low-dependence group (M = 2.48) and 177 in the high-dependence group (M = 6.07).

The χ² difference test between the overall fit of the unconstrained model and the model wherein the structural weights are constrained to be equal across both groups was significant, Δχ² = 42.31, Δdf = 12, p < .001. This provides support that the set of the relationships in our model do differ significantly across two consumer-dependence groups. As shown in Figures 2A and 2B, the relationship of compliance to financial well-being is only significant (β = .24, p < .05) for the low-dependence group and not significant for the high-dependence group. In contrast, the relationship between individual initiative and well-being is significant (β = .24, p < .05) for the high-dependence group but not for the low-dependence group. As a result, for the low-dependence group, the effect of socialization on well-being is carried through compliance; while for the high dependence group, this effect is carried through individual initiative. This provides support for Hypothesis 13. Furthermore, as shown in Figures 2A and 2B, for the low dependence group, the indirect socialization drivers of well-being are role clarity and goal congruence; while for high-dependence group, the indirect drivers are task mastery and goal congruence. The results of the multigroup analysis also provide important insights regarding Hypotheses 2 and 9, both of which were found nonsignificant for the entire sample. Although the effect of role clarity on individual initiative (Hypothesis 2) remains nonsignificant for the high-dependence group, it becomes significant (β = .33, p < .05) for the low-dependence group. Likewise, although the effect of individual initiative on financial well-being (Hypothesis 9) remains nonsignificant for the low-dependence group, it becomes significant (β = .24, p < .05) for the high-dependence group.

Figure 2.

A model of consumers’ socialization and co-production for (A) low-dependence consumer group (n = 187) and (B) high-dependence consumer group (n = 177).

Discussion

This study examined ways to engage consumers in behavioral change counseling services so that they will be successful in the program and enhance their well-being. The model proposed, and the results confirm, that socializing consumers into their role as co-producers will help them develop healthy behaviors that will improve their own well-being and also result in higher satisfaction.

Drawing on the organizational behavior literature of employee socialization, this study specifies consumer organizational socialization as three related processes: acquiring the knowledge of appropriate role behaviors, developing work skills and abilities, and achieving goal congruence with service organizations (Bauer et al. 2007; Chao et al. 1994; Feldman 1981). Furthermore, based on which actor initiates the co-production process and the behavioral target of co-production, this study puts forward three types of consumer co-production, including compliance, individual initiative, and civic virtue (Podsakoff et al. 2000). By identifying the unique effect of each socialization process on various types of co-production behaviors, this study untangles the relationships between these three organizational socialization processes and three types of consumer co-production behaviors. All components of socialization impact compliance, and they collectively account for nearly 70% of the variance. Both role clarity and task mastery have a similarly strong effect, while the effect of goal congruence is about half as strong as the other two organizational socialization components. This result implies that assisting consumers to precisely understand the task to be performed and augmenting consumers’ confidence to effectively perform the task will both pay large dividends in gaining consumers’ compliance to adhere to behavioral change plans.

For individual initiative, goal congruence plays the largest role, while task mastery plays a significant but lesser role. These results indicate that in order to encourage consumers to initiate value co-creation and engage in co-production behaviors beyond mere compliance, it is important to augment consumers’ confidence to effectively perform and to help consumers to internalize service organizations’ goals and values. Although for the entire sample consumers’ role clarity has no impact on individual initiative, this relationship becomes significant for consumers who are less dependent on the organization. In contrast, task mastery becomes irrelevant for this consumer segment as it has no impact on any type of co-production behavior. For civic virtue, goal congruence has a positive effect as hypothesized. In summary, this study found that the effect of each organizational socialization process on three types of consumer co-production differs from each other.

This study also found that consumers’ co-production behaviors not only contribute to their well-being but also affect their satisfaction with the organization. For the overall sample, only compliance has a positive impact on well-being. This suggests that compliance is necessary to reach desired goals, while individual initiative may or may not be required. All three types of co-production behaviors influence consumer satisfaction. Although compliance and individual initiative increases satisfaction as hypothesized, civic virtue slightly diminishes consumer satisfaction, which is the opposite of our expectation. One possible explanation of the small negative effect of civic virtue might be that consumers who are more likely to engage in civic virtue behavior truly care about an organizations' service development and management. They are more likely to perceive discrepancies between promised and expected service performance, and therefore are more easily disappointed.

The multigroup provides additional insight on how these effects differ across the low- and high-dependence segments. For consumers highly dependent on the service organization and requiring constant “hand-holding” by the credit counselors, individual initiative predicts both well-being and satisfaction. Compliance only leads to satisfaction. In contrast, for consumers who are less dependent and only need a “road map,” compliance predicts both well-being and satisfaction. Individual initiative only leads to satisfaction in this low-dependence group. Overall, compliance (for the entire sample and low-dependence consumers) and individual initiative (for high-dependence consumers) lead to increased consumer well-being.

Theoretical Implications

This study contributes to the literature of co-production, organizational socialization as well as consumer well-being. This study identified three related but distinct processes of consumer organizational socialization and further examined the unique predictive value of each socialization process on consumer co-production. Although research on organizational socialization is substantial in employee contexts (e.g., Bauer et al. 2007; Schein 1968), and supports a multi-dimensional approach (Chao et al. 1994), research on organizational socialization in consumer contexts is only emerging (Groth 2005). In extended and complex service encounters that entail customer participation and ongoing service delivery, properly socializing consumers to co-produce a service is the key to a successful service delivery. Although a positive relationship between organizational socialization and consumer co-production has been previously supported (Büttgen, Schumann, and Ates 2012; Groth 2005; Kelley, Skinner, and Donnelly 1992), these studies treat organizational socialization as a unidimensional construct and do not examine the varying effects of different socialization processes on consumer co-production behaviors. Our study extends existing research by identifying the distinct relationship between each socialization process and each type of consumer co-production. The framework created in this study can be applied in further research regarding consumer organizational socialization and co-production.

This study extends the research on consumer financial decision making. Previous studies (e.g., Bolton, Bloom, and Cohen 2011; Gaurav, Shawn, and Tobacman 2011) show that helping consumers acquire adequate knowledge about financial services or products is crucial for consumers to make sound financial decisions that will ultimately improve their welfare. Our research suggests that besides knowledge acquisition, consumers also need to learn the appropriate role behaviors and develop the necessary skills to become properly socialized to their role as service co-producers to ultimately enhance their well-being.

This study also complements previous research on consumer co-production by identifying its potential antecedents in socialization processes. Previous studies (e.g., Bendapudi and Leone 2003) mainly focus on defining consumer co-production behavior and on explaining its impact on service delivery and customer satisfaction. How to engage consumers to co-produce in service delivery has been largely neglected. This study represents one of the few empirical studies (e.g., Auh et al. 2007; Bettencourt 1997) that specifically examines antecedents of consumer co-production behaviors. Such an examination also extends the extensive work on the effects of employee organizational socialization (Bauer et al. 2007) into the realm of consumer socialization.

Well-being has been widely examined in the psychology and organizational behavior literature. It has increasingly become an important focus in marketing research as the recent movement of transformative consumer research actively promotes research benefiting consumer welfare and quality of life (Mick 2006). Consistent with findings in psychology, we provide additional evidence, similar to that provided by Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, and Schkade (2005), that intentional activity people choose to engage in will enhance well-being. From the organizational behavior perspective, we extend the work of Scott et al. (2010) by introducing co-production as an additional antecedent of well-being. By proposing and testing a path model of consumers’ financial well-being, this study fills in a gap in the service marketing literature, which is the lack of a theoretical framework and empirical evidence regarding how to improve consumer well-being. By suggesting a pathway to enhance consumers’ well-being, this study responded to the call for incorporating consumer well-being into marketing research and provides an empirical examination on improving consumer well-being.

Finally, this study revealed that in complex and extended service encounters, consumers’ co-production behaviors including compliance and individual initiative contribute to their own satisfaction. This result resonates with Arnould and Price (1993) who found that in an extended service encounter wherein consumers’ expectations of a service are not fully developed, consumer satisfaction may not be determined by the disconfirmation of their expectations and perceptions of the service, but by their participation in the service delivery and their feelings of personal growth. This finding also extends the work of Dellande, Gilly, and Graham (2004) that focused solely on the impact of compliance on satisfaction.

Managerial Implications

Our findings have implications for managers of credit counseling organizations, for those involved in other behavioral change counseling services, for policy makers in both the financial credit and the health-related areas, and for consumers who have difficulty engaging in positive behavior change. One of the key problems in the credit counseling industry is low customer retention, a problem with negative consequences both for individuals trying to resolve their financial difficulties and overall for the national problem of burgeoning consumer debt. Our work suggests an actionable approach to address this problem. Besides providing superior services, firms have to properly train or socialize consumers to their expected role in co-producing the service. Our results reveal that providing consumers clear guidance and goals about how to perform effectively in the program may increase the likelihood of consumers’ compliance with credit counselors’ requests. Moreover, training consumers to grasp the necessary skills and capabilities to perform in the program may even encourage consumers to take on extra efforts and responsibilities to engage in healthy debt management behaviors beyond a minimal level of program requirements. By the same token, communicating to consumers that the organization’s business goals are aligned with their personal financial goals may have similar effects.

This approach is not restricted to financial counseling, as it also applies to other behavioral change counseling organizations that seek to enhance success rates, such as weight loss or smoking cessation. For example, Inelmen et al. (2005) showed how personal characteristics impacted the likelihood of dropout rates of outpatient obesity clinics. Our findings provide a complementary perspective that focuses on what the clinics might do in order to lower dropout rates. This perspective also has implications for public policy, as financial and health-related issues are major agenda items for public policy makers who seek to commit resources to these social issues.

Our results further suggest that when serving consumers with varying level of dependence on the organization, organizations’ socialization strategies should be different. For consumers with low dependence on the organization, helping them learn what to do in the program is critical. In contrast, for consumers who are highly dependent on the organization, helping them develop the necessary skills and capabilities to perform in the program becomes more crucial.

Finally, our study also provides some implications for consumers who try to overcome their destructive habits and enhance their well-being. Our results suggest that regardless of how much help an external service provider can offer, consumers’ intentional co-production behaviors are the proximate drivers of well-being. In order to ultimately improve well-being, consumers’ cooperation with the service provider and proactive participation in the service delivery is essential.

The implications of this study are not limited to behavioral change counseling organizations, and they can be extended to other services involving extended and complicated service encounters such as financial planning, health care, membership, or subscription services (Bolton and Lemon 1999; Dagger and Sweeney 2007). In all of these contexts, service delivery is ongoing and customers’ participation is crucial to successful service delivery.

Limitations and Future Research

Although our research helps better understand the process of cultivating consumer co-production behavior and enhancing the well-being of consumers involved in behavioral change counseling programs, there are limitations that must be noted. Data in this study were collected from the clients of a single credit counseling organization that may differ in systematic but unknown ways from the clientele of other counseling organizations, which may in turn limit the generalizability of the results. The context in which we test the model also focuses on financial well-being. Other behavioral change counseling situations, such as weight loss, will focus on other aspects of well-being (physical in this case), which may have nuances that are different than the financial context. Given the consistency of our findings with the theoretical model, this suggests that findings will be similar in other contexts, but additional research will be needed to test these boundaries. Additionally, other segmentation variables, similar to our findings of low- and high-dependence groups, may affect consumers’ success in behavioral change counseling programs, and these can be a potentially fruitful area of research.

While the focus in this study is the impact of co-production on consumers’ well-being, co-production was found to account for only one fifth of the total variance in well-being. This suggests that other driving factors of consumers’ well-being deserve future research efforts. A typical concern across all survey research in relationships and co-production is that those who return surveys are, by definition, engaging in a form of co-production. Thus, the variance of the sample may be reduced as those who are very low in co-production will be less apt to return a survey. The effect of this is to restrict the variance and make it more difficult to identify relationships that might exist. While there are two nonsignificant findings, there was support for the other 10 hypotheses, indicating that any restriction of variance is not playing a major role. Finally, this study is based on cross-sectional survey data. A longitudinal design would provide additional insights into the causal relationships between organizational socialization, consumer co-production, and consumer well-being.

Despite these limitations, this study makes theoretical contributions to consumer well-being, organizational socialization, and co-production research by demonstrating how organizational socialization can influence consumer co-production behavior, which in turn affects consumers’ well-being. In addition, this study provides an actionable process model for service providers who seek ways to increase customer satisfaction and improve consumer well-being.

Footnotes

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the three anonymous reviewers and the editor Katherine Lemon for their help in greatly improving the article, and Michael Sullivan for his help in data collection.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was supported by a research grant received by the first and second author from the Take Charge America Institute for Consumer Financial Education and Research, Tucson, AZ.

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