The Role of Self-Service Mobile Technologies in the Creation of Customer Travel Experiences

Through the use of self-service mobile devices, the traditional marketplace interaction is being replaced by a marketspace transaction, in which the foundation of customer-company interaction has changed. This article discusses the main actors of experiencial value creation through the physical world and virtual world in the context of transport service. The empirical data is collected from semi-structured interviews with 19 young urban transport commuters. The results show that self-service mobile devices enhance the information accessibility for passengers to create customized travel experiences through a closer interaction with other actors, including transport service providers, transport-related service providers, and other passengers. Moreover, the scope of travel experience was expanded beyond the traditional service encounter both temporally and spatially. This article is an exploration of the influence of self-service mobile devices in the changing roles of customers and companies. A key message is that executives must pay attention to how their companies create experience value in both the physical world and the virtual world, separately or in combination.