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Multi-level exploration of value co-creation in a service ecosystem : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Marketing at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2024-12-31) Patara, Anushka
This doctoral study explores multi-level value co-creation in a sustainable fashion service ecosystem in New Zealand, guided by the theoretical lens of service-dominant logic and an ecosystems perspective. It critically examines how actors at the macro (experts), meso (a sustainable fashion retailer), and micro (consumers) levels co-create value. An interpretive qualitative design was employed, drawing on 34 in-depth interviews across macro, meso and micro levels, with data analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. The analysis identified four interrelated pathways to value co-creation – knowledge, future orientation, guardianship, and regeneration – and seven contextual factors shaping value outcomes. Promoting longevity, impact reduction, and a conscious consumption approach facilitates co-creation, whereas knowledge anxiety, limited accessibility, and inadequate infrastructure and regulation constrain it, creating conditions for value co-destruction despite pro-sustainability intentions. This study contributes to the service ecosystem and sustainability marketing literature by proposing a multi-level value co-creation framework, which reveals how actors’ sensemaking and resource integration are conditioned by broader structural, institutional, and material contexts. It highlights the misalignments and tensions across levels that lead to fragmented efforts and limited systemic impact. By unpacking the interplay between actor narratives, practices and contextual constraints, the study offers insight into how sustainable transformation is both enabled and undermined. The findings inform the theoretical understanding of value co-creation in service ecosystems that are sustainable or transitioning towards sustainability. Practically, they offer guidance for businesses, policymakers, and leaders seeking to orchestrate more coherent, cross-level strategies for sustainable fashion. This research confirms that value co-creation is not just an outcome but an ongoing, negotiated process within complex and evolving ecosystems.
Customer experience in immersive virtual reality retail : exploring behaviors, emotions, and touchpoints across the shopping journey : a thesis with publications presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Information Technology, School of Mathematical and Computational Sciences, Massey University, Albany, Auckland, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2025-08-01) Erensoy, Aysu
Immersive Virtual Reality (iVR) is transforming the retail landscape by merging sensory engagement with the personalization and convenience of digital platforms. As part of the rapidly evolving metaverse, iVR has the potential to redefine customer experience (CX) and create immersive, multisensory shopping environments. However, understanding how iVR shapes customer behaviors, emotions, and interactions across the shopping journey remains limited. These gaps hinder businesses from fully optimizing CX in this emerging domain. This research aims to address these challenges by exploring the influence of iVR retail touchpoints on CX and developing frameworks to advance theoretical and practical knowledge in iVR retail. This study employed a human-centered design methodology, integrating systematic literature reviews, semi-structured interviews with VR design experts, and iVR experiments with end-users. The literature review established a theoretical foundation, identifying challenges and opportunities in iVR retail. Semi-structured interviews with experts explored critical touchpoints, emotions, behaviors, and the design processes underlying iVR environments. Complementing these, VR experiments, card-sorting activities, and end-user interviews captured the behaviors and emotions of participants across the pre-purchase, purchase, and post-purchase stages of the shopping journey. This study offers significant theoretical advancements by extending the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) model to better capture the complexities of CX in immersive virtual environments. It provides a nuanced understanding of how sensory stimuli influence emotional responses and consumer behaviors, particularly within iVR retail contexts. This extension enables a more comprehensive analysis of the relationships between touchpoints, emotions, and shopping processes. Additionally, the study adapts the Double Diamond framework, tailoring it to meet the unique demands of iVR design. This refined framework supports designers in addressing the iterative nature of immersive retail experiences across discovery, definition, development, and delivery phases. Additionally, the key outcome of this research is developing a CX framework that detailed the iVR customer journey, illustrating how user interactions, emotional responses, and behaviors evolve across the pre-purchase, purchase, and post purchase stages. These findings not only highlight the underlying mechanics of creating positive CX in iVR environments but also identify the drivers of emotional connection and satisfaction, laying the groundwork for further exploration and application in this transformative retail medium. This research contributes to both theoretical and practical understanding of iVR retail environments. Theoretically, it advances models such as the S-O-R model and refines the Double Diamond framework, aligning them with the complexities of immersive technologies and offering tools for analyzing how iVR reshapes CX. Practically, the study provides actionable design guidelines to address key challenges in iVR retail, including improving usability with intuitive interfaces, enhancing accessibility through features like voice navigation, and fostering emotional engagement via sensory-rich experiences. These guidelines support the creation of inclusive, engaging, and effective iVR shopping environments that serve as a roadmap for future studies for exploring and validating emergent technological innovations in iVR retail.
Solarise : solar branding through the culture lens of Tri Hita Karana : an exegesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Design at Massey University, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2024) Jessica, Victoria
The project is an enquiry into a cultural approach to branding. It utilises a holistic process inspired by a Balinese moral compass, the Tri Hita Karana, which is a balance between humans, nature, and spiritual aspects. The project explores through branding a solar organisation that seeks to promote sustainability and the beneﬁts of solar energy through a visual communication design system. Bali, an island in Indonesia, is currently experiencing a power shortage due to its high electricity demand and being the last in the transmission line from Java island. Solar power is a viable substitute for fossil fuels to address the issue, as Bali receives plenty of sunlight. However, the need for more public awareness about solar energy and sustainability hinders the solar movement. This research aims to communicate its purpose and meaning e ectively by adopting a cultural branding approach emphasising the rich cultural aspects of Bali through visual language and graphic elements. The goal is to encourage a shift in behaviour and attitude towards clean energy technologies as part of the energy transition movement. The project uses cultural brand theories and energy transition frameworks to approach Balinese culture empathetically. The objective of this master's project is to explore the narratives of Balinese culture and ﬁnd ways to create a brand identity system that synergises with these elements. A website, out-of-home QR codes, and social media are part of the visual communication design research outcomes. The narrative of the outcomes intends to increase awareness and support positive initiatives for rebuilding sustainability in Bali. It emphasises the connection between humans, nature, and spirituality while highlighting solar panels' beneﬁts and their connection to the brand.
Conceptualising the solitude experience of solo female travellers : exploring the interplay of aloneness, social presence, and interactions : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Marketing at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2023-11-30) Somasiri, Sachithra
Recent statistics in the travel and tourism industry show that the majority of the solo travel market is made up of solo female travellers (SFTs), the numbers of which are steadily increasing over time. Consequently, destination management organisations (DMOs) find SFTs as a flourishing market that creates many opportunities. In response, DMOs offer certain customised service amenities targeting SFTs, such as women-only hotels or floors. However, this research offers a deeper understanding of the multifaceted needs and experiences of SFTs in their travel discourse. Therefore, this study provides knowledge for DMOs to design more inclusive and diverse offerings when catering to this distinctive traveller segment. The existing literature is well-established in terms of the underlying needs of SFTs. Solitude is identified as one of the prime needs of SFTs and a key feature that defines present and future SFTs. Further, the various benefits of solo female travelling (for example, independence, relaxation, and self-learning) can be broadly linked with the benefits of solitude as a restorative experience. Even though existing literature identifies solitude as a need of SFTs, it is not informed about how solitude is experienced in the solo travel context. In their solo travel, SFTs encounter both solo and non-solo episodes that may shape one's solitude experience in a consumption context. Hence, the investigation of how solitude experiences of women in their solo travel discourse are shaped by their context, and the presence of and interaction with others, makes an original contribution to the literature. Focusing on the importance of solitude, this study argues that solitude as a travel need of SFTs may be influenced by the social presence of others and entail certain interpersonal dynamics (tourist-to-tourist interactions, tourist-to-service person interactions, and tourist-to-local interactions). Therefore, this research aimed to investigate how women experience and fulfil their need for solitude in their solo travel pursuits. To this end, a qualitative study was conducted. Thirty-four in-depth interviews were completed with SFTs who had travelled solo internationally. The narratives were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. The findings emphasised the multiplicity of solitude as a travel need. Solitude was not a stand-alone experience. Instead, SFTs’ solitude experiences were multilayered, entailing differing levels of aloneness and interactions that were situational and context-bounded. SFTs found the presence of non-interactive others as a means of experiencing safe solitude. Further, the interactions within their desired levels and comfortable zones enhanced their solitude experience highlighting the possibilities of acceptable interactions within one’s solitude experience. Therefore, solitude in a bounded interactive sense can be understood in a way which is distinctive from the conventional solitude experience. On the other hand, the findings revealed certain interactive social presences of locals, other travellers, and service persons were beyond SFTs’ desires and were intrusive towards experiencing solitude. These intrusions contribute to the literature on the effects of social presence and territorial intrusions in distinctive consumption contexts. In responding towards intrusive experiences, SFTs used certain response strategies depending on the intruder. In the event of intrusions caused by locals and other travellers, SFTs mostly handled the incidents on their own. This study found complaining to be a novel response strategy of SFTs in the event of intrusive service persons, highlighting the non-complaining behaviour of SFTs with certain unique underlying reasons for suppressing complaints. Besides complaining as a novel response strategy in consumer territorial intrusion, reasons for non-complaining, also contribute to the wider literature on the complaining behaviour of solo female consumers, which could be applied in various other consumption contexts. These findings and the associated interpretations have implications for DMOs in designing solo female travelling-friendly servicescapes and offerings for women who travel with distinctive travel needs.
Risk of fluently consumed sensory experiences : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2024) Mahler, Martin Lukas
There are various factors to consider for industry stakeholders when wanting to introduce, increase adoption or promote a new technology with such factors potentially deriving from what the end-user determines to be important. This thesis aims to explore the importance of fluency, design considerations, sensory elements with risk perception as a moderator to improve user experiences. To achieve this, an exploratory study was undertaken with key stakeholders’ part of the design and implementation of mobile payments. The outcome of this study is an identification of factors that these stakeholders determined to be important as part of the design / implementation of mobile payment platforms. This study was followed by several supporting studies prior to a major confirmatory study having been undertaken with a consumer sample to determine the value consumers place on the factors identified by participants in the exploratory study. Finally, a culminating study was conducted with key stakeholders in the design and implementation of mobile payments to attain face validity for the preceding studies. The importance of processing fluency was highlighted as key to improve user experience along with sensory elements to increase useability. On that basis, a framework was established utilising experience design and processing fluency considerations. Of note, risk perception played a key role in ensuring a positive outcome with ease of use valued extensively by users with high-risk perceptions, whereas respondents with high-risk perceptions required extensive affirmations. Such affirmations came in the form of clear confirmation messaging with a diverse range of sensory elements as part of that seen as critical. Key findings were made on the importance of elements critical to the confirmation message beyond the visual element as well as key divergences between respondents based on their risk perceptions.
Conceptualizing the challenges and contextual factors affecting property crowdfunding in New Zealand, and the response strategies of the real estate project finance industry : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Massey University
(Massey University, 2023) Montgomery, Nicolle A.
During the past decade, property crowdfunding (PC) platforms in overseas markets such as USA and UK have grown rapidly and raised billions of dollars of finance for real estate projects. Yet, PC is struggling to gain acceptance in New Zealand, and the reasons why are not fully understood. It is also unknown how incumbents in the real estate project finance industry may strategically respond to PC, if or when it grows in the future. This study is a qualitative investigation into the challenges and contextual factors impeding the growth of PC in New Zealand, and the response strategies of the incumbents. In-depth one-to-one semi-structured interviews were conducted with 31 knowledgeable and experienced research participants from diverse stakeholder groups including PC platforms, bank and non-bank real estate project financiers, and the property industry. The research participants were largely from New Zealand, with a few from USA, Europe, and Australia. The primary data from interviews was complemented with extensive secondary data. The disruptive innovation theory (DIT) was used as the main theoretical tool, supported by literature on organizational legitimacy and reputation building for young firms, as well as legitimacy building in crowdfunding. The research showed that PC in New Zealand is small and nascent. PC platforms in New Zealand face several limitations, specifically, lack of: (a) transparency, (b) due diligence, (c) exit strategies and/or secondary markets, (d) scale and diverse properties, and (e) “crowds” of investors ready to invest. The study also found that numerous contextual factors are hindering the growth of PC in New Zealand, categorised as: (a) property developers, investors, and the construction industry, (b) cultural and behavioural factors, (c) regulatory framework for PC, and (d) population and income factors. Based on analysis of successful platforms in overseas mature PC markets, the study found that these limitations are solvable for New Zealand. Despite the challenges PC is currently facing, which must be resolved if it is to realize its potential, PC in New Zealand has a positive future outlook. Incumbents such as banks can strategically respond to PC in three main ways: (a) ignore PC, (b) collaborate with PC platforms, and (c) strengthen own business model, products and services. The study advanced a conceptual framework on challenges and contextual factors affecting PC in New Zealand, response strategies of the incumbents, and recommendations on how to solve the problems impacting PC platforms. This research makes several academic contributions. First, it contributes to build knowledge on PC in New Zealand, a hitherto unresearched and little understood topic. Second, the study contributes to DIT by testing its tenets, predictions, and conjectures in a previously unexamined context of PC in New Zealand. Third, this study contributes towards alleviating some of the inherent limitations and weaknesses of DIT. Fourth, the study found that New Zealand has a particularly high concentration of several adverse or unfavourable contextual factors in one single market that are impeding PC, and the real estate project finance industry has a low disruptive susceptibility. These findings have important implications for DIT. Fifth, the study delivers a comprehensive literature review from multiple disciplines, thereby contributing to the knowledge base in the PC field. Sixth, this study makes a methodological contribution. The qualitative methodology used has not yet been seen in previous studies on PC. By utilizing a qualitative methodology and collecting extensive primary data through comprehensive interviews with diverse stakeholders, the study shows the complexity of introducing a new innovation, from a contextual and behavioural perspective. Lastly, this study’s findings can benefit other small advanced economies. The challenges and problems faced by PC in New Zealand suggest some important lessons to be learnt by other similar small advanced economies. Numerous practical, policy, and social implications arise from this study. It makes specific recommendations to different stakeholders of PC, including PC platforms, developers, banks, investors, and the PC regulator in New Zealand, namely the Financial Markets Authority.
"There and back again" : an examination of consumers' experiences of fantasy stories told through servicescape atmospherics : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Marketing at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2021) Sadeghzadeh Fesaghandis, Kousar
The importance of fantasy as playful and imaginative consumption has been long noted by consumer researchers, often seen as the creation of extraordinary worlds that engage the consumers and provide them a pleasurable diversion and escape from the ordinary. While companies are increasingly coming to realise the value of fantasy and storytelling in engaging consumers and changing their emotions, behaviour, and brand perceptions, however, extant research in marketing are limited to brands and servicescapes that are marketed with an authentic story about the brand’s history or cultural stories. In addition, extant research focus on consumers’ engagement with stories presented in forms of texts, movies, and advertisements, with limited research conducted on the effects of storytelling through servicescape atmospherics. This thesis examined whether consumers experience narrative engagement in servicescapes that are designed based on fantasy stories, and how engagement with stories in servicescapes influences consumers’ emotions, behaviour, and brand personality perceptions. As consumers’ responses to a story differ depending on the story character they empathise with, this thesis, further, examined how empathy with positive (versus negative) story characters affects consumers’ subsequent responses in fantasy designed servicescapes. A sequential mixed-methods research design was employed in this thesis to address the research questions. Accordingly, the thesis begins by an exploratory qualitative enquiry conducting semi-structured in-depth interviews with retail design experts in Study 1 to understand circumstances in which implementing a fantasy story for design will be worth the effort, how the servicescape atmospherics are manipulated to present a given story, and the affective, behavioural, and brand responses designers aim to evoke in consumers in fantasy servicescapes. The researcher conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews with consumers in Study 2 to understand their experiences of engagement with stories, and subsequent responses in a fantasy designed servicescape. Based on the findings from the first two qualitative studies, the extracted propositions, together with existing scales and constructs in the literature, were replicated as part of the survey in Study 3 to examine the relationships between the servicescape atmospherics and consumers’ experiences of narrative engagement, their emotions and behaviour, and brand personality perceptions in a fantasy servicescape. Study 3, also, examined how consumers’ empathy with positive (versus negative) story characters influences their subsequent responses. This thesis contributes to environmental psychology, storytelling, narrative engagement, empathy, as well as the branding literatures and the findings have strong implications for retailers, design practitioners, and brand managers in terms of why, when, and how to use fantasy stories for designing servicescapes. Theoretically, the current thesis is the first to examine consumers’ engagement with and affective, behavioural and brand experiences in servicescapes that are designed based on a fantasy story. Based on the perceptions of both, the design experts as well as consumers, the researcher integrated narrative engagement (Busselle & Bilandzic, 2009) and empathy with characters (Van Laer, 2011) with Mehrabian and Russell’s (1974) SOR framework and brand personality (Aaker, 1997) and made a significant contribution by developing a framework that can help future studies examine consumers’ experiences of fantasy stories in servicescapes. The results of the three conducted studies were consistent in suggesting that consumers experience narrative engagement in servicescapes that are designed upon a fantasy story, and that the narrative presence dimension of narrative engagement can, by itself, explain the process underlying the effect of stories told through the atmospherics on consumers’ emotions, behaviour, and brand personality perceptions. Regardless of the character type (positive versus negative) the servicescape highlighted, consumers engaged to the same extent with the story, and experienced more positive and less negative emotions as a result of engagement with the story. Engagement with stories, further, positively affected consumers’ behavioural intentions. Higher levels of empathy with a story character, however, negatively affected consumers’ behavioural intentions, regardless of the character the servicescape highlighted. Accordingly, the design experts recommend using fantasy elements at a moderate level for design to attract not only fans but also non-fan consumers to the servicescape, enhance consumers’ engagement with the retailer’s offer, and increase return intention. Moreover, engagement with the story in the servicescape highlighting the negative character positively affected brand personality, with higher levels of empathy with the negative character strengthen brand personality. Featuring negative characters in a servicescape thus results in stronger brand experience. Finally, while product and service providing businesses both, benefit from using stories for their servicescape design, story-based designs were found to be most effective when the story is congruent with and therefore, supports the products or services offered.
Rethinking the brand concept for air transportation : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Aviation at Massey University, Manawatū Campus, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2020) Henderson, Isaac Levi
The study of brands and branding in the aviation industry is not new. However, in common with the more general branding literature, there is a fundamental problem at the centre of research: what is the subject of study? This is the problem of brand definition and, in common with most of the branding literature, it is not unusual to find studies of the brand or branding in the aviation literature where the understanding of the brand concept differs between authors. This thesis emphasises the need to have clarity of definition before proceeding to research a concept. The solution to the problem of brand definition is a return to what is described as the Label and Associations Model (LAM), as highlighted in Chapter 1. In the LAM, the brand is conceptualised as a trade name/logo that identifies a product and/or service or firm. The interesting point of study in this model is not the brand itself, but the brand associations (what comes to mind upon the presentation of a brand). The LAM is applied to study airline brand choice (Chapter 2), airport brand association structures, and airport brand choice (Chapters 3 and 4). The application of the LAM was done in conjunction with the guiding methodological principles of the thesis, which involved the free elicitation of brand associations to avoid self-generated validity and construct creation, as well as recognise heterophenomenology. Combining the LAM with free elicitation meant using the brand name or logo to elicit associations stored in long-term memory. This approach provides both clarity as to the subject of study (with the brand being a name or logo), while allowing participants to provide any form of association without prompting or bias from the researcher. The result of this approach is new research findings, theory, and managerial implications for the aviation industry. This thesis demonstrates that it is the tangible product/service attributes (e.g., price, reliability, facilities) that air travellers are most likely to associate with airline and airport brands, rather than more abstract associations (e.g., reputation, loyalty, social responsibility). Other insightful findings include discovering a new type of brand (termed as a compound brand) that applies to airports and highlighting the role of double jeopardy within airline markets. These contributions were only possible due to the use of the LAM in conjunction with the free elicitation of brand associations, thus unifying the thesis conceptually and methodologically.

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