Service Dominant Logic in the tourism sector: internal marketing as an antecedent of an innovations' co-creation culture with clients and first-line employees

Abstract

This research seeks to achieve a deeper understanding of the Internal Marketing (IM) concept, considered as an operant resource, according to the Service Dominant Logic (SDL) theory, as well as to analyze the IM contribution to the achievement of competitive advantage. To this end, the research examines the IM effect on the organizations' predisposition to involve their clients and first-line employees in the development of new services, widening in this way the opportunities for value co-creation, again from a SDL viewpoint. The conceptual model is tested on a 240 national sample of hotels using structural equations modelling. The results support that those firms more involved in IM practices are also more willing to co-develop new services with their customers and first-line employees, which ultimately improve in a sustained way customer-related performance and overall firm's performance.