“What can I(S) do for you?”: How technology enables service providers to elicit customers’ preferences and deliver personalized service

This research studies the effective use of an IT-enabled Customer Service System (CSS) in the hospitality sector. Drawing on Effective Use Theory, we study how digital representations of customers’ preferences support service providers in the service personalization process. Our model posits customers’ preferences elicitation as the antecedent of CSS’ effective use, which yields superior customer value. This representational perspective matches recent efforts to study customer value as cocreated by customers and service providers. Based on a longitudinal dataset of 118,647 hotel reservations, we explain how digital representations of customers’ preferences enable service providers to personalize service and increase customer value.