Understanding service firms brand value creation: a multilevel perspective including the overarching role of service brand marketing capability

Purpose This study seeks to extend the existing literature on value creation by specifically focusing on service brand value creation (SBVC) and therole of brand marketing.Design/methodology/approach The authors first develop a model of SBVC and simultaneously investigate SBVC from the firm perspective (servicebrand value offering SBVO) and from the customer perspective (service brand perceive value-in use SBPVI). Subsequently, they investigate theeffects of SBVO on SBPVI and integrate the moderation role of service brand marketing capability (SBMC) on the relationship between SBVO-SBPVIoutcomes. SBVO is viewed as the firms interpretation of and responsiveness to customer requirements via the delivery of superior performance thevalue offering through the service brand and SBPVI customers perceived value from the firms service brand. The contributions of SBVC to customerbasedperformance outcomes are then investigated. Hypotheses were tested using a sample of the senior managers of service firms in Cambodia andtheir customers. A survey was used to gather data via a drop-and-collect approach.Findings Results indicated that SBVO is positively related to SBPVI and SBPVI is positively related to customer-based performance. Noticeably, theresults revealed that SBMC enhances the positive relationship between the firm SBVO and the customers SBPVI.Originality/value The paper extends the previous literature on value creation to capture SBVC. More significantly, the premise of the theoreticalframework provides a breakthrough in the current SBVC literature which has so far neglected to take into account the dyadic approach (firm-customer)in understanding value creation and more specifically SBVC. The model is expanded by looking at the contingency role of SBMC in communicating valueto customers.