Consumer participation in last-mile logistics service: an investigation on cognitions and affects

Purpose: Increasingly, the logistics industry offers innovative solutions that interact with end-consumers directly. The purpose of this paper is to examine the consumer participation behaviour in co-creating logistics service values, using self-collection via automated parcel station as an example. Built on the synthesised insights from logistics studies and behavioural theories on consumers’ attitude and affect, the effect of cognitions (what consumers think) and affects (what consumers feel) are investigated. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 500 valid responses are collected from an online panel of respondents and the data are analysed using exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modelling. Findings: Consumers’ affects towards participation are stronger motivations that not only intrinsically motivate consumers to participate but also exert an indirect influence via consumers’ cognitions. Practical implications: To elicit consumers’ affections, it is critical to create enjoyable (enjoyment), assuring (assurance) and secure (security) service experiences. On the other hand, an overly straightforward service offering (in terms of cognitive functionality), void of the aforementioned experiences, may discourage consumers from participation. Originality/value: This research unveils consumer participation in co-creating logistics service values, contributing to studies on the emerging phenomenon of consumer logistics. A rebalancing of the logistics research from a utility-creation perspective to an experience-creation perspective has been advocated.