How to Measure Co-Creation in the Digital Environment of Higher Education?

Co-creation, as a form of collaborative innovation, has been a topic of growing interest in Higher Education (HE). Regardless of the industry, engaging end-users in the design of products and services has been assessed as important for the success of the initiatives and is often considered a means to increase competitive advantage. As all markets face digital transformation impetus that permanently alters product and service delivery, the physical aspect of the delivery becomes secondary in many cases. Namely, most services nowadays are delivered exclusively online, and the area of (higher) education is no exception. New generations of learners belonging to Gen Z are connected 24/7, their digital experiences and expectations have evolved, and are prepared to engage with the product or service providers. In that regard, previously developed research instruments focusing on general services (as opposed to digital ones) comprising of two dimensions (customer participation and citizenship behaviour), need validation in the new context. This study aimed to test it in the digital service environment of HE with more than 550 students (as end-users) from different HE institutions in Croatia. To that end, confirmatory analysis using structural equation modelling confirmed that not all subdimensions are relevant in the digital context.