A service-dominant logic perspective on the roles of technology in service innovation: uncovering four archetypes in the sharing economy

The role and influence of information technology in firms’ business and value creation remains controversial. The question of how technology can drive service innovations is especially crucial in highly competitive and rapidly developing areas such as digital platforms but not well understood. This study investigates the role of information technology in service innovation in sharing economy organizations. These organizations are digital platforms that combine physical and digital service elements. Adopting a service-dominant logic perspective, we conduct an interpretive multiple-case study to gain a deeper understanding of the types of service innovation in this area and the different roles that IT can play in these initiatives. Our findings reveal different manifestations of service innovation and thereby help to identify previously unexplored interdependencies between the service ecosystem and value co-creation. We furthermore find that organizations’ choices regarding the role of IT are dependent on the level of heterogeneity and standardization of the mediated transactions. We derive four archetypes for the role of IT in service innovation that explain how and why sharing economy organizations exploit IT. We then translate our findings into practical guidelines for managers of digital platforms.