Flow and consumers in e-based self-services: New provider--consumer relations

This paper examines how consumers' attention can be captured and maintained in an e-based self-service relationship. We investigate how a consumption environment can be constructed that uses ‘flow’ to capture the attention of the consumer. By means of two case studies, the article explores how knowledge services can be appropriated along these lines given that the service is delivered in the form of a self-service. We argue that the service must remain in ‘flow’ at various points of consumption, which are critical; this is in order to produce the positive reactions of ‘improvement’ and ‘voice’. Whether this happens depends on the ‘flow competencies’ of the consumer.