Journal of Service Research
Patterson, P. G., M. K. Brady and J. R. McColl-Kennedy (2016): Geysers or Bubbling Hot Springs? A Cross-Cultural Examination of Customer Rage From Eastern and Western Perspectives, Journal of Service Research, 19(3), pp. 243-259
There is compelling evidence that incidents of customer rage are on the rise and not just in Western, individualistic societies. Changing social and economic conditions in collectivist societies (e.g., emerging consumerism and rising wealth in China) have spawned the emergence of customer rage in Eastern countries. To this end, we examine how customer rage–associated emotions, expressions, and outcomes differ across Eastern and Western cultures. Results drawn from 982 frontline service customers from two Eastern (China and Thailand) and two Western (Australia and United States) countries show that although consumers from Western cultures are more likely to exhibit rage emotions, consumers from Eastern cultures are more likely to report a desire for revenge and express their emotions in both overt and more subtle ways. That is, customers from Eastern cultures, while slow to display anger, once initiated, their rage expressions toward frontline service workers tend to be physical and vengeful. This result contradicts generally held beliefs that Eastern consumers are reticent to express negative emotions. With these findings in mind, and to minimize damaging customer rage incidents, firms regularly engaged in cross-cultural service encounters need to provide intercultural awareness and communications training that equip frontline employees to understand customs, manners, etiquette, and expectations of Eastern and Western cultures in general and even specific cultural segments.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1094670516649057
Auh, S., D. E. Bowen, C. Aysuna and B. Menguc (2016): A Search for Missing Links, Journal of Service Research, 19(3), pp. 260-275
We search for “missing links†in how the different social exchange relationships employees have with supervisors (i.e., leader-member exchange [LMX] differentiation) affect their unit service climate perceptions. Drawing on a social comparison perspective, we propose a model in which the different relationships service employees establish with supervisors negatively impact unit service climate through elevated unit relationship conflict. We further suggest that unit relationship conflict plays a mediating role as customer variability increases. Using data from head nurse-nurse relationships in 56 units of two major hospitals, our findings support the proposed linkages as well as reveal that employee perceptions of customer variability strengthen the troublesome positive link between LMX differentiation and unit relationship conflict. The results also indicate that unit relationship conflict mediates the relationship between LMX differentiation and unit service climate when customer variability is high but not low. Our results paint a more nuanced picture of the missing link in the leadership-climate interface by studying the dark side of leadership, a perspective that has yet to receive much scholarly attention. Findings reveal that managers who desire to keep relationship conflict in check need to keep LMX differentiation to a minimum, especially when customer variability is high compared to low.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1094670516648385
Polo, Y. and F. J. Sese (2016): Does the Nature of the Interaction Matter? Understanding Customer Channel Choice for Purchases and Communications, Journal of Service Research, 19(3), pp. 276-290
Managing the increasing number and complexity of customer-initiated interactions across multiple channels consistently and effectively has become a key priority for marketing academics and practitioners. To achieve this, it is imperative that marketers understand how and why customers choose the available channels. In this study, we distinguish between two types of interactions, purchases and communications, and argue that the nature of these interactions influences the way customers behave in the presence of multiple channels. Drawing upon perceived risk research, this study develops an integrated conceptual framework that provides a theoretical understanding of customer channel choice for these interactions. The framework is tested empirically in financial services and the results reveal that channel choices significantly differ for purchases and communications. Channel choices for purchases are more inertial and more strongly affected by attitudes (i.e., relationship quality) than for communications. At the same time, preference for a personal touch in channel choice is more pronounced for purchases than for communications, and marketing activities are more effective at driving channel choice for communications. These results offer some recommendations for managing interactions across channels more effectively. For example, the use of personal channels is advised for managing high-risk interactions (i.e., purchases), while for low-risk interactions (i.e., communications), firms can use marketing activities to migrate customers to cheaper channels.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1094670516645189
Dong, B., K. Sivakumar, K. R. Evans and S. Zou (2016): Recovering Coproduced Service Failures, Journal of Service Research, 19(3), pp. 291-306
This article focuses on the locus of recovery (LOR) when failures occur in coproduced services. LOR refers to who contributes to the recovery. Based on the LOR effort, recovery can be classified into three types: firm recovery, joint recovery, and customer recovery. The authors develop a conceptual framework to examine the antecedents, consequences, and moderators of LOR and test the framework using three experiments. They find that the positive effect of customers’ self-efficacy on their expectancy to participate in recovery is stronger when they blame themselves for the failure than when they blame the service provider. Joint recovery is most effective in generating favorable service outcomes of satisfaction with recovery and intention for future coproduction. Furthermore, recovery urgency strengthens the effect of LOR; however, when a customer’s preferred recovery strategy is offered, such matching offsets the impact of recovery urgency. Our findings suggest several managerial implications for devising recovery strategies for service failures. Although having customers do the recovery may appear to be cost-effective, when customers are under time pressure, pushing them toward customer recovery against their preferences is likely to backfire. If a firm’s only available option is customer recovery, they should consider increasing customers’ sense of autonomy under resource constraints by aligning available recovery options with customer preferences. In contrast, joint recovery can be a win-win strategy—the customer is satisfied and the firm uses only moderate resources. It is also a more robust strategy that works particularly well under resource constraints and regardless of preference matching.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1094670516630624
Tang, C., L. Guo and M. Gopinath (2016): A Social-Cognitive Model of Consumer Well-Being, Journal of Service Research, 19(3), pp. 307-321
This study establishes a social-cognitive model of consumer well-being to explain the psychological mechanism underlying the relationships between service organizations’ marketing strategies and consumer well-being. Using a two-wave longitudinal design, we surveyed 168 clients from a major credit counseling organization. Results show that organizational strategies influence consumers’ domain-specific well-being via social-cognitive variables (including self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and process expectations) and goal-pursuit processes (both goal setting and goal striving). Specifically, organizational strategies, including organizational support and organizational socialization, contribute to consumers’ goal intentions both directly and indirectly via outcome and process expectations at the goal-setting stage. In the goal-striving stage, goal intention leads to goal achievement, a path strengthened by organizational support. Goal achievement contributes to increases in consumers’ domain-specific well-being. Customers who are in the early or late stages of a service program are more likely to fail in achieving their goals than those who are in the middle of the program. This study sheds new light on transformative service research by demonstrating the role of the service organization in enhancing consumer well-being and suggests that service strategies should focus on shaping consumers’ social cognitions and facilitating their pursuit of valued personal goals.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1094670516637675
Bock, D. E., J. A. G. Folse and W. C. Black (2016): When Frontline Employee Behavior Backfires, Journal of Service Research, 19(3), pp. 322-336
Frontline employee behaviors can elicit gratitude, allowing service providers to reap benefits including positive word of mouth. However, research has begun to suggest some behaviors might instead elicit indebtedness, a different emotion not always associated with positive outcomes. Using a qualitative study, we construct a model grounded in the threat to self-esteem theory that delineates differences in employee behaviors that generate these two emotions and the consequences of their elicitation. The model is empirically tested in two studies. Consistent with the threat to self-esteem theory, the findings indicate that customer gratitude arises in supportive employee-customer encounters and drives positive relational behaviors. Conversely, customer indebtedness occurs in threatening employee-customer encounters and possesses the potential to deter positive relational behaviors. As a result, we encourage scholars to appreciate the differences between these two emotions and managers to promote employee behavior designed to generate gratitude and not indebtedness.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1094670516633754
Sembada, A., Y. Tsarenko and D. Tojib (2016): The Positive Effects of Customers’ Power on Their Behavioral Responses After Service Failure, Journal of Service Research, 19(3), pp. 337-351
Challenging the conventional perception that “power corrupts,†the authors assert that activation of customer power before a service encounter can lead to less negative behavioral manifestations toward a service provider after a service failure. Three experimental studies help substantiate this contention. Study 1 shows a sequential mediation process of how increased power leads to a more positive secondary appraisal and lessens the perceived severity of a failure. This process ultimately leads to (1) lower intentions for revenge and (2) lower demanded compensation. Study 2 solidifies these findings using stimuli for power inducement easily replicable by service managers. Study 3 establishes the boundary conditions and finds that the positive effects of power in postservice failure only holds for a single service failure context but not a double deviation context. This research offers an integrated explanation of how power leads to more positive behavioral actions through a sequential mediation effect involving cognitive appraisals. In doing so, this research sheds light on the nuances of power in affecting customer behavior. The practical method of activating perceived power may motivate service managers to apply it to buffer the potential negative effects of service failure. However, caution is advised, as such effects may diminish in the context of a series of failed resolution attempts.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1094670516645188
Journal of Service Management
Buoye, A., Y. Komarova Loureiro, S. Kabadayi, M. G. Nejad, T. L. Keiningham, L. Aksoy and J. Allsopp (2016): Is share of wallet exclusively about making customers happy or having more customers? Exploring the relationship between satisfaction and double jeopardy, Journal of Service Management, 27(4), pp. 434-459
Purpose: The satisfaction and loyalty research argues that customer satisfaction is an antecedent to share of wallet (SOW). The double jeopardy view, however, argues that satisfaction and SOW levels are driven exclusively by penetration levels. Customer satisfaction and penetration, however, are not always positively related. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relevance and validity of these two divergent perspectives to creating growth in customer share of spending. Design/methodology/approach: The authors examine a series of models evaluating the impact of both the relative penetration of a brand, and the satisfaction ratings of its customers on SOW using data covering 11 industry sectors, 188 brands, and 4,263 customers. Findings: The authors find that part of the problem in reconciling these two views has been in how satisfaction is measured and analyzed. When using absolute satisfaction ratings of the firm/brand, the explanatory power of satisfaction on SOW is very weak at both the individual and firm level. When using satisfaction metrics relative to other competing brands, however, satisfaction is a strong predictor of customers’ share of category spending. Research limitations/implications: As predicted by double jeopardy, penetration is a strong predictor of firm-level SOW, but has almost no explanatory power at the individual level. Practical implications: Managers need to focus on both improving penetration/reach and becoming the preferred brand in a customer’s usage set. Originality/value: The research examines if (and if yes, how) satisfaction and penetration contribute to customers’ SOW allocations both at the individual and brand level.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-05-2015-0157
Benoit, S., N. Bilstein, J. Hogreve and C. Sichtmann (2016): Explaining social exchanges in information-based online communities (IBOCs), Journal of Service Management, 27(4), pp. 460-480
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to scrutinize platforms for members to exchange information by information-based online communities (IBOCs, like LinkedIn or Facebook). Because member participation is vital for IBOCs, this research aims to identify and validate factors that drive member participation. Design/methodology/approach – With reference to social exchange theory the authors developed a model of antecedents of participation in IBOCs that was tested with survey data using PLS. Because some of the results contradicted the theory, the authors examined those results in a mainly qualitative study with online community providers. These experts offered explanations that inform the discussion and managerial implications. Findings – Role clarity, provider’s responsiveness, and enjoyment all influence member participation. Contrary to theory, the cooperation of other members affects member participation negatively while a member’s ability shows no effect. Practical implications – This research has several implications for IBOC providers. Because ability does not affect participation directly, providers do not need to worry about lacking ability and can effectively target all potential members. The importance of provider responsiveness signals that IBOC providers should proactively monitor members’ compliance with social norms to lower the social risk for members. The impact of community-specific knowledge and enjoyment on participation puts emphasis on careful community design and the thoughtful implementation of new features that might enhance enjoyment, but reduce role clarity. Originality/value – Whereas most of the participation literature focusses on a dyadic relationship, the research investigates the triadic relationship in which the provider is only an enabler of exchange. Furthermore, the authors bring together two streams of the literature: the participation literature, which tends to focus on offline participation; and the online community literature, which has not yet investigated participation. This is also the first paper to investigate nonlinear effects on participation.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-09-2015-0287
Van Oerle, S., D. Mahr and A. Lievens (2016): Coordinating online health communities for cognitive and affective value creation, Journal of Service Management, 27(4), pp. 481-506
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework investigating patterns of online health communities. In particular, the study draws on coordination theory to identify four community configurations. Their distinct features determine communities’ capacity to internalize and externalize knowledge, which ultimately determines their value creation in a service context. Design/methodology/approach: The authors apply qualitative and quantitative techniques to detect similarities and differences in a sample of 50 online health communities. A categorical principal component analysis combined with cluster analysis reveals four distinct community configurations. Findings: The analysis reveals differences in the degrees of cognitive and affective value creation, the types of community activities, the involved patients, professionals, and other stakeholders; and the levels of data disclosure by community members. Four community configurations emerge: basic information provider, advanced patient knowledge aggregator, systematic networked innovator, and uncomplicated idea sharer. Research limitations/implications: The findings show that communities can be categorized along two knowledge creation dimensions: knowledge externalization and knowledge internalization. While, previous research remained inconclusive regarding the synergistic or conflicting nature of cognitive and affective value creation, the findings demonstrate that cognitive value creation is an enabler for affective value creation. The emerging configurations offer a classification scheme for online communities and a basis for interpreting findings of future services research in the context of online health communities. Originality/value: This research combines coordination theory with healthcare, service, and knowledge creation literature to provide a fine-grained picture of the components of online health communities. Thereby, inherent trade-offs and conflicts that characterize the components of coordination theory are investigated.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-09-2015-0264
Bradley, G. L., B. A. Sparks and K. Weber (2016): Perceived prevalence and personal impact of negative online reviews, Journal of Service Management, 27(4), pp. 507-533
Purpose: Technological advancement and growth in social media have meant that customers are increasingly using the internet to write a review or express opinions about products and services. Many of these online reviews are critical of service organizations and workers. The purpose of this paper is to document the experiences that service industry personnel have of negatively valenced, customer-authored, online reviews, the personal impact of these reviews, and the manner in which participants respond emotionally and behaviorally to these reviews. Design/methodology/approach: This research drew on the stress, coping, and service literature, with particular emphasis on stress appraisal theory. The study involved the completion of an anonymous online questionnaire by 421 restaurant owners, managers, and employees. Findings: Many respondents reported feelings of anger and use of maladaptive coping strategies in response to negative online reviews (NORs). Smaller numbers reported feelings of embarrassment and guilt, and thoughts of leaving the industry. Factors pertaining to respondents’ online review exposure, emotional responses, and coping strategies predicted the effects of negative reviews on thoughts of exiting current employment. Research limitations/implications: The findings have implications for protecting worker well-being and job tenure in an industry deeply affected by electronic word-of-mouth. Replication is recommended using a longitudinal design and more objective data obtained from validated instruments and independent sources. Originality/value: This survey provides the first known evidence of the personal impact of NORs on business owners, managers, and employees.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-07-2015-0202
Walsh, G., J. J. Dahling, M. Schaarschmidt and S. Brach (2016): Surface-acting outcomes among service employees with two jobs, Journal of Service Management, 27(4), pp. 534-562
Purpose: Service firms increasingly hire employees that work two or more jobs. Drawing on conservation of resources (COR) theory and the notion that employees have finite emotional resources, the purpose of this paper is to examine the consequences of emotional labour among employees who simultaneously work in two service jobs. The authors posit that emotional labour requirements from the primary job (PJ) and secondary job (SJ) interact to emotionally exhaust employees through a process of resource depletion. Specifically, building on extant work, this research tests a theoretical mediation model of surface acting predicting organizational commitment through emotional exhaustion. Design/methodology/approach: Employing a predictive survey approach, 171 frontline-service employees with two jobs from a variety of service industries are surveyed in two waves. The hypothesized model is tested using a bootstrap procedure for testing indirect effects. In addition, the authors investigate first- and second-stage moderation. Findings: Results confirm full mediation of the relationship between surface acting and organizational commitment by emotional exhaustion, confirming that the effect of surface acting on organizational commitment is indirect through emotional exhaustion. In addition, results reveal that surface acting in the SJ moderates the link between surface acting in the PJ and emotional exhaustion, and that employees low on organizational identification congruence display lower levels of organizational commitment with the PJ. Research limitations/implications: This study contributes to the literature that relates emotional labour to organizational commitment by investigating contingent factors. The key contribution thus pertains to identifying contingent factors based in COR theory and social identity theory that influence the triadic relation between surface acting, emotional exhaustion, and organizational commitment. Practical implications: Results reveal that surface acting in a second job not just simply adds to the level of employee emotional exhaustion. Instead levels of surface acting in a first and second job interact with each other to affect emotional exhaustion. This finding suggests service managers must take into account if and how employees are enforced to perform surface acting in the other job to prevent high exhaustion. Originality/value: This study is the first to investigate emotional labour among dual job holders, a growing segment of the service workforce that poses unique challenges to organizations.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-05-2015-0169
Stokburger-Sauer, N. E., U. Scholl-Grissemann, K. Teichmann and M. Wetzels (2016): Value cocreation at its peak: the asymmetric relationship between coproduction and loyalty, Journal of Service Management, 27(4), pp. 563-590
Purpose: Coproduction, as one component of cocreation of value, offers many benefits to customers and management, but also requires customers to invest a considerable amount of effort and time. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the coproduction paradox of benefits and costs. Design/methodology/approach: One experimental study and two cross-sectional field studies across three service industries test the nonlinear relationship between level of coproduction and customer loyalty. Findings: Results show not only the optimum level but also the negative effects of increasing levels of coproduction on customer loyalty and, in turn, monetary expenditures. The negative effect can be partially offset by perceived process enjoyment (PE), such that consumers who enjoy the process exhibit increased loyalty after the optimum coproduction point. Customer self-efficacy (SE), however, further strengthens the inverted u-shaped relationship. Research limitations/implications: Further research should try to replicate the findings in more complex and less hedonic service settings (e.g. financial investments) because both PE and SE might be even more powerful here. Practical implications: Service managers need to determine the optimal degree to which customers want to engage in the creation of services and avoid overburdening them. Management should further explore opportunities to elicit feelings of fun and enjoyment through coproduction. Originality/value: Research usually highlights the potential benefits of coproduction for customers and companies and suggests a positive linear relationship between coproduction and success outcomes. This article instead shows that after an optimum level, the marginal benefits of coproduction for customer loyalty turn negative.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-10-2015-0305
Willems, K., S. Leroi-Werelds and G. Swinnen (2016): The impact of customer value types on customer outcomes for different retail formats, Journal of Service Management, 27(4), pp. 591-618
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to profile grocery retailers in terms of seven value types based on Holbrook’s value typology; to link these value types to three key outcomes (i.e. satisfaction, repurchase intention, and word-of-mouth); and to evaluate the impact of the retail format on performance and importance of the seven value types. Design/methodology/approach: For each retail format, the authors administered a consumer survey, resulting in an aggregate sample of 392 respondents. The authors used partial least squares structural equations modeling to test the relationships between the value types and key outcomes (i.e. importance) and ANOVAs to examine cross-format differences between latent variable scores of the value types (i.e. performance). Findings: The three retail formats included in the study perform differently on Holbrook’s value types (e.g. non-discounters excel in terms of aesthetic value and play, compared to hard and soft discounters). Furthermore, this study reveals that the strategic importance of each value type depends on the key outcome (e.g. whereas efficiency is the main source of satisfaction, play mainly drives the other two outcomes). Research limitations/implications: The authors randomly assigned respondents to one of the three retail formats irrespective of their personal preference or patronage. To conduct value-based segmentation, respondents should evaluate either their preferred format or all supermarkets. Practical implications: This study offers positioning advice to retail managers, according to their format and strategic objectives. Originality/value: Unlike previous research, this paper provides a cross-format comparison of retailers based on a three-dimensional value typology and its key outcomes.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-11-2015-0364
Aal, K., L. Di Pietro, B. Edvardsson, M. F. Renzi and R. Guglielmetti Mugion (2016): Innovation in service ecosystems, Journal of Service Management, 27(4), pp. 619-651
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to extend the understanding of innovation in service ecosystems by focussing on the role of values resonance in relation to the integration of brands, service systems and experience rooms. Design/methodology/approach: An empirical, explorative case study of an innovative service system is carried out using a narrative approach and presented in the form of a saga. Findings: Insights gleaned from the empirical study are used for conceptual developments. Analysis of the empirical case study is presented as four lessons linked to values, brands, service systems and experience rooms. Originality/value: The paper extends a conceptual framework of innovative resource integration in service ecosystems. The paper also contributes four propositions to inform theory: values resonance is a basis for service innovation, the innovative integration of brands based on values resonance can foster innovation, the integration of resources across service system boundaries grounded in values resonance can enable innovation and the integration of experience rooms into a coherent servicescape based on values resonance can support novel forms of resource integration and value co-creation efforts in service ecosystems.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-02-2015-0044
Barile, S., R. Lusch, J. Reynoso, M. Saviano and J. Spohrer (2016): Systems, networks, and ecosystems in service research, Journal of Service Management, 27(4), pp. 652-674
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to create awareness on the need for lifting up the level of analysis in service research by focusing on systems, networks, and ecosystems to contribute to the research expansion of the traditionally narrow view of service. Design/methodology/approach: This conceptual paper is built upon three blocks. First, the viable systems approach is revised to highlight the survival, viability, and complexity of service systems. Second, the dynamics of service networks is discussed using an ecological view of service with a nested, networked configuration. Third, these two previous perspectives are integrated using the fundamentals of ecosystems thinking. Findings: This paper outlines a novel, tri-level approach reorienting and reframing our thinking around systems, networks, and ecosystems. Some research challenges and directions that could expand the body of knowledge in service research are also discussed. Research limitations/implications: The tri-level approach proposed in this conceptual paper could be enriched with other theoretical perspectives and empirical explorations. Practical implications: Lifting the level of analysis by focussing on service systems, service networks, and service ecosystems would allow practitioners to expand their business perspective to better face the challenges of complex business settings, enabling them to co-create value for all their stakeholders. Originality/value: The paper contributes to set the foundation for the next stage of service research by going beyond dyadic interactions to address dynamic systems, networks, and ecosystems across different interaction patterns in complex business configurations.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-09-2015-0268
Journal of Service Theory and Practice
Tierney, K. D., I. O. Karpen and K. Westberg (2016): Brand meaning cocreation: toward a conceptualization and research implications, Journal of Service Theory and Practice, 26(6), pp.
Purpose This paper aims to consolidate and advance the understanding of brand meaning and the evolving process by which it is determined by introducing and explicating the concept of brand meaning cocreation (BMCC). Design/methodology/approach In-depth review and integration of literature from branding, cocreation, service systems, and practice theory. To support deep theorizing, the authors also examine the role of institutional logics in the BMCC process in framing interactions and brand meaning outcomes. Findings Prior research is limited in that it neither maps the process of cocreation within which meanings emerge nor provides theoretical conceptualizations of brand meaning or the process of BMCC. While the literature acknowledges that brand meaning is influenced by multiple interactions, their nature and how they contribute to BMCC have been overlooked. Research limitations/implications This paper reveals a significant gap in knowledge of how brand meaning is cocreated, despite the essential role of brand meaning for firm success and increasing academic interest in the notion of cocreation. Ultimately, this paper builds a conceptual foundation for empirical research in this regard. Originality/value This paper proposes that brand meaning is cocreated through the interconnection of different social and service systems, across system levels, time, and geographic space. Marketing theory is advanced by outlining a set of research propositions pertaining to the BMCC process. The authors consider how discrete actor-based brand meanings contribute to an overall brand gestalt and how such a gestalt potentially evolves along a continuum. Additionally, the authors provide a managerially and theoretically relevant research agenda to guide much-needed empirical research into BMCC.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1108/JSTP-06-2015-0137
Nudurupati, S. S., D. Lascelles, G. Wright and N. Yip (2016): Eight challenges of servitisation for the configuration, measurement and management of organisations, Journal of Service Theory and Practice, 26(6), pp.
Purpose There is an extensive research literature on servitisation and the related field of product service systems that has emerged independently from different fields including engineering, management, design and environmental studies. The purpose of this paper is to conduct a structured literature review to explore, identify and synthesise the multidisciplinary research challenges in the journey towards servitisation. Design/methodology/approach The research approach is a systematic literature review using key word searches and citation tracking for research reported between 1990 and 2013 in research databases that cover the fields which have generated the body of knowledge. Findings One of the key findings from the extant literature on servitisation is that it suffers from three fundamental weaknesses. First, numerous studies are conceptual in nature with limited practicality. Second, there are relatively few empirical studies, and often the findings relate to a single case study based on the insights of a limited number of senior managers. Third, often the dynamics are insufficiently studied in these organisations because data for most cases are collected post-event. Research limitations/implications Based on the literature review and its shortfalls, this paper proposes a holistic framework of eight themes that require further attention from academic researchers in order that a more complete conceptual understanding of servitisation is developed to support practice. Practical implications Each theme in the framework has an associated list of questions that can be addressed through research and presented to managers as a challenge agenda to improve their servitization efforts. That servitization is associated with differentiation and competitive advantage makes this a valuable approach for managing corporate performance. Originality/value Research from multi-disciplinary sources is synergised in order to develop an overarching servitization agenda that transcends domain-based boundaries. This paves the way for an approach to servitization that is coherent and harmonious.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1108/JSTP-02-2015-0045
Furner, C. P., R. Zinko and Z. Zhu (2016): Electronic word-of-mouth and information overload in an experiential service industry, Journal of Service Theory and Practice, 26(6), pp.
Purpose Trust and purchase intent are established, dependent variables in electronic commerce research. Recent studies have highlighted the importance of online product reviews in the development of purchase intention, which has led to the development a substantial research effort in the realm of electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM). This study incorporates e-WOM, information processing and decision making theories to propose a model of the development of trust and purchase intention based on online product reviews, and incorporates information overload as a moderating factor. Design/methodology/approach This study tests the hypotheses using a scenario-based experiment. 157 working adults were asked to read 3 hotel reviews of different information load. Upon completion, they were then asked to respond to Likert based questions regarding their trust in the review and purchase intention. Findings An inverted U-shaped relationship exists between information load and both trust and purchase intention, where low information load is ineffective at fostering trust and purchase intention, moderate information load is effective at fostering trust and purchase intention, and high information load is less effective than moderate information load at fostering trust and purchase intention. Research limitations/implications Although we supported the inverted U-shaped relationship between information load and two outcomes, we only tested three different review lengths, resulting in limited precision, it is not clear where the inflection point is (i.e. exactly how many words results in information overload). Future studies might both seek more precision, and also consider more consumer characteristics, such as risk propensity. Practical implications Review platform operators with a stake in encouraging a sale should prioritizing and highlighting reviews of moderate length (which can be assessed automatically via word count), and consider restricting new reviews of products to minimum and maximum word counts. Originality/value This study enhances the relevant and growing body of online review research by 1) bringing uncertainty reduction theory to bear on the consumer’s information search efforts, 2) using information overload, an important construct from classic information processing and decision making literature to explain consumer behavior and 3) identifying a review characteristics (information load) which influences consumer attitudes about a review (trust) and the product (purchase intention). Finally, this study enhances research understanding of a specific experiential service: hospitality.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1108/JSTP-01-2015-0022
Halvorsrud, R., K. Kvale and A. Følstad (2016): Improving service quality through customer journey analysis, Journal of Service Theory and Practice, 26(6), pp.
Purpose This paper aims to propose a framework based on customer journeys for a structured portrayal of service delivery from the customer’s point of view. The paper also introduces Customer journey analysis (CJA) for empirical investigation of individual service experiences in a multi-channel environment. Design/methodology/approach The paper presents case studies for onboarding new customers on broadband services. CJA starts with modeling of the service process in terms of touchpoints. The individual customer journeys are reconstructed through methodological triangulation of interviews, diary studies, and process tracking. Findings The paper provides empirical insights into individual customer journeys. Four types of deviations during service delivery are identified: occurrence of ad-hoc touchpoints, irregularities in the sequence of logically connected touchpoints, occurrence of failures in touchpoints, and missing touchpoints. CJA seems effective in revealing problematic and incoherent service delivery that may result in unfavorable customer experiences. Practical implications For a service company, the proposed framework may serve as a unifying language to ease cross-departmental communication and approach service quality in a systematic way. CJA discloses the gap between the planned and actual service delivery, and can be used as a tool for service improvement. Originality/value The framework provides concepts, definitions, and a visual notation to structure and manage services in terms of customer journeys. CJA is a novel method for empirical studies of the service delivery process and the associated customer experience.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1108/JSTP-05-2015-0111
Singh, J. and B. Crisafulli (2016): Managing online service recovery: procedures, justice and customer satisfaction, Journal of Service Theory and Practice, 26(6), pp.
Purpose The Internet has changed the way services are delivered and has created new forms of customer-firm interactions. Whilst online service failures remain inevitable, the Internet offers opportunities for delivering efficient service recovery through the online channel. Notwithstanding, research evidence on how firms can deliver online service recovery remains scarce. This study investigates the impact of two online service recovery strategies – online information and technology-mediated communication – on customer satisfaction, switching and word-of-mouth intentions. Design/methodology/approach A scenario-based experiment is employed. Data are analysed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Findings Online information and technology-mediated interactions can be used as online service recovery strategies. When fair, online service recovery can restore customer satisfaction, lower switching and enhance positive word-of-mouth. Interactional justice delivered through technology-mediated communication is a strong predictor of satisfaction with online service recovery. Yet, customers in subscription services show greater expectations of online service recovery than those in non-subscription services. Research limitations/implications Further research could examine the impact of online service recovery on relational constructs, such as trust. Since customers participate in the online recovery process, future research could investigate the role of customers as co-creators of online service recovery. Practical implications Service managers should design online recovery strategies that meet customer need for interactional justice, for example, bespoke emails, and virtual chat communications with genuine customer care. Originality/value Online information and technology-mediated communication function as online service recovery strategies. Customer perceptions of justice towards online service recovery restore satisfaction, and encourage loyal behaviour.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1108/JSTP-01-2015-0013
Brookes, M., L. Altinay, X. L. Wang and R. Yeung (2016): Opportunity identification and evaluation in franchisee business start-ups, Journal of Service Theory and Practice, 26(6), pp.
Purpose This paper examines franchisees’ business start-ups from an entrepreneurial perspective, adopting a process representative of entrepreneurship to examine opportunity identification and evaluation by franchisees and to analyse factors that influence this process. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative study was employed and data collected using semi-structured interviews with a sample of service industry franchisees in Macau. Findings The study identifies that social networks play a key role in opportunity identification and that franchisees’ goals influence the criteria used and information search activities undertaken while evaluating franchise opportunities. Research limitations/implications The study makes two contributions to franchise literature. It identifies that social networks can serve as substitutes for lack of prior knowledge in franchise opportunity identification. It also identifies the interrelated nature of franchisees’ goals based on the activities and criteria used to evaluate franchise opportunities, and the importance of relational criteria when franchisees lack prior industry knowledge. It therefore also contributes to franchise/entrepreneurship literature by identifying the interrelated nature of the factors contributing to the dynamics of franchise chain growth. Practical implications Franchisors should explore how to better use franchisees’ social networks and identify the longer-term goals of prospective franchisees to support market penetration and franchise chain growth. Franchisees are advised to use independent information sources to evaluate franchise opportunities using goal-informed objectives and demand and relational criteria. Originality/value The study presents a more comprehensive understanding of franchisees’ decision-making process when joining franchise chains by identifying the activities undertaken and criteria used to identify and evaluate franchise opportunities.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1108/JSTP-04-2015-0089
Brozovic, D., F. Nordin and D. Kindström (2016): Service flexibility: conceptualizing value creation in service, Journal of Service Theory and Practice, 26(6), pp.
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the subject-specific literature on service and flexibility and derive a conceptualization of the linkages between provider flexibility and customers’ value creation. Design/methodology/approach The authors analyze existing perspectives on service and flexibility and propose linkages between provider flexibility and customer value creation. Findings Drawing on the service logic literature, and utilizing real-world examples, this paper advances propositions and a conceptual model of how flexibility can contribute to value creation. Research limitations/implications This article establishes the basis for a practical and applicable flexibility perspective on value creation. It is particularly important for service-oriented providers and other firms operating in dynamic contexts. Practical implications The propositions and conceptual model offer suggestions on the manner in which provider flexibility contributes to customer value creation. Contextual influences that moderate provider flexibility in value creation are also included. Originality/value This paper contributes a novel perspective on service, which may serve as the starting point for the development of a more formal flexibility perspective on value creation.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1108/JSTP-09-2014-0219
Stavraki, G. (2016): Understanding consumers’ relationships with contemporary artworks through identity narratives, Journal of Service Theory and Practice, 26(6), pp.
Purpose This paper focuses on the relationships that consumers develop with experiential objects in the context of the Biennale of Contemporary Art Exhibition, viewed from a dialogical and intersubjective approach. The aim is to elaborate on the interpersonal relationships that visitors of the Biennale establish with contemporary artworks and to understand the characteristics of these relationships as well as their role in shaping Biennale visitors’ identity narratives. Design/methodology/approach This research employs an instrumental case study that draws on multiple data sources and examines consumers’ relationships with contemporary artworks. Findings The case study evidence introduces the relationships that emerged from Biennale visitors’ interactions with contemporary artworks and the identity narratives evolving from these relationships. The findings suggest that Biennale visitors’ relationships with the contemporary artworks take the form of I-thou and I-it relationships. These two modes of interpersonal relationships by entailing different characteristics led investigated visitors to live different types of experiences of contemporary art consumption. Research limitations/implications The first limitation of this research is that it focuses on the establishment of interpersonal relationships on the microgenetic level. Further research can provide additional insights by conducting a longitudinal case study. The second limitation is that it provides limited insights into the relationships that are revealed by consumers’ experiences with possessive objects. Future research may examine interpersonal relationships in terms of consumers’ relationships with their brands. Practical implications The understanding of visitors’ interactions and relationships with contemporary artworks provides insights on curatorial and marketing practices for such art institutions. Originality/value The findings of the current research provide new theoretical insights into the interpersonal relationships that consumers develop with experiential objects and into the distinctive identity narratives that evolve from the establishment of different types of interpersonal relationships
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1108/JSTP-02-2015-0024
Service Science
Kaur, P. (2016): Underpinnings of User Participation in Service Provider–Hosted Online Communities, Service Science, 8(3), pp. 249-262
The recent emergence of social media-based brand communities is seen as an effective channel for practicing user-centric service innovation. However, user participation is the major hurdle in their sustainability. Despite the growing popularity of these brand communities, there has been only limited research examining the factors affecting user intention to continue using these communities. Teenagers represent an important demographic group, not only as the dominant users, but also in their value and potential in contributing toward successful business. To date, no previous research has investigated the participation behaviour of teenagers in these communities. To address this research gap, the present study examines the factors affecting teenagers’ intention to continue participating in Facebook-based brand communities. The roles of social and individual factors in the formulation of their attitudes to participation are examined. The relationship between users’ attitudes, activity levels, and continuation intentions are explored. The study findings suggest that self-efficacy, hedonic motivation, reciprocal benefit, and social influence have a positive impact on user attitude. Among these, self-efficacy has the strongest influence. Furthermore, attitude, continuation intention, and activity levels are significantly related. The findings have implications for organisations intending to use social media-based brand communities to practice user-centric service innovation.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1287/serv.2016.0136
Feng, C. and K. Sivakumar (2016): The Role of Collaboration in Service Innovation Across Manufacturing and Service Sectors, Service Science, 8(3), pp. 263-281
This study empirically demonstrates the impact of service innovation on innovation performance for manufacturing and service firms and finds that the effect of service innovation on innovation performance is greater for service firms than manufacturing firms. In addition, the results show that the relationship between the propensity for service innovation and three types of collaboration (vertical, horizontal, and third-party collaboration) is significant. Furthermore, this study finds that vertical and third-party collaborations are more beneficial than horizontal collaboration for service firms. This research advances the discourse on service innovation in two ways. First, it offers a stronger justification for examining and fostering innovation generation in service industries. Second, the findings regarding the comparative impact of collaboration highlight the desirability of stronger collaborations with channel members (whose interests are aligned with the firm) and neutral entities (whose interests are not in conflict with the firm) than with competitors (whose interests are likely not aligned with the focal firm). In short, the research presents a detailed and nuanced view of the antecedents and consequences of service innovation.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1287/serv.2016.0135
Kowalkowski, C., D. Kindström and P. Carlborg (2016): Triadic Value Propositions: When It Takes More Than Two to Tango, Service Science, 8(3), pp. 282-299
Value propositions are reciprocal resource-integration promises and value alignment mechanisms operating to and from actors seeking an equitable exchange. In a business triad, any change in the relationship between two actors also affects relationships with the third actor, influencing resource integration and value creation at the value constellation level. This study of the development of a triadic value proposition analyzes how the discontinuous effects of a new service initiative alter the relationships among actors in a manufacturer–dealer–user triad. A qualitative empirical inquiry examines a 10-year process, in which a leading industry incumbent enters the service business by crafting a triadic value proposition. As the value proposition evolves over time, the network ties—and thus the interdependence among manufacturer, dealer, and user—strengthen. The findings offer firms a better understanding of how to involve and collaborate with key actors to initiate discontinuous changes at the firm and network levels. These insights are particularly timely in light of the difficulties that product firms face when intermediaries are decisive for the success of their service-led growth initiatives.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1287/serv.2016.0145
Uratnik, M. (2016): Interactional Service Innovation with Social Media Users, Service Science, 8(3), pp. 300-319
The pervasive availability of social media is changing user interaction in service innovation. However, we lack information on how to leverage interactional service innovation with social media. This paper draws from an analytical framework constructed according to mixed qualitative research, deriving a model and functions of its agents in social media innovation. The findings indicate that organizations interact with the social media and reduce diseconomies of scope; however, they also codestroy value. Hence, we explain how companies leverage sustainable innovation with social media users in the co-production and co-creation of value. We conclude the findings and results with the theoretical propositions, and the conclusion follows an outline of the contributions, future research, and managerial implications.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1287/serv.2016.0149
Jonas, J. M., A. Roth and K. M. Möslein (2016): Stakeholder Integration for Service Innovation in German Medium-Sized Enterprises, Service Science, 8(3), pp. 320-332
This multiple case study explores stakeholder integration as a multidimensional process in service systems. Applying a service-dominant (S-D) logic perspective to service innovation, the empirical study identifies which internal and external stakeholders are being integrated in service innovation, at which stage of the process, and in which mode. It explores the practice of stakeholder integration as a multidimensional process in the context of medium-sized information technology and manufacturing firms and thereby demonstrates, among others, that stakeholder integration is foremost implemented as reactive integration. Mutual cocreation, the bidirectional exchange between stakeholders, is put into practice only with internal stakeholders. The exploratory approach shows how the indirect integration and interdependencies of stakeholder integration represent challenges for service innovation.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1287/serv.2016.0152
Siltaloppi, J., K. Koskela-Huotari and S. L. Vargo (2016): Institutional Complexity as a Driver for Innovation in Service Ecosystems, Service Science, 8(3), pp. 333-343
This paper extends research on innovation as institutional change within service science and service-dominant (S-D) logic by conceptualizing the emergence of novel solutions in service ecosystems. We pay particular attention to how actors (individuals and organizations) are able to create new solutions that change the very institutional arrangements that guide and constrain them. We propose that institutional complexity—the multiplicity of institutional arrangements confronting actors with conflicting prescriptions for action—drives the emergence of novelty. Institutional complexity reduces the influence of prevailing institutions by activating conscious problem solving and making available multiple institutional “toolkits.” These dynamic toolkits consist of the cultural norms and meanings, as well as material practices, associated with specific institutional arrangements, with which actors can jointly reconstruct and change value cocreation practices and advance change in the institutional arrangements of service ecosystems. This paper contributes to service science and S-D logic by providing a more comprehensive understanding of innovation driven by institutional complexity, in which the stability of institutional arrangements is reconciled with the actor-driven creation of novel solutions constitutive of institutional change.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1287/serv.2016.0151
Eloranta, V., L. Orkoneva, E. Hakanen and T. Turunen (2016): Using Platforms to Pursue Strategic Opportunities in Service-Driven Manufacturing, Service Science, 8(3), pp. 344-357
Strategy research posits that in dynamic environments, firms must base their strategies not on leveraging the past, but on fostering constant change. This research explores how platforms can be used as semistructures to pursue strategic opportunities in manufacturers’ service networks. A platform strategy combining product and organization approaches is identified at the interfirm level. The results show that platforms are perceived to extend the physical product’s capacity to produce new usage scenarios, facilitate interfirm information flows and enable collective benefits, and create awareness of new value potentials. The study calls for more research regarding a systemic approach to solution business.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1287/serv.2016.0155
Journal of Service Marketing
Chang, Y., Y. J. Ko and W. L. Leite (2016): The effect of perceived brand leadership on luxury service WOM, Journal of Services Marketing, 30(6), pp. 659-671
Purpose Despite the remarkable growth of the luxury industry, a phenomenon referred to as luxury fever, as well as the growing interest in word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing in the industry at hand, little is known about how consumers’ perceived leadership of luxury brands dynamically influences their WOM behavior. This paper aims to examine the moderating role of a type of luxuries (accessible vs inaccessible) in the relationship between the four dimensions of perceived brand leadership – quality, value, innovativeness and popularity – and consumers’ WOM recommendation intention.Design/methodology/approach The current research is based on survey data gathered from 333 actual customers who attend five golf clubs located in North Florida. An innovative data analysis procedure that combines structural equation modeling with propensity score analysis to estimate the moderating effects, controlling for selection bias, is presented.Findings Quality was the significant predictor of WOM among consumers of inaccessible luxuries (private club). In contrast, financial value and popularity were key factors in predicting WOM of individuals who chose accessible luxuries (public club).Originality/value This paper attempts to shed new light on the field of strategic luxury marketing by addressing differential consumption decision-making processes corresponding to hierarchically constructed luxury services. In addition, an innovative way is suggested to achieve covariates’ balance in the examinations of latent variables and multisampling models for observational research.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1108/JSM-01-2015-0005
Liu, S. Q. and A. S. Mattila (2016): The influence of a “green” loyalty program on service encounter satisfaction, Journal of Services Marketing, 30(6), pp. 576-585
Purpose Presently, loyalty programs often offer preferential treatment to the firm’s best customers, and recently, service firms started to incorporate corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives into the loyalty reward programs (e.g. Starwood’s “Make A Green Choice”). However, academic research advancing the understanding of the effectiveness of CSR-focused loyalty programs is lacking. To bridge that gap, this paper aims to examine the influence of a “green” loyalty program on members’ and bystanders’ service encounter satisfaction in light of preferential treatment. Furthermore, this paper investigates the psychological mechanisms (prosociality perceptions and status perceptions) that underlie these effects.Design/methodology/approach This study used a 2 (loyalty program: green vs standard) × 2 (customer type: member vs bystander) × 2 (observability of preferential treatment: low vs high) between-subjects experimental design. Respondents were asked to read a hotel check-in scenario and then completed scales that measured their perceptions and evaluations of the service encounter.Findings Results from this study suggest that a green loyalty program can buffer the negative effect of preferential treatment on bystanders’ service encounter satisfaction. An examination of the underlying mechanism reveals that prosociality perceptions of the firm mediate the impact of loyalty programs on bystanders’ satisfaction. As expected, the results show that a green loyalty program is as effective as a standard program in elevating members’ satisfaction. Furthermore, findings from a moderated mediation analysis indicate that status perceptions mediate the impact of customer type on satisfaction. However, status perceptions have a greater leveraging power in satisfaction when observability of preferential treatment is high.Originality/value The results of this study have significant implications for service firms with loyalty programs and customer prioritization practices. By incorporating CSR into their loyalty programs, firms may be able to mitigate the negative bystander effect while maintaining the positive effects of preferential treatment on members’ service encounter satisfaction.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1108/JSM-09-2015-0298
Luu, N., L. N. Hau, L. V. Ngo, T. Bucic and P. H. Cuong (2016): Outcome versus process value in service delivery, Journal of Services Marketing, 30(6), pp. 630-642
Purpose This study is embedded in social exchange and transaction cost theories. The purpose of this paper is to compare the relative importance of process value and outcome value in building affective and cognitive relationship strength and to compare the relative effects of each type of relationship strength on attitudinal and behavioral loyalty.Design/methodology/approach This empirical study features a quantitative approach. The sample comprises 167 business-to-business (B2B) customers of a large transportation and logistics company in Vietnam.Findings Process value and outcome value have different effects on affective relationship strength. The effect of process value is greater than that of outcome value. In addition, cognitive strength has a stronger impact on both attitudinal and behavioral loyalty than affective strength.Research limitations/implications These insights extend extant literature regarding the process and outcome components of the service assessment. Further studies also should use a cross-industry, cross-country sample to examine the potential moderating effects of country- or industry-specific factors. These findings show B2B managers how to make appropriate resource allocation and investment decisions to enhance relationship strength and resulting customer loyalty.Originality/value To clarify the links among customer value, relationship strength and customer loyalty, this study examines the relative importance of rational and non-rational factors (i.e. process value vs outcome value and affective strength vs cognitive strength) for relationship performance. Unlike most prior research, this study is set in the B2B context of a developing country.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1108/JSM-12-2014-0410
Mittal, B. (2016): Retrospective: why do customers switch? The dynamics of satisfaction versus loyalty, Journal of Services Marketing, 30(6), pp. 569-575
Purpose This paper aims tononlinearity implies that practitioners should analyze customer data separately for customer segments that experience low, moderate and high satisfaction, and also separately for segments that show the expected positive satisfaction–loyalty relationship versus those who would defect despite being satisfied.Originality/value Against the backdrop where most academic as well as industry research had presumed a positive loyalty effect of satisfaction, the 1998 paper drew attention to segments of consumers who exhibited the contrarian loyalty behavior. The present paper shines a light on that topic with even sharper focus, highlighting six unaddressed issues that must frame future research.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1108/JSM-07-2016-0277
Parris, D. L., A. Bouchet, J. Welty Peachey and D. Arnold (2016): Change is hard: overcoming barriers to service innovation, Journal of Services Marketing, 30(6), pp. 615-629
Purpose Creating value through service innovation requires new processes and ways of communicating to multiple stakeholders. Institutions and stakeholders within the service ecosystem, however, often resist change. Adopting a new service strategy entails two distinct costs – monetary and psychological. The tensions between an organization’s need to generate incremental revenue and the challenges of balancing business as usual and the costs associated with service innovation are explored. Specifically, this paper aims to explore the adoption of a customer relationship management (CRM) technology solution in a bureaucratic setting, and the sequence of events needed for successful implementation, with emphasis on overcoming various barriers and hurdles.Design/methodology/approach A case study methodology is used to gather and analyze data on how the Arizona State University (ASU) athletic department responded to the changing competitive environment via adopting a CRM technology solution. Data collection consisted of ten semi-structured interviews.Findings The experience of ASU illustrates that the primary benefits of a CRM technology solution include the generation of incremental revenue, capturing data and personalized marketing. The main challenges are coordinating adoption, obtaining commitment, developing competency, estimating costs and creating content.Research limitations/implications A conceptual framework emerged from the data that describes the likelihood of a service technology’s successful implementation based upon the interaction of the strength of key actors, organizational situation perception and organizational commitment. The model extends the proposed duality of service innovation outcomes as either success or failure to acknowledge the likelihood of a partial implementation where marginal success is achieved.Practical implications The sequence of events needed for successful implementation of a service technology is highlighted, with emphasis on overcoming various barriers and hurdles. Implementation steps are provided, as well as a model to help pinpoint issues.Originality/value The case study provides insight for overcoming pitfalls and barriers to adopting a new service technology in a traditionally bureaucratic organization where resistance to change is the norm, and innovation is not.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1108/JSM-05-2015-0182
Tam, J. L. M., P. Sharma and N. Kim (2016): Attribution of success and failure in intercultural service encounters: the moderating role of personal cultural orientations, Journal of Services Marketing, 30(6), pp. 643-658
Purpose This paper aims to examine the role that personal cultural orientations play in customer attributions in intercultural service encounters.Design/methodology/approach A conceptual model was developed depicting the relationships between service delivery outcome, personal cultural orientations and customer attributions. Data were collected from 640 Chinese and Western customers using scenario-based experiments in a restaurant context to assess the hypothesized relationships in the model.Findings The findings show that compared to service delivery success, customers tend to hold service employee and firm responsible for service delivery failure rather than themselves and cultural differences. Moreover, personal cultural orientations partially moderated the influence of the service delivery outcome on customer attributions.Research limitations/implications Future research could adopt different methodologies such as critical incident techniques and surveys to replicate the study.Practical implications Service firms are recommended to design programs to influence customer attributions such as “customer education programs” and “customer appreciation programs” to achieve high customer satisfaction.Originality/value This study examines the differences in customer attributions between successful vs unsuccessful service delivery. It also sheds light on the potential moderating role of personal cultural orientations on the relationship between service delivery outcome and customer attributions.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1108/JSM-01-2015-0010
Zainuddin, N., L. Tam and A. McCosker (2016): Serving yourself: value self-creation in health care service, Journal of Services Marketing, 30(6), pp. 586-600
Purpose This paper aims to investigate the concept of value self-creation and provides a formal definition for this concept. The paper suggests that it sits within an overall continuum of value creation that includes value delivery and value co-creation.Design/methodology/approach A proposed model of value self-creation was developed and empirically tested in a health care self-service, bowel screening. An online, self-completion survey was administered to Australian men and women aged 50 years and above, as this represents the primary target population for bowel screening.Findings The results of the structural equation modelling in AMOS suggest that consumers can self-create value, leading to desired outcomes of satisfaction with the consumption experience and behavioural intentions to engage with the self-service again in the future. The findings provide empirical evidence to suggest that consumers’ behavioural contributions represent the most important consumer contributions in self-service, followed by cognitive contributions.Originality/value The study provides an empirically validated model of value self-creation in health care self-service. Much of the existing research on value co-creation has concentrated on traditional service types and is ill-placed to explain the value creation processes in self-services. This study offers originality by addressing this gap and demonstrating to service managers how they can manage consumer contributions towards a self-service and facilitate value-self creation, even though they are not present during the consumption stage of the consumption process.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1108/JSM-02-2016-0075
Service Industries Journal
Boardman, D., M. M. Raciti and M. Lawley (2016): Exploring the influence of envy on service engagement, Service Industries Journal, 36(8/7), pp. 278-298
Consumer retention is central to service firm objectives and is often the focus of firm initiated activities. However, consumer-driven processes that operate independently of firm initiated activities also influence retention. By understanding the consumption goals of service consumers, management can encourage behavioural engagement with service offerings and improve retention outcomes. Positional services provide opportunities for social status enhancement (e.g. higher education) and attract consumers seeking the positional benefits offered. Service consumers compete for positional benefits and monitor their success relative to other service consumers via positional comparisons. Envy, an emotion with benign and malicious types, is experienced if the positional comparison with another service consumer is unfavourable and influences behavioural engagement. This study proposes and qualitatively tests a conceptual model linking positional comparison and envy to changes in consumers’ behavioural engagement with a service depending on the type of envy experienced. The findings support benign envy as a motivator for increased behavioural engagement with a service. The study also supports the existence of a ‘positional’ service category in which envy is an endemic emotional theme influencing behavioural engagement in these service environments. A two-tiered approach to the management of envy involving positional goal recognition and appraisal based tactics is recommended.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1080/02642069.2016.1186659
Boukis, A. (2016): Achieving favourable customer outcomes through employee deviance, Service Industries Journal, 36(8/7), pp. 319-338
Purpose This paper aims to investigate the concept of value self-creation and provides a formal definition for this concept. The paper suggests that it sits within an overall continuum of value creation that includes value delivery and value co-creation.Design/methodology/approach A proposed model of value self-creation was developed and empirically tested in a health care self-service, bowel screening. An online, self-completion survey was administered to Australian men and women aged 50 years and above, as this represents the primary target population for bowel screening.Findings The results of the structural equation modelling in AMOS suggest that consumers can self-create value, leading to desired outcomes of satisfaction with the consumption experience and behavioural intentions to engage with the self-service again in the future. The findings provide empirical evidence to suggest that consumers’ behavioural contributions represent the most important consumer contributions in self-service, followed by cognitive contributions.Originality/value The study provides an empirically validated model of value self-creation in health care self-service. Much of the existing research on value co-creation has concentrated on traditional service types and is ill-placed to explain the value creation processes in self-services. This study offers originality by addressing this gap and demonstrating to service managers how they can manage consumer contributions towards a self-service and facilitate value-self creation, even though they are not present during the consumption stage of the consumption process.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1080/02642069.2016.1219722
Cheng, J.-C., S.-J. Luo, C.-H. Yen and Y.-F. Yang (2016): Brand attachment and customer citizenship behaviors, Service Industries Journal, 36(8/7), pp. 263-277
Service brand attachment has emerged as a growing body of research. Although previous studies have examined the relationship between brand attachment and customer behaviors, the mechanism underlying this relationship remains unknown, particularly in a service context. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between brand attachment and customer citizenship behaviors and to clarify the role of perceived value among regular customers of international hotel brands in Taiwan. To examine this model, confirmatory factor analysis was employed to analyze survey data from 299 hotel customers, the results of which indicated that perceived value completely mediated the relationship between brand attachment and customer citizenship behaviors. Therefore, perceived value is the mechanism that explains how service brand attachment is associated with customer citizenship behaviors. These results demonstrate the importance of perceived value and imply that service managers should strengthen customers’ perceived value of service brands to enhance customer citizenship behaviors.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1080/02642069.2016.1186658
Rayburn, S. W. and D. A. Gilliam (2016): Using work design to motivate customer-oriented behaviors, Service Industries Journal, 36(8/7), pp. 339-355
Front-line employee (FLE) attitudes and behaviors while interacting with consumers largely determine the success or failure of service organizations. To better understand how this happens, this research moves beyond the oversimplified argument that managers either must hire or specifically train for workers to be customer oriented and to perform customer-oriented behaviors (COBs). A third path is proposed and empirically explored that suggests managers use work design to influence FLEs at work motivation to perform COBs. Specific work design levers managers can employ – manager support and serial/investiture socialization – are shown to impact FLE organizational commitment and role clarity with customers. Through these individual internal processes service organizations motivate front-line workers to perform desired COBs.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1080/02642069.2016.1219723
Seger-Guttmann, T. and H. Medler-Liraz (2016): Does emotional labor moderate customer participation and buying?, Service Industries Journal, 36(8/7), pp. 356-373
Two studies examined whether employees’ emotional labor as perceived by customers, moderates the relationship between customers’ participation and money spent. In Study I, 30 in-depth interviews were conducted with customers to examine participation during shopping as well as customers’ awareness of their service employees’ behaviors. The interviews revealed two types of customer participation: emotional engagement and physical effort. Based on Study I, Study II investigated 114 customers, and the moderating role of perceived employees’ emotional labor on the relationships between customer participation and spending money. Even when customers were highly involved in the purchasing process, they spent less money when they observed employee inauthenticity as manifested in Surface Acting. However, Deep Acting positively moderated the relationship between customer participation and spending money. These findings help shed light on the circumstances in which customer participation is strengthened (leading to greater spending) or weakened.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1080/02642069.2016.1219724
