Considered Service-specific journals were Journal of Service Research, Journal of Service Management, Journal of Services Marketing, Journal of Service Theory and Practice, Service Industries Journal, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, and Service Science.
For more information about the alert system methodology go here
For all previous alerts go here
Wakefield, L. T. and K. L. Wakefield (2018): An Examination of Construal Effects on Price Perceptions in the Advance Selling of Experience Services, Journal of Service Research, 21(2), pp.235-248
Service research in the advance selling of experience services is limited in regard to how individual and situational differences influence price information processing. Applying construal-level theory in the context of advance selling of tickets for experience services, this research demonstrates that who (near vs. far social distance), when (near vs. far temporal distance), and where (spatial distance) influence price sensitivity and perceived value of the experience service. Study 1 finds that consumers are more price sensitive when they consider the advance purchase of events taking place further in the future, unless they are experienced, as Study 2 finds. Across both studies, buyers perceive greater value when the time and location of the event are psychologically near. Compared to when social distance is near (self-reference), consumers construe other average buyers in the market to be relatively more price sensitive and to perceive relatively higher value for experience services. Since an important factor at work in the minds of buyers is other buyers, the results imply that service providers should frame offers in reference more to others than the self for experiences. The effects of time and distance suggest managers should carefully geo-target offers customized to when and where customers are when buying tickets. As experienced buyers have learned to be price sensitive for tickets, managers should identify these individuals to provide relevant value-added offers.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1094670517738367 [Google]
Pugh, H. B., M. K. Brady and L. M. Hopkins (2018): A Customer Scorned, Journal of Service Research, 21(2), pp.219-234
This research examines the implications of manager reprimands of frontline employees following a service failure incident. Drawing upon social exchange theory and looking at both customer and employee reactions, three studies find that customers are more satisfied with failed service encounters when they are aware the employee was reprimanded. This effect is on par with other types of service recoveries, mediated by deontic justice perceptions and moderated by the customer’s just-world beliefs, such that high believers are more satisfied than low believers when they are told about an employee’s reprimand. Direct observation of the reprimand acts as a key boundary condition whereby customers become dissatisfied when they are present during the reprimand. Furthermore, we find that customer perceptions of frontline reprimands are tied to reprimand privacy, whereas employee perceptions are tied to reprimand civility. This research is the first to simultaneously examine the effects of workplace reprimands on customer and frontline employee satisfaction. For managers, our findings illuminate the usefulness of communicating employee reprimands to customers, thus representing a low-cost alternative to other types of recovery efforts.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1094670517746777 [Google]
Komarova Loureiro, Y., K. L. Haws and W. O. Bearden (2018): Businesses Beware, Journal of Service Research, 21(2), pp.184-200
Consumers feeling wronged in the marketplace can respond in a variety of ways both morally appropriate and morally inappropriate. We focus on specific circumstances under which company wrongdoing increases the likelihood for consumers to respond with immoral retaliatory behavior. Importantly, we demonstrate that such immoral retaliation is not directed solely toward the guilty party but may also spill over to guiltless marketplace entities. This research highlights the underlying processes for immoral retaliation against a guilty versus a guiltless company, demonstrating the varying roles of anger and justification as well as assessing the overall effectiveness of such vengeance in offsetting further retaliation. Our findings inform important aspects of effective service recovery by shedding light on the destructive potential of consumer perceptions of immorality of any one company’s actions and by providing recommendations for managing the associated risk factors.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1094670517738366 [Google]
Huang, M.-H. and R. T. Rust (2018): Artificial Intelligence in Service, Journal of Service Research, 21(2), pp.155-172
Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly reshaping service by performing various tasks, constituting a major source of innovation, yet threatening human jobs. We develop a theory of AI job replacement to address this double-edged impact. The theory specifies four intelligences required for service tasks—mechanical, analytical, intuitive, and empathetic—and lays out the way firms should decide between humans and machines for accomplishing those tasks. AI is developing in a predictable order, with mechanical mostly preceding analytical, analytical mostly preceding intuitive, and intuitive mostly preceding empathetic intelligence. The theory asserts that AI job replacement occurs fundamentally at the task level, rather than the job level, and for “lower” (easier for AI) intelligence tasks first. AI first replaces some of a service job’s tasks, a transition stage seen as augmentation, and then progresses to replace human labor entirely when it has the ability to take over all of a job’s tasks. The progression of AI task replacement from lower to higher intelligences results in predictable shifts over time in the relative importance of the intelligences for service employees. An important implication from our theory is that analytical skills will become less important, as AI takes over more analytical tasks, giving the “softer” intuitive and empathetic skills even more importance for service employees. Eventually, AI will be capable of performing even the intuitive and empathetic tasks, which enables innovative ways of human–machine integration for providing service but also results in a fundamental threat for human employment.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1094670517752459 [Google]
Cambra-Fierro, J., I. Melero-Polo, F. J. Sese and J. van Doorn (2018): Customer-Firm Interactions and the Path to Profitability, Journal of Service Research, 21(2), pp.201-218
This study investigates a chain of effects to understand the causal path from customer informational inquiries (CIIs) and firm-initiated contacts (FICs) to customer profitability. Drawing on social exchange theory, our framework identifies a set of attitudinal (perceived relationship investment and relationship quality), behavioral (customer cross-buy and service usage), and financial (customer profitability) consequences of CIIs and FICs and also explores the extent to which customer-perceived financial risk and customer involvement shape attitudinal reactions to CIIs and FICs. Using longitudinal data for a sample of 1,990 customers measured in four different periods, the framework is tested in financial services by applying seemingly unrelated regression techniques. Our results reveal that FICs and CIIs are a particularly valuable tool for strengthening the relationship with customers with a low level of involvement but high perception of financial services risk. For highly involved customers, FICs and CIIs are not very effective; CIIs can even backfire if the customer also perceives the risk to be low. Our results highlight the importance of market segmentation for marketers to more effectively manage when and to whom they should target marketing activities (FICs) and steer CIIs.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1094670517738369 [Google]
Aspara, J., J. F. Klein, X. Luo and H. Tikkanen (2018): The Dilemma of Service Productivity and Service Innovation, Journal of Service Research, 21(2), pp.249-262
We conduct a systematic exploratory investigation of the effects of firms’ existing service productivity on the success of their new service innovations. Although previous research extensively addresses service productivity and service innovation, this is the first empirical study that bridges the gap between these two research streams and examines the links between the two concepts. Based on a comprehensive data set of new service introductions in a financial services market over a 14-year period, we empirically explore the relationship between a firm’s existing service productivity and the firm’s success in introducing new services to the market. The results unveil a fundamental service productivity-service innovation dilemma: Being productive in existing services increases a firm’s willingness to innovate new services proactively but decreases the firm’s capabilities of bringing these services to the market successfully. We provide specific insights into the mechanism underlying the complex relationship between a firm’s productivity in existing services, its innovation proactivity, and its service innovation success. For managers, we not only unpack and elucidate this dilemma but also demonstrate that a focused customer scope and growth market conditions may enable firms to mitigate the dilemma and successfully pursue service productivity and service innovation simultaneously.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1094670517738368 [Google]
Andreassen, T. W., R. D. van Oest and L. Lervik-Olsen (2018): Customer Inconvenience and Price Compensation, Journal of Service Research, 21(2), pp.173-183
Managers are faced with complex decisions when considering automating the front end of a service, where the firm interacts with its customers (e.g., check-in at airports). We develop an analytical model for the optimal decisions as to whether to automate the service and which price to charge. The model accounts for automation-induced customer inconvenience in the short run and differences in service quality and production costs in the long run. We show that it may be optimal not to automate, even if automated service reduces production costs for the firm and is ultimately desired by customers. In other situations, automated service is optimal, even though customer inconvenience may trigger financial losses in the short run. Automated service may also become optimal, as customers become more sensitive to service quality, but only if the quality of the automation technology is sufficiently high. We show that the firm should compensate customers for automation-induced inconvenience, but this price compensation can be reduced as customers become more comfortable with the service. Although automated service is cheaper to produce than labor-produced service, the firm should charge a price premium if the quality of the automated service is sufficiently superior.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1094670517738370 [Google]
Jian He, Y., S. W. Wang, M. K. Hsu and S. Swanson (2018): Key account relationship management: the moderating effects of relationship duration and transaction volume, Service Industries Journal, 38(43289), pp.379-401
This study investigates the impact of three relational benefits (i.e. financial benefits, human interaction benefits, preferential treatment benefits) on switching barriers, customer satisfaction, and behavioral loyalty for key accounts in the context of the air express delivery industry in Taiwan. Empirical results indicate that relational benefits impact switching barriers, switching barriers influence customer satisfaction and loyalty, and customer satisfaction effects loyalty. Findings also confirm most of the hypothesized moderating effects for relationship duration and transactional volume on the relationship between relational benefits and switching barriers. Specifically, long-term key accounts place greater emphasis on the human interaction and preferential treatment benefits. Key accounts that have less established relationships based on the length of business relationship place more importance on financial benefits. Financial benefits were found to have a positive influence on switching barriers only for low annual transactional volume clients, while both human interaction benefits and preferential treatment benefits have positive effects for both low and high transactional volume key accounts. (English)
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2017.1393524 [Google]
Gürlek, M. and M. Tuna (2018): Reinforcing competitive advantage through green organizational culture and green innovation, Service Industries Journal, 38(43289), pp.461-491
The purpose of this paper is to reveal the relationships among green organizational culture, green innovation and competitive advantage. These relationships were assessed using structural equation modeling. Data were gathered from full-time hotel employees (N: 293) and managers (N: 192) in the Antalya region of Turkey. The results indicate that green organizational culture has a positive effect on green innovation and competitive advantage. Accordingly, green organizational culture is an important determinant for green innovation and competitive advantage. In addition, green innovation acted as a full mediator of the effects of green organizational culture on competitive advantage. Specifically, green organizational culture predicted green innovation, which in turn predicted competitive advantage. Finally, considering that causal studies on green innovation in the hotel industry are limited, this study may contribute to understanding how green innovation affects competitive advantage in the hotel industry. (English)
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2017.1402889 [Google]
Rozen-Bakher, Z. (2018): Comparison of merger and acquisition (M&A) success in horizontal, vertical and conglomerate M&As: industry sector vs. services sector, Service Industries Journal, 38(43289), pp.492-518
Due to the high failure rate of the merger and acquisition (M&A) strategy, this study raises the question of whether there is a difference between the types of M&A in relation to M&A success. The study presents a research model to examine how each of the types of M&As — horizontal, vertical and conglomerate — separately affect M&A success. The study compares between the industry sector and the services sector. The results show that horizontal M&As lead to integration success and synergy success in the industry sector, but in the services sector, it leads to a failure of the integration stage, and in the both sectors it hinders the profitability. Vertical M&As lead to a success only in relation to synergy in the services sector, while conglomerate M&As lead to integration success and synergy success in the both sectors, but without success in relation to the profitability in the both sectors. (English)
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2017.1405938 [Google]
Zapan, B., A. Wang and H. Xu (2018): A perceived reliability-based customer satisfaction model in self-service technology, Service Industries Journal, 38(43289), pp.446-466
Technical reliability of self-service technologies (SSTs) has been found to be a strong determinant of satisfaction with techenabled services. Yet, the interpretation of the factors affecting reliability and its subsequent influences on customer satisfaction (CS) with SSTs is inadequate. The purpose of this investigation has, therefore, been to demarcate a model to fulfill the gap with an empirical examination, and accordingly a model was developed and tested by applying a global structural equation model. The model results of banking SST users specify how the reliability of SSTs is perceived by the users. The findings have reported that the best predictor of perceived reliability (PRe) is perceived security followed by perceived control. Surprisingly, no significant impact of perceived ease of use was found on PRe. The research also attempted to shed light on the influence of PRe on perceived risk, technology trust, and CS in the light of technologyenabled self-service. (English)
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2017.1400533 [Google]
Yung-Shen, Y. (2018): Route factors influencing trust and attitude toward TV shopping, Service Industries Journal, 38(43289), pp.402-430
Television (TV) shopping has notably changed the way people shop today. Due to the high uncertainty and risk associated with TV shopping transactions, trust is crucial to facilitating the adoption of TV shopping. Drawing upon the elaboration likelihood model (ELM), this study examined the effect of route factors on trust and attitude toward TV shopping. While media richness, host interaction, and price fairness act as central cues, ease of payment acts as a peripheral cue. This study employed structural equation modeling, and the sample consisted of 460 TV home shoppers in Taiwan. The results indicated that trust and attitude develop through a dual route that includes a central route and peripheral route. Trust is an important mediator influencing the relationship between route factors and attitude. Moreover, user experience moderates the relationships in the model. Therefore, this study advanced the previous knowledge of the ELM in the context of TV shopping. (English)
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2017.1393525 [Google]
Okoe, A. F., H. Boateng, B. Narteh and R. Owusu Boakye (2018): Examining human resource practice outcomes and service innovation, Service Industries Journal, 38(43289), pp.431-445
This study sought to examine the relationship between human resource practice outcomes and service innovation. It also examines the moderating role of knowledge sharing in the relationship between workplace friendship and service innovation, as well as the mediating role of knowledge sharing in the relationship between job satisfaction and service innovation. The study employed survey research design. The respondents were selected from across the service industry in Ghana using convenience sampling technique. Items measuring the constructs were adapted from extant literature. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed to ascertain the validity of the measurement model. Hierarchical regression was used to analyse the data. The results show that knowledge sharing, job satisfaction, workplace friendship, and employee commitment predict service innovation. However, the interaction of workplace friendship and knowledge sharing has no effect on service innovation. Similarly, the moderation of employee commitment and job satisfaction did not make any contribution to service innovation. The findings imply that service firms must create a friendly working environment, ensuring that employees are satisfied in order to promote service innovation. It also implies that service firms must promote social activities that encourage knowledge sharing, but these social activities must relate to employees’ job. (English)
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2017.1397636 [Google]
Sundermann, L. M. (2018): Share experiences: receiving word of mouth and its effect on relationships with donors, Journal of Services Marketing, 32(3), pp.322-333
Purpose Although antecedents and consequences for the sender of word of mouth (WOM) are well evaluated in many research fields, non-profit service research focusing on consequences for WOM receivers is limited. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to provide evidence for the positive effect that WOM has on commitment, trust, satisfaction and identification (relationship-related factors) and on intentional loyalty of blood donors. Furthermore, the role of the social reference group and the incentive ethics are analysed.Design/methodology/approach Blood donors of the German Red Cross Blood Donor Service were invited to take part in an online survey during May/June 2016. A total of 702 (23.74 per cent) blood donors, who first donated in 2015/2016, participated. The data were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling.Findings The results provide evidence that the mere presence of receiving WOM positively influences commitment, satisfaction and identification as well as intentional loyalty. The negative moderation effect of incentive ethics was partially confirmed.Practical implications This study recommends using WOM approaches to bind donors but first evaluating the exact consequences of provided WOM rewards. WOM is an effective strategy, and non-profit organizations (NPOs) should use this to strengthen their relationship with donors.Originality value The paper provides and tests a theoretical framework to evaluate the impact of receiving WOM on relationship-related factors and intentional loyalty. It fills a gap in current discussions about the effectiveness of WOM as a marketing strategy to strengthen donor–NPO relationships.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JSM-08-2016-0319 [Google]
Rosenmayer, A., L. McQuilken, N. Robertson and S. Ogden (2018): Omni-channel service failures and recoveries: refined typologies using Facebook complaints, Journal of Services Marketing, 32(3), pp.269-285
Purpose This paper aims to present two updated typologies of service failures and recoveries in the omni-channel context. These typologies are based on customer complaints and recoveries collected from the corporate Facebook pages of four omni-channel department stores, two operating in Australia and two in the UK.Design/methodology/approach A document review is used of 400 customer complaints and recoveries. Content analysis is used to condense the Facebook data into categories of failures and recoveries.Findings Customer complaints on Facebook were triggered by a multitude of varying failures in the omni-channel context, given that it is the service brand that customers are experiencing, not just retail channels. The most prevalent failures were “bricks and mortar” shopping, delivery, marketing activities including communications and pricing, quality of goods and customer service. For service recoveries on Facebook, the four-dimensional justice framework appears valid.Research limitations/implications Study limitations include potentially missing details about the nature of the service failures and recoveries, including customer satisfaction with service recovery.Practical implications The typologies offer guidance to omni-channel retailers by showing the range of online and offline situations, including those unrelated to actual transactions that trigger customer complaints on Facebook and the tactics of recovering.Originality/value The authors contribute to the service domain by updating failure and recovery typologies to reflect the emerging omni-channel context, jointly exploring failures and recoveries on Facebook and applying a four-dimensional justice framework for recoveries on Facebook.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JSM-04-2017-0117 [Google]
Orsingher, C. and J. Wirtz (2018): Psychological drivers of referral reward program effectiveness, Journal of Services Marketing, 32(3), pp.256-268
Purpose Empirical research presents conflicting findings with regards to the effectiveness of referral reward programs (RRPs) and supports two alternative and conflicting views on the effectiveness of incentivizing recommendations. They are, first, a positive effect via perceived attractiveness of the incentive, and second, a negative effect via metaperception of the recommendation. The purpose of this paper is to examine these two opposing psychological mechanisms to reconcile the conflicting findings.Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted three experiments. Study 1 tests the base model. Studies 2 and 3 add moderators to test whether each mediating variable operates exclusively on its intended relationship.Findings Incentive size enhanced the attractiveness of an incentive, but reduced the metaperception favorability of the recommendation. These two opposing mechanisms operated in parallel, independently and fully mediated the effects of incentive size to likelihood of making a recommendation. Thus, the net impact of incentives on recommendation behavior depended on the relative strengths of these two opposing forces.Practical implications The study recommends managers to design RRPs with incentives that recommenders perceive as highly useful (i.e. to increase attractiveness) but have a low face value (i.e. to reduce metaperception concerns) and to target RRPs to strong rather than weak ties.Originality/value Our work offers an integrated theoretical account of consumers’ responses to incentivized recommendations and provides managerially relevant guidelines for the design of effective RRPs.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JSM-07-2017-0247 [Google]
Olya, H., L. Altinay and G. De Vita (2018): An exploratory study of value added services, Journal of Services Marketing, 32(3), pp.334-345
Purpose Using data from 104 countries over a six-year period (2009-2014), this study proposes a value-added predictor in service industries based on the eight indicators of the prosperity index, namely economy, entrepreneurship and opportunity, governance, education, health, safety and security, personal freedom and social capital.Design/methodology/approach The fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) and complexity theory, a relatively novel approach for developing and testing the conceptual model, are used for asymmetric modelling of value added in service industries, and the predictive validity of proposed configural model is tested.Findings Apart from advancing method and theory, this study simulates causal conditions (i.e. recipes) leading to both high and low scores of the value added of services. The configural conditions indicating a high/low level of value added in service industries can be used as a guiding strategy for marketers, investors and policy makers.Originality/value An analysis of worldwide data provides complex models demonstrating both how to regulate country conditions to achieve a high value-added score and select a foreign country for investment that offers a high level of value-added service.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JSM-12-2016-0415 [Google]
Matute, J., R. Palau-Saumell and G. Viglia (2018): Beyond chemistry: the role of employee emotional competence in personalized services, Journal of Services Marketing, 32(3), pp.346-359
Purpose This paper aims to investigate how employees’ emotional competences affect customers’ responses in the context of emotional-driven and personalized services. Specifically, it proposes a model to analyze the influence of employees’ emotional competence on rapport, trust and loyalty toward the service employee and the company.Design/methodology/approach The empirical context to validate the proposed theory is the fitness realm. The sample comprises 296 clients from fitness personal training services. Data collection was carried out by means of personal surveys in three relevant fitness clubs in the city of Barcelona (Spain). The study uses partial least squares to test and validate the proposed theoretical model.Findings Employee emotional competence (EEC) directly affects personal loyalty, trust toward the service employee and rapport. However, higher levels of emotional skills are not significantly associated with loyalty toward the company. The results also suggest that trust significantly enhances loyalty. Interestingly, high levels of rapport between the service worker and the employee could even damage the level of loyalty toward the company.Originality/value Prior research documents that emotional intelligence enhances diverse positive customer outcomes, especially in emotionally charged interactions. Nonetheless, few studies have focused on analyzing how customers’ perceptions about services employees’ emotional skills are determining their attitudes and behavioral intentions. This study provides evidence on employee’s influences on consumer behaviors and outcomes, with a specific focus on EEC. It also sheds light on the unintuitive impact of customer employee rapport on loyalty toward the company.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JSM-05-2017-0161 [Google]
Ma, B., X. Li and L. Zhang (2018): The effects of loyalty programs in services – a double-edged sword?, Journal of Services Marketing, 32(3), pp.300-310
Purpose This paper aims to demonstrate both the positive and negative effects of loyalty programs. The study proposes a model to demonstrate why and how loyalty program strategies can result in good customer relationships and customer entitlement behaviors. Various configurations of three different loyalty program strategies are analyzed – tangible rewards, preferential treatment and perceived status.Design/methodology/approach The authors’ hypotheses were tested by analyzing the survey data of 152 frequent flyer program members in China through partial least squares-structural equation modeling. Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) was used to test different configurations of the three loyalty program strategies.Findings A net effects analysis demonstrates that loyalty programs are a double-edged sword. While loyalty programs can improve customer relationships, strategies based on perceived status have a positive relationship to customer entitlement, which may lead customers to expect extraordinary efforts from companies, such as greater discounts and extra privileges. Using fsQCA, the authors determined four sufficient configurations of high level of relationship quality and high level of customer entitlement, which also support their findings.Originality/value First, this study expands the research on loyalty programs by providing an examination of their positive and negative consequences. Second, by proposing the configuration paths that lead to high level of relationship quality and high level of customer entitlement using fsQCA, this research enriches research on the net effects of loyalty programs, providing researchers and practitioners with a more comprehensive understanding of loyalty programs. Third, this research extends the concept of customer entitlement to the context of buyer–seller relationships by introducing perceived status as an important antecedent of customer entitlement and by identifying four sufficient configurations.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JSM-06-2016-0227 [Google]
Lunardo, R. and C. Saintives (2018): Coping with the ambivalent emotions of guilt and pride in the service context, Journal of Services Marketing, 32(3), pp.360-370
Purpose This research paper aims to contribute to the literature on emotions in the service experience. The extant literature has extensively discussed how the service experience can drive singular emotions. However, the investigation of the combined effects of mixed emotions – that is, emotions of antagonistic valence (positive and negative) – remains scarce. To fill this gap, this research focuses on the combined effects of the negative emotion of guilt and the positive emotion of pride, two affective reactions that can be felt during a service experience but that differ from each other in terms of valence. Specifically, this research examines how consumers who simultaneously feel these two emotions cope with them and more precisely if they engage in a positive reappraisal of their own behavior during the service experience or if they rather prefer adopting the avoidance strategy of mental disengagement. Finally, this research paper examines how these coping strategies to the mixed emotions of pride and guilt affect satisfaction with the service.Design/methodology/approach A series of hypotheses relating guilt, pride and the coping strategies of mental disengagement and positive reappraisal, as well as their effect on satisfaction toward the service, are testes using two scenario-based experiments.Findings The findings show that the effects of guilt on the coping strategies of mental disengagement and positive reappraisal are moderated by pride. Importantly, the results show that these two interacting effects are distinct. Precisely, while pride moderates the effect of guilt on mental disengagement such that a negative effect of guilt is observed mainly among people who feel strong guilt feelings, the moderating effect of pride in the guilt-positive reappraisal relationship is positive and mainly among those who feel low guilt feelings. Further, mental disengagement mediates the effects of guilt on satisfaction and differently according to the level of pride.Originality/value This research makes a contribution through the investigation of mixed emotions. This approach appears of value because services can drive different emotions simultaneously, and in a context where most extant research focuses on singular emotions.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JSM-01-2017-0003 [Google]
Gong, T. (2018): Customer brand engagement behavior in online brand communities, Journal of Services Marketing, 32(3), pp.286-299
Purpose This study aims to investigate the moderating role of cultural value orientations on the relationship between brand ownership and customer brand engagement behavior through brand responsibility and self-enhancement.Design/methodology/approach Respondents came from firm-managed online smartphone brand communities in South Korea and the USA. Convenience sampling yielded 197 valid responses, with 98 coming from South Korea and 99 coming from the USA.Findings The study results provide empirical evidence that cultural value orientations influence customer brand engagement behavior. As expected, the findings indicate that individualism-collectivism and power distance significantly moderate the indirect effect of brand responsibility and self-enhancement on the relationship between brand ownership and customer brand engagement behavior.Originality/value Prior research has focused mainly on customer engagement behaviors that target the firm, employees and other customers, with little research examining customer engagement behavior that targeted the brand (customer brand engagement behavior). This exploration is important because customers could serve as brand missionaries, become less apt to switch brands and provide feedback, leading to a sustainable competitive advantage.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JSM-08-2016-0293 [Google]
Durgee, J. F. and G. Agopian (2018): Refurbishing services and how services enhance consumer well-being, Journal of Services Marketing, 32(3), pp.311-321
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how services might impact a general consumer sense of everyday well-being or life satisfaction.Design/methodology/approach It was decided to focus on the existential benefits of refurbishing services and see how they might impact owner sense of self and overall life satisfaction. A qualitative study was fielded which consisted of analyses of website testimonials of customers of refurbishing services for products such as pianos, watches, boats, bicycles and other durables. Also analyzed were results from one-on-one qualitative interviews of customers of refurbishing services and selected refurbishers of similar products.Findings The study suggests that refurbish services provide a mix of hedonic and eudaimonic benefits. They provide an enhanced sense of self and general well-being insofar, as the newly restored item connects owners to loved ones, to other collectors or fans and to their own personal life histories. It also connects them to the refurbishers and their “magic”. Insofar as refurbishers invite customer involvement in the process, they co-create how the process will proceed, so customers feel a special involvement and gain an understanding of the workings of the item and how to best use it.Practical implications Refurbishing services might offer, like all the new internet-mediated sharing services, a more sustainable alternative to the buy-and-dispose consumption behaviors found in most world economies.Originality value This paper provides insights into the lives of products after purchase and the roles of relevant service providers. It also provides examples of how service providers in general might deepen and facilitate customers’ feelings about themselves and their daily lives. It shows how service providers can enhance customer hedonic and eudaimonic appreciation of provider knowledge, skills and efforts.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JSM-11-2016-0395 [Google]
Sherwyn, D. and P. Wagner (2018): We Can Thank Harvey Weinstein for Doing What Congress and the Supreme Court Failed to Do, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 59(2), pp.174-188
While the years 2017 and 2018 will be remembered for numerous geo political and social movements, any retrospective of this time will include the issue of sexual harassment and the corresponding “Me Too” movement. In this time, sexual harassment has transformed from a workplace legal concept to an issue that is defining the fabric of the country. While no one could persuasively argue that sexual harassment has not expanded from its legal roots to a movement that transcends the law, the fact is that the concept is rooted and adjudicated in law. Sadly, the commentators and the popular press often ignore or misstate the law. This creates a dangerous culture where the public is misinformed of their rights and responsibilities. More troubling, is the fact that there are serious problems with the law that need to be understand and, we contend, changed, in order for the entire problem to be eliminated, or, at least, mitigated. This paper explains the law with regard to what constitutes sexual harassment and when the employer is liable, identifies the problems, and proposes a fix so that we can create a future workplace where the authors’ five daughters (between them) and the rest of their generation will be able to honestly not raise their hands and not have to say: “Me Too!”
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1938965518761993 [Google]
Sakdiyakorn, M. and W. Wattanacharoensil (2018): Generational Diversity in the Workplace: A Systematic Review in the Hospitality Context, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 59(2), pp.135-159
This article marks the first systematic review that focuses on generational diversity in the hospitality workplace in the period from 2000 to 2016. A comprehensive search was conducted in the five dominant databases, namely, Scopus, SAGE, Emeralds, Science Direct, and EBSCOhost’s Hospitality and Tourism Complete, resulting in 49 articles for systematic content analysis. This article maps out the existing landscape of generational studies within a hospitality context before providing five areas of recommendations for future studies to fully capture the intricacy of the generational phenomenon. This study serves as a funnel for academics and practitioners within the hospitality field as it gears their attention and research directions toward the crucial, yet underexamined, context of generational studies.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1938965517730312 [Google]
Rojas-de-Gracia, M.-M. and P. Alarcón-Urbistondo (2018): Couple Roles in Subdecisions on Family Vacations, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 59(2), pp.160-173
This article studies the roles within couples, the main decision makers in family vacations, for each of the subdecisions into which the purchase process can be divided. This implies not only identifying the role played by each member of the couple in each subdecision but also determining the variables behind whether the man, the woman, or both jointly, have the greatest influence in each case. To this end, the use of 375 sets of questionnaires completed by each partner separately provided greater validity and reliability than other studies that have depended on only one answer per couple. The results show that vacations tend to follow a joint decision-making process, except for when it comes to searching for information, which is done autonomously by either partner. Women’s work situation and differences in education level within the couple are the variables that best explain how couples make decisions when purchasing family vacations.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1938965517734941 [Google]
Madera, J. M. (2018): What’s in It for Me? Perspective Taking as an Intervention for Improving Attitudes Toward Diversity Management, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 59(2), pp.100-111
Hospitality organizations are increasingly investing in diversity management to address the reality of a diverse hospitality workforce. The effectiveness of diversity management highly depends on employee supportive attitudes; however, extant research shows that not all employees have positive attitudes toward diversity management. Using experimental methods, the current study examines situational perspective taking of discrimination—imagining being the target of workplace discrimination—as an intervention to influence the perceived utility and importance of diversity management using frontline hotel managers (Study 1) and hospitality students seeking careers in hospitality (Study 2) with two different methods of collecting data. Both studies showed that situational perspective taking of discrimination increases the perceived utility and importance of diversity management. Mediation analyses showed that it is through inducing negative affect that situational perspective taking leads to more positive attitudes toward diversity management. The results provide insight for hospitality organizations that use corporate websites and other recruitment activities to promote support for diversity management. Specifically, organizations should prime egocentric biases by emphasizing that diversity management protects all employees, regardless of different demographic characteristics, from workplace discrimination.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1938965517730319 [Google]
Choi, S., S. Q. Liu and A. S. Mattila (2018): Consumer Response to Authentic-Language Versus English-Language Menu Labeling in Ethnic Dining, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 59(2), pp.125-134
Many ethnic restaurants use authentic-language labels (e.g., “Khao Pad Sapparod”), as opposed to English-language labels (e.g., “Pineapple Fried Rice”), in the menu to make their dishes appeal more authentic. Yet, the effectiveness of authentic-language labels is not well understood. To address this gap, the present research examines consumers’ attitudes toward a menu as a function of (a) authentic-language versus English-language menu labeling and (b) the consumer’s Need for Cognitive Closure (NFCC)—a fundamental desire to achieve resolution on a decision. The results show that while consumers with low NFCC prefer a menu using authentic-language (vs. English-language) labeling, their high NFCC counterparts respond more favorably to a menu using English-language (vs. authentic-language) labeling. Moreover, a moderated mediation analysis reveals that an intensified bothersome feeling in achieving resolution is the psychological mechanism explaining why authentic-language labels backfire among consumers with high NFCC. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1938965517730314 [Google]
Choi, C., S. J. Joe and A. S. Mattila (2018): Reference Price and Its Asymmetric Effects on Price Evaluations: The Moderating Role of Gender, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 59(2), pp.189-194
Empirical research shows that customers form price evaluations by comparing the actual price with a reference price. The relative use of an internal reference price (IRP) versus an external reference price (ERP) is an important issue in the lodging industry due to the popularity of price-comparison–based advertising. Although prior literature shows that demographic factors influence the relative use of IRP and ERP, the impact of gender on the relationship between reference prices and price evaluations has received scant attention in both hospitality and marketing contexts. Drawing on the agency-communal theory, the current research examines the effect of gender on the use of IRP and ERP in price evaluations. The findings indicate that males are more susceptible to IRP than to ERP, whereas females are only influenced by ERP. Relevant managerial implications are drawn in terms of pricing and promotional strategies.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1938965517719266 [Google]
Altin, M., M. Uysal and Z. Schwartz (2018): Revenue Management Outsourcing: A Hybrid Model of Transaction Cost Economics and Organizational Capability, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 59(2), pp.112-124
Hotel revenue management is an activity domain that is uniquely technical, complex, and dynamic, and as such, it is often outsourced. This study explores the motivation of hotels to outsource their revenue management function to an outside entity. The major theoretical contribution is in being first to suggest, and empirically test, the notion that in complex environments, such as revenue management, the firm’s capabilities are moderating the impact of assets specificity on managers’ inclination to outsource. From a practical perspective, this study is the first to empirically explore the contextual determinants of the decision to outsource in the hotel-specific domain of revenue management.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1938965517730318 [Google]
