Today we identify service articles published in Marketing, Management, Operations, Productions, Information Systems & Practioner-oriented Journals in the last months.
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Hill, T., R. Canniford and G. M. Eckhardt (2021): The Roar of the Crowd: How Interaction Ritual Chains Create Social Atmospheres, Journal of Marketing, (2522), pp.1
Atmospheres are experiences of place involving transformations of consumers’ behaviors and emotions. Existing marketing research reveals how atmospheric stimuli, service performances, and ritual place-making enhance place experiences and create value for firms. Yet it remains unclear how shared experiences of atmosphere emerge and intensify among groups of people during collective live events. Accordingly, this article uses sociological interaction ritual theory to conceptualize “social atmospheres”: rapidly changing qualities of place created when a shared focus aligns consumers’ emotions and behavior, resulting in lively expressions of collective effervescence. With data from an ethnography of an English Premier League football stadium, the authors identify a four-stage process of creating atmospheres in interaction ritual chains. This framework goes beyond conventional retail and servicescape design by demonstrating that social atmospheres are mobile and cocreated between firms and consumers before, during, and after a main event. The study also reveals how interaction rituals can be disrupted and offers insight as to how firms can balance key tensions in creating social atmospheres as a means to enhance customer experiences, customer loyalty, and communal place attachments.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00222429211023355 [Google]
Andonova, Y., N. A. Anaza and D. H. S. Bennett (2021): Riding the subscription box wave: Understanding the landscape, challenges, and critical success factors of the subscription box industry, Business Horizons, 64(2523), pp.631-646
The subscription box e-commerce industry has experienced tremendous growth over the last 5 years. Given the growing size of the industry, this business model warrants the close attention of firms currently offering subscription services as well as companies considering entering this industry. This article presents a detailed overview of the subscription box industry and proposes a framework—the four Cs—for understanding subscription offerings. It identifies challenges and opportunities facing this industry, and it provides managers with guidance in the form of five tenets on how to navigate the subscription box economy.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2021.02.024 [Google]
Lee, I. (2021): Cybersecurity: Risk management framework and investment cost analysis, Business Horizons, 64(2524), pp.659-671
As organizations accelerate digital transformation with mobile devices, cloud services, social media, and Internet of Things services, cybersecurity has become a key priority in enterprise risk management. While improving cybersecurity leads to higher levels of customer trust and increased revenue opportunities, rapidly evolving data protection and privacy regulations have complicated cybersecurity management. Against the backdrop of rapidly rising cyberbreaches and the emergence of novel cybersecurity technologies such as machine learning and artificial intelligence, this article introduces a cyber risk management framework, discusses a cyber risk assessment process, and illustrates a continuous improvement of cybersecurity performance and cyberinvestment cost analysis with a real-world cybersecurity example.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2021.02.022 [Google]
DeFranco, A., Y. Koh, P. Prem and B. Love (2021): Inclusion of Condominium Units in Luxury Hotels as a Diversification Strategy: Property Performance Perspective, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, (2525), pp.1
There is a new wave of mixed development where luxury hotels come with condominium units, though this type of diversification has gained scant attention. Prior hospitality literature on diversification strategies has mostly taken the firm-level approach and documented its impact on performance from various angles such as brand diversification, segment diversification, and geographic diversification, therefore leaving a void. In this work, we use the multilevel mixed effect model to examine 15,340 property-level data points from 2010 to 2019 for U.S. luxury hotels with and without condominium units. Our objective is to compare, at a property level, the performances of luxury hotels with condominium units with the performances of those not having condominium units and to determine whether the difference varies by hotel location. Our findings suggest that the Average Daily Rate (ADR), Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR), and Total Revenue per Available Rooms (TRevPAR) of luxury hotels with condominium units were significantly higher than those of hotels without condominium units. Significant moderating effect of location was found for Occupancy, ADR, Food and Beverage Revenue per Available Rooms (F&B RevPAR), and TRevPAR while no such effect was found for RevPAR and GOPPAR.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/19389655211050398 [Google]
Ma, E., Y. Bao, L. Huang, D. Wang and M. Kim (2021): When a Robot Makes Your Dinner: A Comparative Analysis of Product Level and Customer Experience Between the U.S. and Chinese Robotic Restaurants, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, (2526), pp.1
Integrating two theoretical frameworks, the product level theory and the experience economy model, this research analyzed and compared robotic technology applications and customer experiences in selected case robot restaurants in the United States and China. Guided by the product level theory, we first analyzed in which product/service levels were robots applied in each case restaurant in Study 1. Then in study 2, guided by the experience economy model, we further explored customers’ dining experiences and compared if customers’ experience differs due to variations in product/service levels that robot applied. The study first contributes to the product level theory by extending its application to the context of robotic restaurants. It also contributes to the experience economy literature, and in particularly, whether applications of robotic technologies at different product levels matter in customers’ dining experience. The study included case restaurants both from the United States and China, presenting findings with cultural implications. Given the challenges presented by COVID-19 and the industry is exploring alternative ways for service delivery and food production, such a study is particularly meaningful.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/19389655211052286 [Google]
Alavi, S., E. Böhm, J. Habel, J. Wieseke, C. Schmitz and F. Brüggemann (2021): The ambivalent role of monetary sales incentives in service innovation selling, Journal of Product Innovation Management, (2527), pp.1
Complex service innovations constitute a cornerstone in the strategy of numerous industrial companies. The industrial sales force assumes an important role in the selling of these complex service innovations. For firms a key challenge in this respect resides in ensuring the sales force’s motivation for the selling of such innovations and effectively solving customers’ business problems. Past research frequently discussed monetary sales incentives as an effective tool to reinforce desired employee behaviors, but, to date, the discussion has failed to produce conclusive guidance for practitioners as to whether monetary sales incentives in fact can facilitate selling of complex service innovations. To clarify the effects of monetary sales incentives in this respect, we draw on self‐focus theory to disentangle how complex service innovation selling is shaped by the interplay of salesperson service incentives (i.e., the extent to which variable compensation depends on service turnover) and salesperson share of variable compensation (i.e., the percentage of compensation that depends on performance). To test these interactive effects, we use a multiple‐source data set including 294 salespeople, and match objective firm data. The results reveal that when service incentives are high, the share of variable compensation exhibits an inverse u‐shaped effect on a salesperson’s problem‐solving behavior, which is an important predictor of innovative service selling success. In addition, the share of variable compensation increases work effort, which in turn drives innovative service selling success. These findings shed light on the intricate “human”, employee‐related side of service innovation management and provide actionable implications for managers how to increase their firms’ innovative service selling success.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jpim.12600 [Google]
Lehoux, P., H. P. Silva, J. L. Denis, F. A. Miller, R. Pozelli Sabio and M. Mendell (2021): Moving toward responsible value creation: Business model challenges faced by organizations producing responsible health innovations, Journal of Product Innovation Management, 38(2528), pp.548-573
Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) seeks to steer innovation toward important societal challenges and, by doing so, calls for entrepreneurial activities that create economic, social, and environmental value. Nonetheless, little is known about the way different types of organization can produce responsible products and services and the challenges they face when implementing new business models remain largely uncharted. By linking the RRI and the business model literatures, the aim of this article is to generate a better understanding of the challenges underlying responsible value creation. To do so, we approach the business model as a dynamic construct that crosses organizational boundaries and develop an empirically grounded multilevel model that links entrepreneurs’ practices (micro‐level), organizational management (meso‐level), and innovation system dynamics (macro‐level). Our multiple case studies include for‐profit and not‐for‐profit Canadian and Brazilian organizations (n = 16) engaged in the production of responsible health innovations and explore the following research questions: “What business model challenges do these organizations face in their attempt to produce responsible innovations? How do these challenges affect the implementation of their business model and capacity to achieve responsible value creation?” Our findings focus on cross‐case commonalities that clarify how specific business model components are dynamically adapted in response to eight micro‐, meso‐, and macro‐level business model challenges, while the organizations’ capacity to adequately align these components remains precarious. Our study provides innovation management scholars with an empirically grounded model that brings conceptual clarity to responsible value creation. This groundwork may foster cumulative knowledge growth on the way RRI‐oriented organizations can orchestrate their activities toward responsible value creation, which simultaneously requires individual entrepreneurial skills, organizational capacities, and the support of other innovation stakeholders.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jpim.12596 [Google]
Lu, S. F., K. Serfes, G. Wedig and B. Wu (2021): Does Competition Improve Service Quality? The Case of Nursing Homes Where Public and Private Payers Coexist, Management Science, 67(2529), pp.6493-6512
Competition plays an ambiguous role in nursing home markets where public and private payers coexist. Using U.S. nursing home data with a wide range of market structures, we find a U-shaped relationship between competition and service quality when nursing homes serve a mix of public and private segments, and a monotonically increasing relationship when nursing homes mostly serve the public, price-regulated, segment. The outcomes can be explained by the interplay of two opposing effects of competition: the reputation-building effect, whereby competing firms choose high quality to build a good reputation, and the rent-extraction effect, whereby competition hinders investment for quality improvements by lowering price premia. These observations are consistent with a repeated game model that incorporates public and private-payer segments. This paper was accepted by Stefan Scholtes, healthcare management.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2020.3806 [Google]
Choo, A., S. Narayanan, R. Srinivasan and S. Sarkar (2021): Introducing goods innovation, service innovation, or both? Investigating the tension in managing innovation revenue streams for manufacturing and service firms, Journal of Operations Management, 67(2530), pp.704-728
Many manufacturing and service companies extend their product lines by pursuing different domain NPI (new product introduction), that is, manufacturers launching new services and service firms venturing into new goods. Little is known about how this innovation approach compares to firms focusing on same domain NPI, that is, manufacturers launching new goods and service firms introducing new services. This research investigates these innovation approaches at the firm level using a set of archival data for the period 2006–2008, which comprises 16,735 manufacturing and service firms from 11 European countries. Our results show no statistical difference in innovation revenue performance between same and different domain NPIs. Both categories of firms gained about 13–14% higher performance relative to those firms that reported ongoing innovation activities but did not introduce any innovation. Our findings also show firms that pursued both same and different domain NPIs (a dual innovation approach) achieved a higher innovation revenue performance (about 4% higher relative to firms pursuing same or different domain NPI). Despite the higher performance, we find that the interaction effect of same and different domain NPIs on firm innovation revenue is substitutive. Our results are largely consistent across multiple robustness checks: (a) a different dataset collected for the period 2008–2010 to replicate the findings, (b) alternative dependent variables, (c) multiple endogeneity checks, and (d) different estimation approaches. Finally, post‐hoc analyses show the substitution effect is (i) stronger for small firms, (ii) stronger for firms with internal R&D, and (iii) not significantly different for firms with or without external R&D. Overall, these findings contribute to a nuanced understanding of the opportunity and tension firms face in introducing innovations in same and different domain activities.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/joom.1136 [Google]
Bernstein, F., G. A. DeCroix and N. B. Keskin (2021): Competition Between Two-Sided Platforms Under Demand and Supply Congestion Effects, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 23(2531), pp.1043-1061
Problem definition: This paper explores the impact of competition between platforms in the sharing economy. Examples include the cases of Uber and Lyft in the context of ride-sharing platforms. In particular, we consider competition between two platforms that offer a common service (e.g., rides) through a set of independent service providers (e.g., drivers) to a market of customers. Each platform sets a price that is charged to customers for obtaining the service provided by a driver. A portion of that price is paid to the driver who delivers the service. Both customers’ and drivers’ utilities are sensitive to the payment terms set by the platform and are also sensitive to congestion in the system (given by the relative number of customers and drivers in the market). We consider two possible settings. The first one, termed “single-homing,” assumes that drivers work through a single platform. In the second setting, termed “multihoming” (or “multiapping,” as it is known in practice), drivers deliver their service through both platforms. Academic/practical relevance: This is one of the first papers to study competition and multihoming in the presence of congestion effects typically observed in the sharing economy. We leverage the model to study some practical questions that have received significant press attention (and stirred some controversies) in the ride-sharing industry. The first involves the issue of surge pricing. The second involves the increasingly common practice of drivers choosing to operate on multiple platforms (multihoming). Methodology: We formulate our problem as a pricing game between two platforms and employ the concept of a Nash equilibrium to analyze equilibrium outcomes in various settings. Results: In both the single-homing and multihoming settings, we study the equilibrium prices that emerge from the competitive interaction between the platforms and explore the supply and demand outcomes that can arise at equilibrium. We build on these equilibrium results to study the impact of surge pricing in response to a surge in demand and to examine the incentives at play when drivers engage in multihoming. Managerial implications: We find that raising prices in response to a surge in demand makes drivers and customers better off than if platforms were constrained to charge the same prices that would arise under normal demand levels. We also compare drivers’ and customers’ performance when all drivers either single-home or multihome. We find that although individual drivers may have an incentive to multihome, all players are worse off when all drivers multihome. We conclude by proposing an incentive mechanism to discourage multihoming.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/msom.2020.0866 [Google]
Chen, M. and F. Wang (2021): Effects of top management team faultlines in the service transition of manufacturing firms, Industrial Marketing Management, 98(2532), pp.115-124
Manufacturing firms have increasingly begun to offer services in addition to products, a strategy known as “service transition.” Because top management team (TMT) is responsible for implementing and coordinating firm strategy, it is important to understand how the characteristics of TMT affect service transition. The objective of this study is to investigate the differential effects of product-related and product-unrelated service transitions on financial performance and the moderating roles of informational and social TMT faultlines. Analyses of secondary data from 293 manufacturing firms in China between 2003 and 2018 indicate that although product-related service transition increases financial performance (as measured by Tobin’s Q), product-unrelated service transition decreases it. Informational faultlines increase these performance implications by enhancing the positive effect of product-related service transition but attenuating the negative effect of product-unrelated service transition. In contrast, social faultlines decrease these performance implications by attenuating the positive effect of product-related service transition but enhancing the negative effects of product-unrelated service transition. These findings contribute to the marketing strategy literature by providing new insights into the differential effects of TMT faultlines on service transition. • Since top management team (TMT) is responsible for implementing firm strategy, we aim to understand how TMT affect service transition. • We investigated the effects of service transitions on financial performance and the moderating roles of informational and social TMT faultlines. • Results indicate that while product-related service transition increases performance, product-unrelated service transition decreases it. • Whereas informational faultlines enhance the performance implications of service transitions, social faultlines hinder them.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2021.08.001 [Google]
Kingshott, R. P. J., H. F. L. Chung, M. P. Putranta, P. Sharma and H. Sima (2021): Religiosity and psychological contracts in Asian B2B service relationships, Industrial Marketing Management, 98(2533), pp.138-148
The growing significance of Asia in global trade has meant that service organizations within the region need to build robust relationships with customers that may reside in nations with different socio-cultural backgrounds. This paper draws on the theories of social exchange and social capital to examine how Indonesian service providers build B2B relationships with their Asian customers in the region, when the customers are from non-Islamic nations. This study used a survey to collect its primary data. Data from 312 Indonesian firms revealed that Asian cultural-specific concepts of religiosity not only had a positive impact on transactional and relational psychological contracts, but also dampened psychological contract breaches. Only relational psychological contracts had a positive effect on relational capital and relational wellbeing, despite transactional contracts being intrinsic to these relationships. Relational capital helped to reduce psychological contract breaches and improve relationship wellbeing, whereas psychological contract breaches reduced such wellbeing. Our findings significantly extend research on B2B service relationships and offer valuable managerial insights for service decision makers operating in Asia that involves B2B relationships between organizations with specific and different socio-cultural backgrounds. • Relationship marketing is used to build Asian B2B service relationships. • Religiosity and psychological contracts play a role in relationships. • Transactional and relational contracts behave differently in B2B service relationships. • Relationship capital determines level of psychological contract breaches. • Psychological contracts and relationship capital impact relationship wellbeing.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2021.07.010 [Google]
Kushwaha, A. K., P. Kumar and A. K. Kar (2021): What impacts customer experience for B2B enterprises on using AI-enabled chatbots? Insights from Big data analytics, Industrial Marketing Management, 98(2534), pp.207-221
Many B2B firms have widely accepted AI-based chatbots to provide human-like service interaction at different customer touchpoints in recent years. One of the objectives behind introducing this technology is to provide an enhanced, live channel Customer Experience (CX) all round the clock. Researchers have focused on delivering the CX by improvising the chatbot’s internal algorithm, giving limited attention to CX theories from management literature, which leaves a gap. With the proposed paper, we have investigated the influencing factors of AI-based chatbots from the lens of CX theories for B2B firms. In this paper, a model for organizing CX has been proposed using the diffusion of innovation theory, trust commitment theory, information systems success model, and Hoffman & Novak’s flow model for the computer-mediated environment and verified using the social media data. The methodology used for this study is the social media analytics-based content analysis method (sentiment analysis, hierarchical clustering, topic modeling) for data preparation, followed by lasso and ridge regression for model verification. The results suggest that CX in B2B enterprises using chatbots is influenced by these bots’ overall system design, customers’ ability to use technology, and customer trust towards brand and system. • We investigate the influencing factors of Customer Experience in AI based chatbots. • A big data driven approach has been adopted by mining social media posts. • Theory used includes diffusion of innovation, trust commitment, IS success and flow model. • Text mining followed by Lasso and Ridge regression has been used for model validation.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2021.08.011 [Google]
Li, S., G. Peng, F. Xing, J. Zhang and B. Zhang (2021): Value co-creation in industrial AI: The interactive role of B2B supplier, customer and technology provider, Industrial Marketing Management, 98(2535), pp.105-114
This research explores the interactive role of supplier, customer and technology company in business-to-business (B2B) marketing when they develop and use industrial artificial intelligence (AI). From a value co-creation perspective and following a service-dominant logic, this study aims to identify essential value types that are created collaboratively by B2B professionals (namely suppliers, customers and AI providers), and critical capabilities that contribute to their value co-creation practices. Nineteen in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with three groups of B2B stakeholders in six companies that involved in an industrial AI development and usage project. The data was then analysed using a thematic analysis approach. The results of this research contain a categorisation of four value types and three sets of capabilities, together with the interrelationships between them. This study contributes to the literature of value co-creation, information system and B2B marketing by bridging these three disciplines within the context of industrial AI development and usage. • Simultaneous combination between value and stakeholder capability in industrial AI. • Categorisation of five types of value is identified. • A set of capabilities are considered critical in value co-creation in industrial AI. • Applied value types and capabilities are dynamic, collective and interrelated.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2021.07.015 [Google]
Visentin, M., A. Tuan and S. Prestini (2021): Love or hate? Hotels’ gay-friendliness and their intention to maintain or diminish the hotel digital service relationship with OTAs, Industrial Marketing Management, 98(2536), pp.28-40
This study offers the first analysis of hotel managers’ intentions to maintain or diminish a service business relationship with Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) based on an empirical assessment of transaction-specific variables, socio-relational variables and values-related variables (namely, gay-friendliness). Based on 206 questionnaires administered to EU-based hotels, the study suggests that a hotel’s intention to maintain seems to be impacted by both the economic dimension and the hotel’s self-perceived gay-friendliness. The intention to diminish follows a different path, being mainly motivated by opportunistic and transaction-specific characteristics of the service. Our results suggest that hotels geared toward the LGBT travel market can benefit from being listed on OTAs without suffering brand image drawbacks. Moreover, like is already common in the CSR realm, OTAs should allow hotels to include LGBT-related information and explicitly expand their search engines to target gay-friendly hospitality. • The decision to diminish is not the mirrored image of the decision to maintain. • A new two-factor scale of hotel gay-friendliness is developed and validated. • Hotels may perceive that the costs for listing on an OTA are too high. • A hotel’s self-declared gay-friendliness plays a role in the B2B relationship continuation. • An OTA’s strong reputation may shield the relationship from being diminished.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2021.06.011 [Google]
Christensen-Salem, A., M. T. F. Zanini, F. O. Walumbwa, R. Parente, D. M. Peat and J. Perrmann-Graham (2021): Communal solidarity in extreme environments: The role of servant leadership and social resources in building serving culture and service performance, Journal of Business Research, 135(2537), pp.829-839
• Servant leadership enables teams to sustain serving culture and enhance performance. • Communal solidarity is critical to building sustained team unity and performance. • Social resources are necessary for team success in extreme environments. Research on extreme environments has highlighted the necessity of having response teams that serve both the community and team. Though researchers have discussed the need for “unit solidarity” or a “communal code,” our research is among the first to examine communal solidarity—that is, the building of unity in both the community and the team by serving both, which we operationalize as team serving culture—in an extreme environment. We use social resource theory to develop a model whereby serving culture starts with department level servant leadership. We theorize that department servant leadership influences team leader servant leadership, which enhances social resources including trust in team leader, trust in team, and team cohesion, which then translate into serving culture and team service performance in an extreme setting. We test our model with a sample of 344 officers and 104 leaders enlisted in Brazil’s Special Operations Police.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.07.017 [Google]
Donthu, N., S. Kumar, N. Pandey, N. Pandey and A. Mishra (2021): Mapping the electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) research: A systematic review and bibliometric analysis, Journal of Business Research, 135(2538), pp.758-773
In this study, we use bibliometric analysis and systematic review to analyze electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) research. Our findings show that the research has grown a lot in terms of publications. The publications have mostly come from United States and Europe. The contributors to the field have preferred mixed research designs with more focus on theory building. The geographical focus of the research has been on North America and Europe, which is consistent with the contribution patterns. The prominent topics in the field include negative word of mouth, consumer behavior and trust, word of mouth in social networks, online reviews and ratings, brand loyalty, social media, service failure and service recovery, corporate social responsibility, user-generated content and viral marketing, service quality, and services marketing. There are four primary topics in the field’s current research: determinants of eWOM , eWOM in the hospitality industry , cognitive aspects of eWOM , and service failure and recovery. The future directions and implications of research are discussed.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.07.015 [Google]
Filieri, R., Z. Lin, G. Pino, S. Alguezaui and A. Inversini (2021): The role of visual cues in eWOM on consumers’ behavioral intention and decisions, Journal of Business Research, 135(2539), pp.663-675
• This study focuses on visual and verbal cues in eWOM. • We study the effect of visual and verbal cues on consumer intention and behavior. • We draw upon Dual Coding Theory and use a mixed-method approach. • Popularity and performance visual heuristics affect intentions and decision. • User-generated pictures also affect consumers’ intentions and decision. Consumers increasingly use eWOM to make decisions about various products and services. However, few studies have investigated how different visual and verbal eWOM cues affect the intention and decision to visit tourist destinations and their attractions. The current study fills this gap by drawing on Dual Coding Theory and investigating the influence of verbal and visual eWOM cues on consumers’ intention and behavior. The findings of a field study and an experimental study revealed that eWOM mainly affects tourists’ intentions and decisions through visual cues. Specifically, popularity heuristics, performance visual heuristics, and user-generated pictures affect tourists’ intention and decision to visit a destination and its attractions. Interestingly, information quality did not affect tourists’ decisions. The study offers important theoretical and managerial implications.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.06.055 [Google]
Kull, A. J., M. Romero and L. Monahan (2021): How may I help you? Driving brand engagement through the warmth of an initial chatbot message, Journal of Business Research, 135(2540), pp.840-850
Despite the growing number of brands that rely on chatbots to address customer service inquiries that once required human intervention, academics and practitioners are only beginning to acknowledge the role of chatbots in brand-building activities. Chatbots can initiate online conversations, thereby often serving as a consumer’s first brand impression. However, little is known about how managers can strategically tailor a chatbot’s initial message to foster consumer–brand connections and, ultimately, engagement. Three studies demonstrate that when chatbots initiate a conversation using a warm (vs. competent) message, brand engagement increases, as assessed using both computerized text analysis and traditional scale measures. Brand–self distance mediates this effect, such that a warm (vs. competent) initial chatbot message makes consumers feel closer to the brand. Further, the authors identify brand affiliation as a theoretically relevant moderator. This research thus offers managers insight into how initial chatbot messages can attract and engage consumers.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.03.005 [Google]
Lambert, A., R. P. Jones and S. Clinton (2021): Employee engagement and the service profit chain in a quick-service restaurant organization, Journal of Business Research, 135(2541), pp.214-225
• Engagement is a viable employee construct to use in the service profit chain. • Engagement is the catalyst in a chain ending in positive financial outcomes. • Developing effective engagement strategies should be a restaurant manager priority. This study examines employee engagement in a quick-service restaurant’s (QSR’s) service profit chain. It addresses calls for new research from the service profit chain literature by using large sample sizes, a new employee perception construct (i.e., employee engagement), and financial data across multiple years. The findings support service management theory and the service profit chain, in that employee engagement was significantly linked to faster service value performance times, service value performance was significantly linked to customer perception of service, and customer perception of service was significantly linked to sales and controllable profit in year 1 and comparable (year-over-year) sales growth in year 2. The study shows that employee engagement, directly and indirectly, affects operational, customer, and financial performance measures in the QSR and provides initial support for the importance of fostering employee engagement in the workplace.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.06.009 [Google]
Rondi, E., A. De Massis and S. Kraus (2021): Servitization through open service innovation in family firms: Exploring the ability-willingness paradox, Journal of Business Research, 135(2542), pp.436-444
Services constitute strategic components of firms’ value proposition, specifically for manufacturing firms currently called to servitize their products to develop product-service systems. In order to develop new services, they need to acquire, assimilate, transform and exploit external knowledge, thereby partnering with external stakeholders, a strategy labelled open service innovation. Yet research on innovation management in general and open innovation in particular has mostly focused on product innovation, leaving this area of research scantly understood. This is particularly true for manufacturing firms involving a family in the business, namely family manufacturing firms, acknowledged for adopting distinctive innovation behavior. With the intention of addressing this gap, we conceptually investigate open service innovation in family manufacturing firms by embracing a relational perspective. In so doing, we identify drivers and contingencies of family manufacturing firms’ innovation behavior that might trap them in their own net(work) and suggest managerial solutions to escape from such trap.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.06.040 [Google]
Torres Pena, M. V. and C. F. Breidbach (2021): On emergence in service platforms: An application to P2P lending, Journal of Business Research, 135(2543), pp.337-347
Three critical barriers limit the development of knowledge about service platforms today: ambiguous definitions of what service platforms entail, overemphasis of a digital artifact, and the a-priori assumption that an established and mature service platform exists. The logics, mechanisms, and implications associated with the initial development, subsequent transformation, and evolution of service platforms throughout their lifetime are therefore poorly understood. To address these challenges, we use complex systems theory to reconceptualize service platforms as complex adaptive systems and delineate three distinct order levels of emergence in service platforms: first-order, second-order, and third-order emergence. Contextualized for peer-to-peer lending platforms, our study contributes new knowledge of the systemic dynamics of service platforms at different moments in time – initial formation or assemblage, functioning, and evolution, while also identifying and discussing mechanisms that propitiate emergence.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.06.057 [Google]
Whang, J. B., J. H. Song, B. Choi and J.-H. Lee (2021): The effect of Augmented Reality on purchase intention of beauty products: The roles of consumers’ control, Journal of Business Research, 133(2544), pp.275-284
• AR experience stimulates purchase intention, cognitive control, and behavioral control. • Cognitive control mediates the AR experience and purchase intention. • AR experience overcomes the effect of negative information from peers. Augmented Reality (AR) has emerged as an effective, interactive technology for providing visual product information. Using consumers’ control, this study attempts to identify the possible mediators of the relationship between AR experience and consumers’ purchase intention, and the boundary conditions of AR experience. Studies 1a and 1b show that an AR experience in a shopping environment stimulates purchase intention, cognitive control, and behavioral control. Mediation analysis is conducted since consumers’ control affects purchase intention. Using Hayes’ mediation analysis, we found that only cognitive control subsequently increases a customer’s purchase intention. Study 2 suggests that communication with peers affects cognitive control. In other words, peers’ opinions moderate the effect of an AR experience on cognitive control, and consequently, affect purchase intention. This study contributes to the literature on AR by testing the concept of consumer control in the new media environment. The results provide insight for marketers and mobile service providers on how to utilize AR technologies.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.04.057 [Google]
Xu, Y., S. Hazée, K. K. F. So, K. D. Li and E. C. Malthouse (2021): An evolutionary perspective on the dynamics of service platform ecosystems for the sharing economy, Journal of Business Research, 135(2545), pp.127-136
Drawing upon the literature on ecosystem ecology and socio-cultural evolution, the current study proposes an evolutionary framework for understanding the dynamics of service platform ecosystems. This evolutionary framework identifies three key components of the service platform ecosystem: (a) the diverse types of species, (b) the presence of both cooperative and competitive interactions within and among species, and (c) a common resource and environmental space. The evolutionary model of variation, selection, and retention is then introduced to explain how platform business models change over time. The article concludes with a discussion of directions for future research on the evolution of platform ecosystems in the sharing economy.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.05.056 [Google]
He, Q. C., T. Nie, Y. Yang and Z. J. Shen (2021): Beyond Repositioning: Crowd‐Sourcing and Geo‐Fencing for Shared‐Mobility Systems, Production & Operations Management, 30(2546), pp.3448-3466
In this study, we propose an integrated model of two‐sided stochastic matching platforms to understand the design and operations of free‐float shared‐mobility systems. In particular, we address the joint design of incentives (via “crowd‐sourcing”) and spatial capacity allocations (enabled by “geo‐fencing”). From the platform’s perspective, we formulate stylized models based on strategic double‐ended queues. We optimize the design and operations of such systems in a case study using a data set from a leading free‐float bicycle‐sharing system, and solve it via mixed‐integer second‐order conic programs (SOCPs). Both stylized results and computational studies generate insights about fundamental trade‐offs and triangular relationships among operational costs, capacity utilization rates and service levels. Interestingly, we identify the role of spatial capacity (parking) management to fine‐tune the market thickness (transient service availability) in such a two‐sided marketplace. We show that a “capacity‐dependent approximation” can be very close to optimality, and outperforms policies ignoring capacity management. We also demonstrate that this framework can be operationalized in multiple directions, which generates insights concerning matching efficiency, performance comparison between crowd‐sourcing and repositioning, strategic server behaviors and network externalities. Our insights guide the platform and the policy‐maker to embrace “crowd‐sourcing” and “geo‐fencing” technologies for shared‐mobility systems.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/poms.13442 [Google]
Oh, J. and X. Su (2021): Optimal Pricing and Overbooking of Reservations, Production & Operations Management, (2547), pp.1
We study the optimal design of reservations for a firm with limited capacity. The firm faces a random number of customers, each of whom has a random valuation for service. The reservation policy has two components: pricing and overbooking. For the former, the firm charges a reservation fee (at the time of reservation) and a service price (at the time of service). For the latter, the firm imposes a booking limit that caps the number of reservations it sells. Given the firm’s reservation policy, customers make reservations in advance and later decide whether to show up. Denying service to reservation holders is costly. We obtain the following equilibrium results. First, when demand is small relative to capacity, the firm’s pricing structure relies on reservation fees prepaid in advance, but when demand is large relative to capacity, it relies on payment received upon service. Second, when demand is low and/or predictable, the firm accepts all reservation requests, but when demand is high and/or variable, the firm uses a booking limit.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/poms.13583 [Google]
Pan, Y. and L. Qiu (2021): How Ride‐Sharing Is Shaping Public Transit System: A Counterfactual Estimator Approach, Production & Operations Management, (2548), pp.1
The new sharing economy model has introduced a dramatic, disruptive impact on the traditional industries by matching the demand and supply in real time. In this study, we examine how the entry of Uber, a ride‐sharing services digital platform, brings new disruptive changes in public transportation operations. Significant debate has surrounded whether the new ride‐sharing model siphoned riders from public transit or made public transit feasible for more riders, but no consensus has been reached. One reason could be that the commonly used difference‐in‐differences empirical strategy fails to account for time‐varying unobserved confounders. To address this issue, we introduce a class of counterfactual estimators (CEs) to strengthen our causal identification and perform diagnostic tests to validate model assumptions for each CE. A significant drop in passenger trips with buses is found after Uber entry from both the conventional two‐way fixed effects model and the CEs. Moreover, we provide empirical evidence that the entry of Uber has not significantly affected public demand response transportation, which indicates that Uber is not directly competing with other transportation services that aim to solve the “last‐mile problem.” Last, our additional analyses suggest that the effect of Uber entry is not uniform for different urban areas. All these empirical findings can be coherently explained in our framework of the substitution effect of Uber.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/poms.13582 [Google]
Pino, G., M. Nieto‐García and C. X. Zhang (2021): “My place is your place” ‐ Understanding how psychological ownership influences peer‐to‐peer service experiences, Psychology & Marketing, (2549), pp.1
This study aims to contribute to the growing literature on peer‐to‐peer services by investigating the relationships among three relevant aspects of such services, namely customers’ identification with service providers, customers’ feelings of psychological ownership toward the service setting (i.e., the providers’ resources), and customers’ interaction with service providers. Two empirical studies that investigate real peer‐to‐peer hospitality service experiences demonstrate that identification with service providers engenders a sense of psychological ownership of the service setting, which, in turn, enhances customers’ attitudinal and behavioral loyalty. Notably, this effect occurs only when customers engage in cooperative interactions with their service providers.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mar.21603 [Google]
Sánchez‐Franco, M. J. and M. Rey‐Moreno (2021): Do travelers’ reviews depend on the destination? An analysis in coastal and urban peer‐to‐peer lodgings, Psychology & Marketing, (2550), pp.1
Our research applies a service, feature‐oriented approach to deeply explore the subjective experiences shared publicly by Airbnb guests in their reviews. Our processed data set contains 73,557 reviews of Airbnb stays in coastal and urban destinations between 2017 and 2020. A topic modeling based on the BERTopic approach is applied to detect dense clusters of reviews and identify one highly relevant and interpretable topic per cluster related to core and essential sharing services and surrounding features. Our study, therefore, allows a higher understanding of the relationships between urban versus coastal destinations and guests’ preferences. Furthermore, it enables hosts to differentiate the touristic short‐rentals lodgings according to customer experiences.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mar.21608 [Google]
Tran, H. A., Y. Strizhakova, B. Usrey and S. Johnson (2021): Consumer cynicism in service failures, Psychology & Marketing, (2551), pp.1
Despite growing corporate commitments to being customer‐centric, many customers perceive firms as self‐driven and caring only about their own business interests. This sentiment is projected in consumer cynicism, or negative consumer attitudes based on the disbelief in the sincerity of firms’ motives and actions. We argue that consumer cynicism emerges in response to negative marketplace situations, such as service and product failures. Across four scenario‐based experiments and one video‐based experiment, our research examines cynicism as a key mediator, transmitting the effect of double deviation (i.e., a failure in delivery and in subsequent recovery) on negative electronic word‐of‐mouth and repurchase intention. We further demonstrate that consumer cynicism can be minimized when the provider uses cocreated recovery (i.e., engages consumers in recovery) even if the recovery fails and when the provider offers a strong empathetic apology (either before or after recovery failure). Our research contributes to consumer and service recovery research by highlighting an important but overlooked role of consumer cynicism in the context of double deviation. We also offer managerial insights into cocreation and empathetic apologies as cost‐effective recovery strategies to minimize cynicism.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mar.21599 [Google]
