Today we identify service articles published in Marketing, Management, Operations, Productions, Information Systems & Practioner-oriented Journals in the last months.
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Crolic, C., F. Thomaz, R. Hadi and A. T. Stephen (2022): Blame the Bot: Anthropomorphism and Anger in Customer–Chatbot Interactions, Journal of Marketing, 86(2630), pp.132-148
Chatbots have become common in digital customer service contexts across many industries. While many companies choose to humanize their customer service chatbots (e.g., giving them names and avatars), little is known about how anthropomorphism influences customer responses to chatbots in service settings. Across five studies, including an analysis of a large real-world data set from an international telecommunications company and four experiments, the authors find that when customers enter a chatbot-led service interaction in an angry emotional state, chatbot anthropomorphism has a negative effect on customer satisfaction, overall firm evaluation, and subsequent purchase intentions. However, this is not the case for customers in nonangry emotional states. The authors uncover the underlying mechanism driving this negative effect (expectancy violations caused by inflated pre-encounter expectations of chatbot efficacy) and offer practical implications for managers. These findings suggest that it is important to both carefully design chatbots and consider the emotional context in which they are used, particularly in customer service interactions that involve resolving problems or handling complaints.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00222429211045687 [Google]
Wichmann, J. R. K., N. Wiegand and W. J. Reinartz (2022): The Platformization of Brands, Journal of Marketing, 86(2630), pp.109-131
Digital platforms that aggregate products and services, such as Google Shopping or Amazon, have emerged as powerful intermediaries to brand offerings, challenging traditional product brands that have largely lost direct access to consumers. As a countermeasure, several long-established brands have built their own flagship platforms to resume control and foster consumer loyalty. For example, sports brands such as Nike, Adidas, or Asics launched tracking and training platforms that allow for ongoing versatile interactions among participants beyond product purchase. The authors analyze these emerging platform offerings, whose potential brands struggle to exploit, and provide guidance for brands that aim to platformize their business. This guidance comprises the conceptualization of digital platforms as places of consumer crowdsourcing (i.e., consumers drawing value from platform participants such as the brand, other consumers, or third-party businesses) and crowdsending (i.e., consumers providing value to platform participants) of products, services, and content along with a well-defined framework that brands can apply to assemble different types of flagship platforms. Evaluating the consequences of crowdsourcing and crowdsending for consumer–platform relationships, the authors derive a typology of archetypical relationship states and develop a set of propositions to help offline-born product brands thrive through platformization.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00222429211054073 [Google]
Kim, J. H., M. Kim, D. W. Kwak and S. Lee (2022): Home-Tutoring Services Assisted with Technology: Investigating the Role of Artificial Intelligence Using a Randomized Field Experiment, Journal of Marketing Research (JMR), 59(2630), pp.79-96
Despite a rising interest in artificial intelligence (AI) technology, research in services marketing has not evaluated its role in helping firms learn about customers’ needs and increasing the adaptability of service employees. Therefore, the authors develop a conceptual framework and investigate whether and to what extent providing AI assistance to service employees improves service outcomes. The randomized controlled trial in the context of tutoring services shows that helping service employees (tutors) adapt to students’ learning needs by providing AI-generated diagnoses significantly improves service outcomes measured by academic performance. However, the authors find that some tutors may not utilize AI assistance (i.e., AI aversion), and factors associated with unforeseen barriers to usage (i.e., technology overload) can moderate its impact on outcomes. Interestingly, tutors who significantly contribute to the firm’s revenue relied heavily on AI assistance but unexpectedly benefited little from AI in improving service outcomes. Given the wide applicability of AI assistance in a variety of services marketing contexts, the authors suggest that firms should consider the potential difficulties employees face in using the technology rather than encourage them to use it as it is.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00222437211050351 [Google]
Zhou, M., G. H. Chen, P. Ferreira and M. D. Smith (2021): Consumer Behavior in the Online Classroom: Using Video Analytics and Machine Learning to Understand the Consumption of Video Courseware, Journal of Marketing Research (JMR), 58(2630), pp.1079-1100
Video is one of the fastest growing online services offered to consumers. The rapid growth of online video consumption brings new opportunities for marketing executives and researchers to analyze consumer behavior. However, video also introduces new challenges. Specifically, analyzing unstructured video data presents formidable methodological challenges that limit the use of multimedia data to generate marketing insights. To address this challenge, the authors propose a novel video feature framework based on machine learning and computer vision techniques, which helps marketers predict and understand the consumption of online video from a content-based perspective. The authors apply this framework to two unique data sets: one provided by MasterClass, consisting of 771 online videos and more than 2.6 million viewing records from 225,580 consumers, and another from Crash Course, consisting of 1,127 videos focusing on more traditional education disciplines. The analyses show that the framework proposed in this article can be used to accurately predict both individual-level consumer behavior and aggregate video popularity in these two very different contexts. The authors discuss how their findings and methods can be used to advance management and marketing research with unstructured video data in other contexts such as video marketing and entertainment analytics.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00222437211042013 [Google]
Minina, A. and J. Holmqvist (2021): Liquid, solid and in-between: service relationships in global mobility, Consumption Markets & Culture, 24(2630), pp.575-595
This study adds to the growing body of research on consumption in global mobility, illustrating how mobile consumers navigate their economic reality by managing relationships with banks in different countries. Previous research argues that global mobility enables the liquid consumption logic that is access based, ephemeral and dematerialised. Drawing upon insights from 31 in-depth interviews with globally mobile professionals, we discuss how the flexibility of globally mobile consumption combined with the rigid and regulated nature of the financial services industry enable liquid, solid, and hybrid consumption logics. We argue that multiple relationship logics manifesting in global mobility represent a case of solidification of liquid consumption, showing that managing the flows of economic capital across multiple countries requires not only extreme flexibility but also structure. This allows mobile consumers to manage the uncertainties of liquid modernity by combining their flexible mobile existence with solid anchoring points in chosen localities.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10253866.2021.1897580 [Google]
Poeppelbuss, J., M. Ebel and J. Anke (2021): Iterative uncertainty reduction in multi-actor smart service innovation, Electronic Markets, (2630), pp.
Smart service innovation is the process of reconfiguring resources, structures, and value co-creation processes in service systems that result in novel data-driven service offerings. The nature of such offerings requires the involvement of multiple actors, which has been investigated by a few studies only. In particular, little is known about the multiple actors’ efforts to manage uncertainty in the process of establishing smart service systems. Empirically grounded in data from 25 interviews with industry experts, we explore how organizations act and interact in smart service innovation processes. For our data analysis, we adopt a microfoundational view to derive a theoretical model that conceptualizes actor engagement as a microfoundation for iterative uncertainty reduction in the actor-to-actor network of the smart service system. Our study contributes to information systems research on service systems engineering and digital transformation by explaining smart service innovation from both a multi-actor and a multi-level perspective, drawing on service-dominant (S-D) logic and microfoundations as well-established theoretical lenses.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12525-021-00500-4 [Google]
Reichheld, F., D. Darnell, M. Burns, M. Kulpa and S. Kulpa (2021): Net Promoter 3.0, Harvard Business Review, 99(2630), pp.80-89
Since its introduction, in 2003, the Net Promoter System, which measures how consistently brands turn customers into advocates, has become the predominant customer success framework. But as its popularity grew, NPS started to be gamed and misused in ways that hurt its credibility. Unaudited, self-reported Net Promoter Scores undermined the usefulness of NPS. Over time its creator, Fred Reichheld, realized that the only way to correct this problem was to introduce a hard, complementary metric that drew on accounting results. In this article he and two colleagues from Bain introduce that metric: the earned growth rate, which captures the revenue growth generated by returning customers and their referrals. To calculate their earned growth rates, firms must have systems that gather data on the costs and revenues for each customer over time and must ask all new customers why they came on board. If the reason is a referral or recommendation, a customer is “earned”; if it’s advertising, a promotional deal, or a persuasive salesperson, the customer is “bought.” Earned growth rates reveal the real-world impact of customer loyalty. Because they’re auditable, they can help firms validate investments in customer service and convince investors of their businesses’s underlying strength.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ [Google]
Feldberg, A. C. and T. Kim (2021): Fighting Bias on the Front Lines, Harvard Business Review, 99(2630), pp.90-98
Most companies aim for exceptional customer service, but too few are attentive to the subtle discrimination by frontline employees that can alienate customers, lead to lawsuits, or even cause lasting brand damage by going viral. This article presents research about the way bias occurs in the provision of core products and services (“exchanges”), the furnishing of help that exceeds the minimum required (“extras”), and the manner in which service is delivered (“etiquette”). By breaking customer service into these three dimensions, the authors offer a framework for identifying and addressing frontline bias in your own organization. They recommend talking to your customers, examining available data, and running experiments to get a better sense of what biases exist among your customer service workers. Armed with that information, you might try to mitigate prejudiced behavior by broadening employees’ exposure to people of diverse backgrounds, giving them standard procedures to follow when they interact with customers, and encouraging a sense of responsibility to act fairly.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ [Google]
Smith, I. H., M. Kouchaki and J. O. N. Cowan (2021): Building an Ethical Company, Harvard Business Review, 99(2630), pp.132-139
Just as people can develop skills and abilities over time, they can learn to be more or less ethical. Yet many organizations limit ethics training to the onboarding process. If they do address it thereafter, it may be only by establishing codes of conduct or whistleblower hotlines. Such steps may curb specific infractions, but they don’t necessarily help employees develop as ethical people. Drawing on evidence from hundreds of research studies, the authors offer a framework for helping workers build moral character. Managers can provide experiential training in ethical dilemmas. They can foster psychological safety when minor lapses occur, conduct pre- and postmortems for initiatives with ethical components, and create a culture of service by encouraging volunteer work and mentoring in ethics.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ [Google]
Frank, A. G., G. H. d. S. Mendes, G. B. Benitez and N. F. Ayala (2022): Service customization in turbulent environments: Service business models and knowledge integration to create capability-based switching costs, Industrial Marketing Management, 100(2630), pp.1-18
Prior studies considered external conditions that trigger the adoption of servitization in product firms, but little is known on the decision to provide standardized vs. customized services. We analyze this tradeoff when companies face market and technological turbulence. We follow the capability-based switching costs theory, which considers the cost resulting from customer efforts to create new capabilities related to the solution offered by product firms. We propose that customized services help create these switching costs in turbulent environments. We also consider the mediating role of service-centric business models and the moderating role of cross-functional knowledge integration in these relationships. We combined data from a survey of 104 firms and secondary industry-level data on turbulence and analyzed it with regression techniques. Results show that, in turbulent environments, companies increase service customization instead of standardization and enhance service-centric business models, which benefits customer loyalty (a measure of capability-based switching costs). Companies focused on knowledge integration were less sensitive to technological turbulence and could better develop service activities for customization. We extend the service theory connecting it to the capability-based switching cost view and explain service provision mechanisms in turbulent environments. Managers can learn what to consider to implement a servitized business model in turbulent environments. • Market and technological turbulence are positively associated with servitization • Service customization is adopted instead of standardization when faced with turbulence • Service customization helps to develop capability-based switching costs • Cross-functional knowledge integration is critical to support service-centric business models • A stronger focus on knowledge integration makes less sensitive to technological turbulence
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2021.10.010 [Google]
Lindgreen, A., C. A. Di Benedetto, R. J. Brodie and S. Zenker (2022): Teaching: How to ensure quality teaching, and how to recognize teaching qualifications, Industrial Marketing Management, 100(2630), pp.A1-A5
Measuring teaching quality is challenging to say the least. Each instructor brings his/her training, experience, style, and capabilities to the classroom, making it notoriously difficult to establish a fair teaching quality metric. Commonly used metrics such as student evaluations are one-dimensional and cannot possibly capture all teaching quality elements. A better technique would identify each instructor’s strengths on teaching-related activities, as well as places for improvement. While a perfect system may never be found, we present some guidance to broaden our understanding of teaching quality based on an application of service dominant logic and the joint co-creation of value between student and instructor. We also present one attempt to implement a framework, the Danish National Framework for Recognition of Teaching Qualifications, which provides a set of criteria that constitute quality teaching and can be used for assessing teaching qualifications.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2021.11.008 [Google]
Simonsson, J. and G. Agarwal (2021): Perception of value delivered in digital servitization, Industrial Marketing Management, 99(2630), pp.167-174
This paper intends to explore the perception of value delivered in digital servitization in a business-to-business context of incumbent manufacturing firms. We investigate how individual entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) influence and affect the adoption of such digital servitization strategies. The observations are made through a survey and empirical assessment across a couple of large industrial organizations interested in servitization and digitalization. Findings contribute to the existing literature on digital servitization and business model innovation by suggesting that IEO influence perceived value in delivering digital service offers, whereas functional affiliation does not. Further observations suggest that digital capabilities can become a crucial enabler for the perception of value delivered in digital business models by providing swift access to data for affected stakeholders. • Individual Entrepreneurial Orientation play a role in customer perception of value delivered by digital servitization offerings • An individual’s risk-taking ability and innovativeness orientation are vital in perception of value delivered • Digital capabilities become a fundamental enabler for the perception of value delivered in digital business models by providing swift access to data and advanced data insights • Functional Affiliation and Job Role does not have significant role on perception of value delivered by digital servitization offerings • Even though flexibility in contractual agreements within digital offerings increases risks for stakeholders, transparency provided using digital capabilities still can deliver higher customer value
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2021.10.011 [Google]
Bolton, R. N., A. Gustafsson, C. O. Tarasi and L. Witell (2022): Designing satisfying service encounters: website versus store touchpoints, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 50(2630), pp.85-107
This study investigated how touchpoints moderate the antecedents of customer satisfaction with service encounters by comparing online and in-store encounters. Construal level theory was used within the Touchpoint, Context, Qualities (TCQ) Framework (De Keyser et al., 2020) to integrate a comprehensive model of how touchpoints—websites or stores—influence the magnitude of customer responses to qualities of service encounters. A hierarchical linear model (HLM) was estimated using survey data describing the service encounters of 2.4 million customers with a global retailer. Online customers weighed cognitive and behavioral qualities more heavily than in-store customers, whereas they weighed emotional and sensorial qualities less heavily. Moreover, random effects in the HLM model indicated that each country and store would have unique clientele effects for specific qualities. Since each firm has limited resources, this research offers guidance on key qualities in designing satisfying service encounters for each touchpoint and how qualities should be standardized and customized in global omnichannel environments.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11747-021-00808-9 [Google]
Wu, Y., S. Nambisan, J. Xiao and K. Xie (2022): Consumer resource integration and service innovation in social commerce: the role of social media influencers, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, (2630), pp.1-31
Social media technologies have given rise to influencers who shape the purchasing behaviors of their followers (peer consumers), thus enabling consumer-initiated social commerce. However, few studies have explored how social media influencers, and more broadly, consumers, actively integrate resources to engage in service innovation in social commerce. This qualitative study (involving two firms and their influencers) examines the emerging roles of social media influencers and their resource integration behaviors in service innovation. Drawing on the service-dominant logic and the technology affordance theory, the study advances a framework that identifies the resource integration behaviors that underlie two primary roles of influencers—communicator and innovator—and explains how social media technology affordances facilitate these behaviors, and thereby, the ensuing innovation outcomes. By focusing on the technology-mediated processes of social media influencers’ engagement in service innovation, we contribute to research and practice in consumer-led service innovation in the emerging digital world.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11747-022-00837-y [Google]
Kumar, P. and M. Dada (2021): Investigating the impact of service line formats on satisfaction with waiting, International Journal of Research in Marketing, 38(2630), pp.974-993
In this paper, we examine whether the format of service lines affects customers’ satisfaction with their queuing experience. Using a goal-theoretic approach, and data from a series of experimental studies, we show that the duration of the wait moderates the psychological tradeoff between the initial queue length and its rate of movement, such that customers prefer a single line format for shorter waits but a multiple line format for longer waits. We also show that satisfaction declines with an increase in the number of stages in service lines. This adverse effect of multi-staging can be mitigated by using information devices as well as orienting customers away from local, stage-specific, sub-goals towards the overall goal of receiving service and exiting the system. We synthesize these findings about the psychophysics of queuing to generalize a model of satisfaction with waiting that accounts for the effect of service line formats and can represent customers’ utility functions in models of queuing systems.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2020.12.003 [Google]
Li, K. J. and J. Zhang (2021): How does customer recognition affect service provision?, International Journal of Research in Marketing, 38(2630), pp.900-914
We examine how channel members’ ability to recognize repeat and new customers affects service provision, profits, and welfare. In decentralized channels, when only retailers can recognize customers, customer recognition increases service levels. However, in centralized channels or decentralized channels when both manufacturers and retailers can recognize customers, customer recognition reduces (increases) service levels if service investment persists (diminishes) sufficiently over time. Moreover, in centralized channels, customer recognition reduces firm profits and consumer surplus, whereas in decentralized channels, when manufacturers and retailers can recognize customers, customer recognition increases channel members’ profits but decreases consumer surplus.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2021.02.003 [Google]
Somosi, A., A. Stiassny, K. Kolos and L. Warlop (2021): Customer defection due to service elimination and post-elimination customer behavior: An empirical investigation in telecommunications, International Journal of Research in Marketing, 38(2630), pp.915-934
• Tenure reduces service elimination customer defection during price increase. • Usage intensity and price increase reduce service elimination customer defection. • Age reduces service elimination customer defection during price increase. • Higher post-elimination usage with increased prices and lower interaction intensity. • Higher post-elimination usage with customer defection and competitive effects. Service industries require rapid innovations in their service portfolios to gain and maintain competitive advantages. Service elimination is a potential tool for portfolio renewal, though it might threaten increased defection rates. To contribute to both service elimination and customer defection literature, this paper proposes a model of customer responses to service elimination, with practical implications for decision-makers in rapidly innovating telecommunication markets. In particular, the main study, conducted in the context of Hungary’s telecommunications sector, reveals that customers’ tenure, usage intensity, and age reduce the negative effects of a price increase on their defection; the price increase, degree to which customers interact with service providers, customer defection, and competitive effects in turn increase post–service elimination usage intensity. These findings suggest implementation strategies that can reduce customer defection following price increase due to service elimination, by focusing on new customers, light users, and the quality of customer interactions.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2021.03.003 [Google]
Becerril‐Castrillejo, I. and P. A. Muñoz‐Gallego (2021): Influence of satiation on consumer behavior in hospitality, Psychology & Marketing, (2630), pp.1
This study aims to contrast the nonlinear moderating effect of satiation—an emotional variable with proven influence over different consumer behaviors—on consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP). With a longitudinal survey, the authors measured WTP across two stays for the same type and category of tourist accommodation. The results indicate that satiation exerts a U‐shaped moderating effect on the relationship between WTP across two repeat purchases of hedonic use service. Further, satiated customers are willing to pay up to 11.2% less than their previous stay, which contributes to satiation, hospitality, and hotel pricing literature.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mar.21610 [Google]
Bruder, M., A. T. Lechner and M. Paul (2021): Toward holistic frontline employee management: An investigation of the interplay of positive emotion displays and dress color, Psychology & Marketing, 38(2630), pp.2089-2101
Frontline employees’ visual appearance is important in many service industries. Positive emotion displays are especially crucial, as are esthetic displays such as dress color. However, emotion and esthetic displays have commonly been examined independently of each other in marketing research. We contribute to research and practice by drawing attention to customers’ holistic perception of frontline employees, indicating that emotion displays and esthetic displays, such as dress color, are jointly processed. Across four experiments, we demonstrate that the effects of positive emotion displays on customer tipping and employee warmth can be amplified by using warm (vs. cold) dress colors. Drawing on emotions as social information theory, we show that this interaction is explained by a cognitive inferential (i.e., the perception of fit) and not by an affective pathway through positive affect. Our findings guide managers on how to choose dress colors to increase the beneficial effects of positive emotion displays.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mar.21553 [Google]
Letheren, K., J. Jetten, J. Roberts and J. Donovan (2021): Robots should be seen and not heard…sometimes: Anthropomorphism and AI service robot interactions, Psychology & Marketing, 38(2630), pp.2393-2406
There is a growing need to understand how consumers will interact with artificially intelligent (AI) domestic service robots, which are currently entering consumer homes at increasing rates, yet without a theoretical understanding of the consumer preferences influencing interaction roles such robots may play within the home. Guided by anthropomorphism theory, this study explores how different levels of robot humanness and social interaction opportunities affect consumers’ liking for service robots. A review of the extant literature is conducted, yielding three hypotheses that are tested via 953 responses to an online scenario‐based experiment. Findings indicate that while consumers prefer higher levels of humanness and moderate‐to‐high levels of social interaction opportunity, only some participants liked robots more when dialogue (high‐interaction opportunity) was offered. Resulting from this study is the proposed Humanized‐AI Social Interactivity Framework. The framework extends previous studies in marketing and consumer behavior literature by offering an increased understanding of how households will choose to interact with service robots in domestic environments based on humanness and social interaction. Guidelines for practitioners and two overarching themes for future research emerge from this study. This paper contributes to an increased understanding of potential interactions with service robots in domestic environments.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mar.21575 [Google]
Pino, G., M. Nieto‐García and C. X. Zhang (2022): “My place is your place” ‐ Understanding how psychological ownership influences peer‐to‐peer service experiences, Psychology & Marketing, 39(2630), pp.390-401
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]
Schaefers, T., G. Narayanamurthy, R. Moser and M. Leban (2021): The sharing economy at the base of the economic pyramid: How access‐based services can help overcome ownership risks, Psychology & Marketing, 38(2630), pp.2073-2088
The sharing economy provides short‐term access to products without the risks associated with ownership. While extant research primarily examined it in the context of affluent consumer segments, the sharing economy may offer opportunities for consumers at the base of the economic pyramid, where ownership risks prevent access to products that could create societal benefits. Drawing from risk perception theory, we examine how access‐based services, as an alternative to ownership, can mitigate perceived risk dimensions. An experimental study reveals that, in contrast to consumers with higher income, low‐income consumers perceive access‐based services to entail less financial risk, resulting in a greater inclination to access a good than to own it. In a second study, we explore these differences by comparing access with a risk mitigation strategy. We find that at the base of the pyramid, access is perceived to entail less financial risk than both ownership and ownership with a warranty. The results indicate the importance of the sharing economy for addressing the limited availability of resources for alleviating poverty. Based on our findings, we derive implications for consumers and service providers at the base of the pyramid, and discuss how the COVID‐19 pandemic may be detrimental to the identified opportunities.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mar.21541 [Google]
Song, J., J. Huang and Y. Jiang (2021): Mitigating the negative effects of service failure through customer identification, Psychology & Marketing, (2630), pp.1
This study investigated the effect of numerical customer identification (i.e., assigning numbers to identify customers) in the service context on the numbered customers’ reaction to service failures. We manipulated numerical identification in different ways (room number, customer number, table number, and order number) and measured customers’ tolerance of services across various settings (in a restaurant, a spa, and a café) in four studies. The results demonstrated that after being identified by a number, customers tend to exhibit a higher tolerance of service failures (Studies 1 and 2), and this effect is mediated by a sense of self‐dehumanization among the numerically identified customers (Study 3). Moreover, the investigated effect diminished when customers had heightened individuation (e.g., by disclosing personal information) to buffer against dehumanization (Study 4). Our findings contribute to the underexplored research area on customer identification, broaden the numerical research and dehumanization literature in marketing, and bring practical implications for firms to mitigate the negative effects of service failures and decrease customer dissatisfaction.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mar.21615 [Google]
Tran, H. A., Y. Strizhakova, B. Usrey and S. Johnson (2022): Consumer cynicism in service failures, Psychology & Marketing, 39(2630), pp.346-359
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]
Benjaafar, S., H. Bernhard, C. Courcoubetis, M. Kanakakis and S. Papafragkos (2022): Drivers, Riders, and Service Providers: The Impact of the Sharing Economy on Mobility, Management Science, 68(2630), pp.123-142
It is widely believed that ride sharing, the practice of sharing a car such that more than one person travels in the car during a journey, has the potential to significantly reduce traffic by filling up cars more efficiently. We introduce a model in which individuals may share rides for a certain fee, paid by the rider(s) to the driver through a ride-sharing platform. Collective decision making is modeled as an anonymous nonatomic game with a finite set of strategies and payoff functions among individuals who are heterogeneous in their income. We examine how ride sharing is organized and how traffic and ownership are affected if a platform, which chooses the seat rental price to maximize either revenue or welfare, is introduced to a population. We find that the ratio of ownership to usage costs determines how ride sharing is organized. If this ratio is low, ride sharing is offered as a peer-to-peer (P2P) service, and if this ratio is high, ride sharing is offered as a business-to-customer (B2C) service. In the P2P case, rides are initiated by drivers only when the drivers need to fulfill their own transportation requirements. In the B2C case, cars are driven all the time by full-time drivers taking rides even if these are not motivated by their private needs. We show that, although the introduction of ride sharing may reduce car ownership, it can lead to an increase in traffic. We also show that traffic and ownership may increase as the ownership cost increases and that a revenue-maximizing platform might prefer a situation in which cars are driven with only a few seats occupied, causing high traffic. We contrast these results with those obtained for a social welfare-maximizing platform. This paper was accepted by Charles Corbett, operations management.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2020.3909 [Google]
Kamalahmadi, M., Q. Yu and Y.-P. Zhou (2021): Call to Duty: Just-in-Time Scheduling in a Restaurant Chain, Management Science, 67(2630), pp.6751-6781
Just-in-time scheduling has become ubiquitous in the service industries. Although effective in reducing staffing level, hence labor cost, the potential impact of just-in-time scheduling on workers’ productivity and the firm’s revenue is not well understood. Using a data set of 1,444,044 transactions from 25 stores of a full-service casual dining restaurant chain in the United States, we study how just-in-time scheduling impacts worker productivity. We consider two types of just-in-time schedules: (1) short-notice schedules that are assigned to servers shortly before the day of service (mostly two days in our data) and (2) real-time schedules that are assigned to servers on the day of service. We show that short-notice schedules do not harm server productivity overall, but real-time schedules do by 4.4%. Our analysis indicates this may be because servers reduce their up-selling and cross-selling efforts when working on real-time schedules. We then propose an analytical scheduling model that accounts for both the value of staffing flexibility created through just-in-time scheduling and its impact on server productivity to inform the firm how to use just-in-time scheduling to improve profitability. Through a case study, we demonstrate that with the 4.4% productivity loss during the real-time schedules, the managers should shift from the heavy use of real-time scheduling toward scheduling more servers with longer advance notice. Such a shift not only provides more predictable work schedules for the workers but can also improve restaurants’ expected profit by up to 1%, a significant number for the low-margin restaurant industry. This paper was accepted by Vishal Gaur, operations management.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2020.3877 [Google]
Reed, S., A. M. Campbell and B. W. Thomas (2022): The Value of Autonomous Vehicles for Last-Mile Deliveries in Urban Environments, Management Science, 68(2630), pp.280-299
We demonstrate that autonomous-assisted delivery can yield significant improvements relative to today’s system in which a delivery person must park the vehicle before delivering packages. We model an autonomous vehicle that can drop off the delivery person at selected points in the city where the delivery person makes deliveries to the final addresses on foot. Then, the vehicle picks up the delivery person and travels to the next reloading point. In this way, the delivery person would never need to look for parking or walk back to a parking place. Based on the number of customers, driving speed of the vehicle, walking speed of the delivery person, and the time for loading packages, we characterize the optimal solution to the autonomous case on a solid rectangular grid of customers, showing the optimal solution can be found in polynomial time. To benchmark the completion time of the autonomous case, we introduce a traditional model for package delivery services that includes the time to search for parking. If the time to find parking is ignored, we show the introduction of an autonomous vehicle reduces the completion time of delivery to all customers by 0%–33%. When nonzero times to find parking are considered, the delivery person saves 30%–77% with higher values achieved for longer parking times, smaller capacities, and lower fixed time for loading packages. This paper was accepted by Vishal Gaur, operations management.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2020.3917 [Google]
Song, H., E. Andreyeva and G. David (2022): Time Is the Wisest Counselor of All: The Value of Provider–Patient Engagement Length in Home Healthcare, Management Science, 68(2630), pp.420-441
Home healthcare is a rapidly growing area of the health sector in the United States. We study its role in the shift toward value-based care, as it is viewed as an avenue for achieving reductions in the cost and utilization of expensive downstream healthcare services. Using a novel data set on home healthcare visits, we examine whether and how the amount of time that a provider spends during a home health visit with a recently discharged patient impacts the patient’s likelihood of being readmitted to the hospital. Because unobserved patient health status may influence both the length of a home health visit and the likelihood of hospital readmission, we use the within-provider average visit length of all other episodes’ visits conducted by each provider in the 30-day period before and after the focal visit as an instrument for visit length. Using this instrumental variable approach and controlling for operational, demographic, and patient condition-related characteristics, we find the following: on average, an extra minute during a focal home health visit is associated with a 1.39% decrease in the likelihood of readmission to the hospital following that visit. Our finding suggests that a 10% increase in visit length would decrease the likelihood of readmission following a home health visit by 6%. We document heterogeneity in this effect across different patient types and visit types. We conduct a cost–benefit analysis that suggests that the cost of investing in additional home health capacity is outweighed by the cost savings arising from fewer hospitalizations. This paper was accepted by Stefan Scholtes, healthcare management.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2020.3921 [Google]
Xu, Y., M. Armony and A. Ghose (2021): The Interplay Between Online Reviews and Physician Demand: An Empirical Investigation, Management Science, 67(2630), pp.7344-7361
Social media platforms for healthcare services are changing how patients choose physicians. The digitization of healthcare reviews has been providing additional information to patients when choosing their physicians. On the other hand, the growing online information introduces more uncertainty among providers regarding the expected future demand and how different service features can affect patient decisions. In this paper, we derive various service-quality proxies from online reviews and show that leveraging textual information can derive useful operational measures to better understand patient choices. To do so, we study a unique data set from one of the leading appointment-booking websites in the United States. We derive from the text reviews the seven most frequently mentioned topics among patients, namely, bedside manner, diagnosis accuracy, waiting time, service time, insurance process, physician knowledge, and office environment, and then incorporate these service features into a random-coefficient choice model to quantify the economic values of these service-quality proxies. By introducing quality proxies from text reviews, we find the predictive power of patient choice increases significantly, for example, a 6%–12% improvement measured by mean squared error for both in-sample and out-of-sample tests. In addition, our estimation results indicate that contextual description may better characterize users’ perceived quality than numerical ratings on the same service feature. Broadly speaking, this paper shows how to incorporate textual information into an econometric model to understand patient choice in healthcare delivery. Our interdisciplinary approach provides a framework that combines machine learning and structural modeling techniques to advance the literature in empirical operations management, information systems, and marketing. This paper was accepted by David Simchi-Levi, operations management.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2020.3879 [Google]
Mejia, J., S. Mankad and A. Gopal (2021): Service Quality Using Text Mining: Measurement and Consequences, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 23(2630), pp.1354-1372
Problem description: Measuring quality in the service industry remains a challenge. Existing methodologies are often costly and unscalable. Furthermore, understanding how elements of service quality contribute to the performance of service providers continues to be a concern in the service industry. In this paper, we address these challenges in the restaurant sector, a vital component of the service industry. Academic/practical relevance: Our work provides a scalable methodology for measuring the quality of service providers using the vast amount of text in social media. The quality metrics proposed are associated with economic outcomes for restaurants and can help predict future restaurant performance. Methodology: We use text present in online reviews on Yelp.com to identify and extract service dimensions using nonnegative matrix factorization for a large set of restaurants located in a major city in the United States. We subsequently validate these service dimensions as proxies for service quality using external data sources and a series of laboratory experiments. Finally, we use econometrics to test the relationship between these dimensions and restaurant survival as additional validation. Results: We find that our proposed service quality dimensions are scalable, match industry standards, and are correctly identified by subjects in a controlled setting. Furthermore, we show that specific service dimensions are significantly correlated with the survival of merchants, even after controlling for competition and other factors. Managerial implications: This work has implications for the strategic use of text analytics in the context of service operations, where an increasingly large text corpus is available. We discuss the benefits of this work for service providers and platforms, such as Yelp and OpenTable.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/msom.2020.0883 [Google]
Wang, R., C. Ke and S. Cui (2022): Product Price, Quality, and Service Decisions Under Consumer Choice Models, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 24(2630), pp.430-447
Problem definition: In this paper, we develop an integrated framework to study a firm’s joint decisions on product price, quality, and service duration in a variety of monopolistic and competitive scenarios. Academic/practical relevance: Product price, quality, and ancillary service (such as maintenance and factory warranty) are arguably among the most important factors consumers consider when making a purchase decision. Meanwhile, they are also seen as effective instruments for firms to achieve market segmentation. We consider a cost structure for a firm in which the service cost depends on the product quality level. In particular, if quality is associated with product reliability (respectively, complexity), the service cost would decrease (increase) in the quality level. Methodology: We adopt the widely used multinomial logit model and the nested logit model to study consumers’ choice behavior and employ mixed-integer optimization and game theory to conduct analyses. Results: We find that with multiple substitutable products being offered, it is sufficient for a firm to provide only two maximally differentiated service durations at optimality. The quality of each product should be set at a level such that the marginal utility to consumers equals the marginal cost to the firm, independent of the decisions on other products, whereas the pricing decision should take into account all products. In addition, consumer surplus increases when the firm can make more decisions. Managerial implications: Regardless of product substitution and market competition, the optimal quality level and service duration for each product can be determined independently of other products. Moreover, service differentiation can benefit consumers and improve the firm’s profitability at the same time.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/msom.2020.0947 [Google]
Caruelle, D., P. Shams, A. Gustafsson and L. Lervik-Olsen (2022): Affective Computing in Marketing: Practical Implications and Research Opportunities Afforded by Emotionally Intelligent Machines, Marketing Letters, (2630), pp.1-7
After years of using AI to perform cognitive tasks, marketing practitioners can now use it to perform tasks that require emotional intelligence. This advancement is made possible by the rise of affective computing, which develops AI and machines capable of detecting and responding to human emotions. From market research, to customer service, to product innovation, the practice of marketing will likely be transformed by the rise of affective computing, as preliminary evidence from the field suggests. In this Idea Corner, we discuss this transformation and identify the research opportunities that it offers.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11002-021-09609-0 [Google]
Choi, S., S. X. Liu and C. Choi (2022): ROBOT–BRAND FIT THE INFLUENCE OF BRAND PERSONALITY ON CONSUMER REACTIONS TO SERVICE ROBOT ADOPTION, Marketing Letters, (2630), pp.1-12
Can every brand benefit from adopting service robots? To tackle this important question, we examined the interactive effects of brand personality (sincere vs. exciting) and service robot type (high-contact vs. low-contact) on customer reactions to service robot implementation. Results from three experimental studies indicate that customers tend to react negatively to high-contact robots when the brand had a sincere (vs. exciting) personality. This tendency is driven by the poor perceived fit between the sincere brand personality and the implementation of high-contact robots. However, such brand personality effects are mitigated in the adoption of low-contact robots. For a sincere brand adopting high-contact robots, we suggest that signaling warmth can enhance the perceived brand–robot fit and thereby reduce negative customer reactions.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11002-022-09616-9 [Google]
Kim, T., L. Anik and L. Cian (2021): Feedback as a two-way street: when and why rating consumers fails, Marketing Letters, 32(2630), pp.351-362
In efforts to keep ill-behaving consumers in check, managers are increasingly implementing the practice of rating consumers. We develop and test an account of when and why the practice of rating consumers backfires. Study 1 shows that consumers are more likely to misbehave toward service providers after receiving a low rating (versus those who receive a high rating or those who are merely aware that they are being rated). These findings are robust to consumer inexperience. The negative impact of low ratings on subsequent behavior is especially likely to emerge when directed toward consumers (versus service providers; Study 2). Study 3 situates our findings in a real-world context through a survey of Uber customers. Taken together, we offer insight into how firms can realize the benefits of the practice of rating consumers while mitigating its risks.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11002-021-09570-y [Google]
Guo, P., M. Haviv, Z. Luo and Y. Wang (2021): Optimal queue length information disclosure when service quality is uncertain, Production & Operations Management, (2630), pp.1
We investigate a server’s best queue disclosure strategy in a single‐server service system with an uncertain quality level (which is assumed to be binary). We consider this problem from the perspective of a Bayesian persuasion game. The server first commits to a possibly mixed strategy stating the probability that the queue length will be revealed to customers on their arrival given a realized quality level. The service quality level is then realized, and the server’s corresponding queue‐disclosure action is observed by customers, who then update their beliefs regarding service quality and decide whether to join the service system. We reformulate the server’s decision problem as looking for the best Bayes‐plausible distribution of posterior beliefs regarding service quality. We demonstrate that the maximal expected effective arrival rate, as a function of the prior belief, can be graphed as the upper envelope of all convex combinations of any two arbitrary points on the two effective arrival rate functions of the revealed and concealed queues. We show that when the market size is sufficiently small (large), the server always conceals (reveals) the queue, regardless of the realized service quality. Numerically, we find that in a medium‐sized market, the server’s optimal commitment strategy is often hybrid or mixed, that is, randomizing queue concealment and revelation. We also extend our analysis to a situation in which the server aims to maximize social welfare. We show that under certain conditions, it is always beneficial for the welfare‐maximizing social planner to randomize queue concealment and revelation, regardless of the market size.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/poms.13654 [Google]
Wirtz, J., M. P. Fritze, E. Jaakkola, K. Gelbrich and N. Hartley (2021): Service products and productization, Journal of Business Research, 137(2630), pp.411-421
[Display omitted] Many services are difficult to understand and communicate, and as a result, difficult to position, differentiate, and sell. While important, understanding services as well-defined products has hardly received research attention although doing so offers a host of potential benefits. This conceptual article makes the following contributions. First, it synthesizes the literature to develop a better understanding of service productization as a process that transforms variable, ad-hoc services and service products into well-defined service products (i.e., ‘productized services’). Second, it advances that well-defined service products are (1) specified (i.e., have a formalized value proposition and are configured, standardized, systemized, and often also modularized and bundled), (2) branded (i.e., have a name, symbol, or design, and are identifiable by these linguistic, visual, and tangible cues), (3) and priced (i.e., have clearly stated, communicated, and committed prices that can include rate fences and tiering). Third, this article advances managerial practice by exploring the concepts and tools available to productize services and outlining managerial benefits and potential drawbacks of highly productized services.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.08.033 [Google]
Best, B., K. Miller, R. McAdam and A. Maalaoui (2022): Business model innovation within SPOs: Exploring the antecedents and mechanisms facilitating multi-level value co-creation within a value-network, Journal of Business Research, 141(2630), pp.475-494
• To be sustainable, SPOs are increasingly engaging in value networks. • This requires SPOs to innovate their business models to foster value co-creation. • Value co-creation in a network is complex, spanning micro, meso and macro levels. • Antecedents and mechanisms of value co-creation differ across levels of context. • Context influences the exchange of resources and the interactions of stakeholders. To be sustainable, social purpose organisations (SPOs) are increasingly engaging in value networks. This enables them to improve service delivery through social and economic value co-creation (VCC). However, operating within a value network will require SPOs to innovate their business models. This is a complex activity due to their distinctive governance structures and funding arrangements and the need to align value processes across a multiplicity of stakeholders. This paper advances knowledge by exploring how SPOs innovate their business models to engage in VCC through a value-network. By analysing three SPO value networks, we provide new insights into the antecedents and mechanisms of VCC which span the micro, meso, and macro levels of context. We also illustrate the factors which underpin SPOs ability to embed VCC within their business models through operating in a value network.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.11.043 [Google]
Açıkgöz, A. and G. P. Latham (2022): Self-Set learning goals and service performance in a gig economy: A Moderated-Mediation role of improvisation and mindful metacognition, Journal of Business Research, 139(2630), pp.1553-1563
Drawing on goal-setting theory, the current research examines whether the indirect relationship between self-set, rather than assigned or participative, learning goals and an Uber driver’s service performance is positive and significant in an emerging work context, namely, the gig economy. In this regard, we hypothesized that there is a positive, significant relationship between self-set learning goals and a driver’s improvised ways to provide customer service. Building on metacognitive practice, we further hypothesized that a gig driver’s mindful metacognition positively moderates the relationship between improvisation and service performance. The overall hypothesis tested is that the indirect relationship between self-set learning goals and a gig driver’s service performance via improvisation is positive and significant, and this relationship is positively moderated by mindful metacognition. Data were collected from 149 gig drivers. Ordinary least squares regression-based path analyses revealed support for these hypotheses.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.10.074 [Google]
Akter, S., M. M. Babu, M. A. Hossain and U. Hani (2022): Value co-creation on a shared healthcare platform: Impact on service innovation, perceived value and patient welfare, Journal of Business Research, 140(2630), pp.95-106
The exponential rise of sharing economy has accelerated the growth of shared healthcare platforms in recent times. Although a shared healthcare platform transforms the exchange of service offerings, insight remains elusive regarding its value co-creation (VCC) dynamics and their effects. Drawing on the DART (dialogue, access, risk assessment, transparency) framework, this study frames the overall effects of VCC on perceived service innovation, perceived value and patient welfare. Data were collected from 251 patients from a shared healthcare platform. The findings confirm the elements of the DART framework as the antecedents of VCC of a shared healthcare platform, which significantly influence critical service outcomes.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.11.077 [Google]
Blommerde-Winters, T. (2022): The roles of NSD performance and standardized service development processes in the performance of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, Journal of Business Research, 139(2630), pp.56-68
Despite its importance, for micro, small, and, medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), the impact of new service development performance (NSDP) on organizational performance (OP) and the significance of formal or standardized service development processes (SSDPs) remains unknown. This study proposes that NSDP is positively associated with OP and that SSDPs positively moderate this direct effect. These and other hypotheses are tested with data collected from 801 Irish service MSMEs using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) and multigroup analysis. Our results reveal that a positive relationship exists between NSDP and OP and we report the magnitude of this relationship for micro, small, medium-sized organizations; while the moderating effect of SSDPs was not supported for each of these groups. We thus provide novel empirical insights into service development for MSMEs, where our findings suggest that SSDPs are of particular importance for small organizations.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.09.036 [Google]
Brush, G. J. and G. N. Soutar (2022): A Rasch analysis of service performance in a tourism context, Journal of Business Research, 139(2630), pp.338-353
Advances in tourism research depend on the development and validation of measurement scales using appropriate psychometric techniques. However, scale development practice is dominated by classical test theory, despite its limitations. A Rasch analysis of international travel service performance scales across demographic, customer experience and service provider sub-groups is provided. Scales generally show high reliability, little disordering of the thresholds, and no substantive effects where multidimensionality is present. Some items exhibit limited discriminatory power, local dependence and measurement bias. Measurement invariance violations are prevalent in temporal dimensions where travelers exhibit diverse customer experience profiles. Employee knowledge and safety attributes appear organization-specific. Ethnicity impacts on relational aspects; response behavior regarding personal space is gender specific. Standardized safety-related scales may be inadvisable when comparisons across age and education cohorts are required. Accounting for measurement invariance influences the average location of groups on the latent continuum, and in some cases substantive mean difference results.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.09.038 [Google]
Cavusgil, E., S. Yayla, O. Cem Kutlubay and S. Yeniyurt (2022): The impact of demographic similarity on customers in a service setting, Journal of Business Research, 139(2630), pp.145-160
Consumers share the physical environment with other consumers in various service settings. The presence of other consumers is a critical part of the service experience and can influence consumer behavior. What is the underlying impact of fellow customers in service settings? To address this research question, we examine how the demographic (age, race, gender, and income) similarity of other consumers in a service setting impacts one’s attitude and behavior. Specifically, we examine consumers’: (i) intention to return, and (ii) expenditure. Analysis of a large database (216,082 consumer visits to 236 restaurant brands in the United States and Canada) suggest that age, gender and income similarity between the focal customer and other customers increases intention to return. Furthermore, results indicate that age and income similarity among customers increases customer expenditure. However, race and gender similarity among customers decreases customer expenditure. Theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.09.030 [Google]
Chang, W. and K. Kim (2022): Appropriate service robots in exchange and communal relationships, Journal of Business Research, 141(2630), pp.462-474
• We explore appropriate type of service robot in a given relationship orientation. • Higher satisfaction emerges when functional robots are aligned with exchange orientation. • Social robots are evaluated more favorably when matching with communal orientation. • The match effect is driven by perceptions of warmth or competence of the robot. This paper explores which type of service robot (functional vs. social) is evaluated more favorably depending on a firm’s communal or exchange relationship orientation and the underlying processes driving the appropriate match effect between type of service robot and relationship orientation. The results of two scenario-based experiments and one video-based study with respondents who actually experienced service robots reveal that higher customer satisfaction with the service robot emerges when functional (social) service robots are aligned with a firm’s exchange (communal) relationship orientation. Further, the match between social service robot and communal relationship orientation promotes customer satisfaction with the service robot primarily through perceptions of the warmth of the robot. In contrast, higher customer satisfaction with a functional service robot in an exchange relationship orientation results from increased perception of the competence of the robot. This study provides theoretical and practical implications about how to implement service robots in service encounters.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.11.044 [Google]
Christodoulides, G., N. Athwal, A. Boukis and R. W. Semaan (2021): New forms of luxury consumption in the sharing economy, Journal of Business Research, 137(2630), pp.89-99
• Traditional tenets of luxury are challenged by new forms of luxury fueled by the sharing economy. • The notion of temporality associated with new forms of luxury presents new opportunities and questions ownership as the ultimate form of luxury. • Two types of luxury sharing are distinguished: simultaneous and sequential – each with its own characteristics. • Three drivers of luxury consumption are identified, namely value hedonism , hedonistic egoism, and hedonic escalation. This study contributes to literature on luxury in the sharing economy by holistically examining new forms of luxury consumption which includes on-demand and the product-service economy, second-hand consumption, and co-ownership. Twenty-five depth semi-structured interviews with consumers reveal that the concept of luxury is disrupted in these new luxury contexts. Specifically, the findings challenge the traditional view of ownership as the ultimate form of luxury, and demonstrate the appeal of the temporality reflected in new forms of luxury consumption. Two types of sharing emerge— simultaneous versus sequential — each has its own challenges and opportunities. The findings identify value hedonism , hedonistic egoism , and hedonic escalation as drivers of such consumption, thereby contributing a deeper understanding of the complex nature of hedonism in new forms of luxury consumption. This research empirically supports a more inclusive, less elitist conceptualization of luxury and discusses implications for luxury brands.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.08.022 [Google]
Ciunova-Shuleska, A., N. Palamidovska-Sterjadovska and J. Prodanova (2022): What drives m-banking clients to continue using m-banking services?, Journal of Business Research, 139(2630), pp.731-739
• Communication plays an important role in the m-banking value creation. • Perceived entertainment of m-banking positively affects clients’ perceived value. • Perceived value enhances users’ intention to continue using m-banking services. • Perceived value mediates communication and intention to continue using m-banking. • Central and peripheral routes concurrently enhance m-banking perceived value. During the last decade, the constant innovation in the banking industry has prompted an evolution in providing these services, converting mobile banking into the channel that would distinguish banking entities’ competence. With the goal to determine the path towards customers’ retention, a survey with 252 mobile banking users was performed. Founded on the premises of the Elaboration Likelihood Model, the results of this study indicate how cognitive and affective aspects of the mobile banking experience foster clients’ perceived value and their future intentions towards these services’ usage. This research contributes with precise recommendations regarding the vital communication with customers identified in value perception. Besides, valuable insights on the simultaneous effect of the central and peripheral route of processing are evidenced by integrating entertainment elements. All of this finally assist in arranging a practical and pleasant experience that ensures customer maintenance.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.10.024 [Google]
Dyussembayeva, S., G. Viglia, M. Nieto-Garcia and A. S. Mattila (2022): Would you like to add a gratuity? When explicit requests hamper tipping, Journal of Business Research, 139(2630), pp.908-917
• Explicit request to tip has a negative effect on tip size. • Server’s physical presence alleviates the negative effects of an explicit request. • Social pressure reduces customers’ perceived control. • The higher customers’ perceived control, the higher the tip size. Many service providers explicitly ask customers for a tip. This may create social pressure, thus resulting in lower tips. Building on the theory of psychological reactance, we propose that an explicit request to tip has a detrimental impact on tip size. Across two studies, a field experiment and an online experiment, we test this effect and examine how the physical presence of the server moderates this relationship. We find that an explicit request to tip negatively affects tip size, while server’s physical presence alleviates this effect. The findings also show that social pressure hampers perceived control, which in turn has a detrimental effect on tip size. In light of these findings, service providers might want to revisit their strategies to enhance tipping.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.10.043 [Google]
Fazal-E-Hasan, S. M., L. Neale, H. Sekhon, G. Mortimer, I. Brittain and J. Sekhon (2021): The path to game-day attendance runs through sports fan rituals, Journal of Business Research, 137(2630), pp.308-318
Sports, as a service sector, generates billions of dollars not solely through attendance but through the sale of merchandise, which forms part of a sports fan’s rituals. This study uses a sample of 651 attendees at an Australian Football League game to explore ritual behavior, define the game-day rituals observed, and design a scale to measure sports fan rituals in order to investigate a series of positive relationships, including commitment and personal and social rituals, and social rituals and behavioral loyalty (game-day attendance). The findings support previous research that has found a significant and positive relationship between vicarious achievement, fan association, and commitment, and extends previous research by finding a significant and positive relationship between personal and social rituals and behavioral loyalty. For academic researchers, the findings are important to establish the role of personal and social rituals in consumption and behavioral loyalty while opening future research opportunities in other product categories. For sports marketers, the results indicate the importance of developing and facilitating consumption rituals tied to game-day attendance, with a view to generating uncommon loyalty.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.08.024 [Google]
Gartner, J., M. Fink, A. Floh and F. Eggers (2021): Service quality in social media communication of NPOs: The moderating effect of channel choice, Journal of Business Research, 137(2630), pp.579-587
Social media communication is attractive for non-profit organizations (NPOs); however, the channels of social media are not homogeneous; a factor not sufficiently considered by empirical research. We address this gap by looking into the moderating effect of social media channel choice on the impact of brand trust on process and outcome quality. By surveying 174 customers of an Austrian NPO, we analyze different social media channels to investigate whether (1) the established wisdom of service marketing regarding the positive impact of brand trust on service quality holds in the social-media context and (2) whether the choice of social media channel moderates these relationships. The results confirm the established model of service quality. Knowledge from traditional marketing can still be applied in a digital environment. However, the moderation analysis highlights the relevance of social media channel choice and illustrates different effects on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. We discuss the implications.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.08.026 [Google]
Ghanbarpour, T. and A. Gustafsson (2022): How do corporate social responsibility (CSR) and innovativeness increase financial gains? A customer perspective analysis, Journal of Business Research, 140(2630), pp.471-481
• PCSR and PFI influence future earnings through increased customer satisfaction. • PCSR and PFI exert contemporaneous and carryover effects on customer satisfaction. • PCSR shows a more persistent effect on customer satisfaction compared with PFI. • Firms utilize financial gains to increase PFI, but neglect PCSR development. Previous research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and firm innovativeness and their impact on financial performance has focused on firms’ actions (i.e., what firms do). However, how customers perceive these firm activities have not been fully explored; there is a lack of research particularly on the long-term effects of these actions. Consequently, the present study investigates the effects of customer-perceived CSR and firm innovativeness on financial earnings, both in the short and long term. Firm actions, if meaningful, should impact customer perceptions of a firm, which affect customer satisfaction and the firm’s earnings consequently. Using panel data from service firms, our analysis indicates that perceived firm actions positively influence future earnings through customers’ overall evaluations of a firm. Furthermore, the results reveal a carryover effect of perceived actions in the long term. The present research also indicates that customers’ positive perceptions of firm actions do not directly impact financial earnings; however, they do impact earnings through customer satisfaction. This emphasizes the importance of communicating innovation, and particularly CSR activities, to customers.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.11.016 [Google]
Gummerus, J., D. O’Loughlin, C. Kelleher and L. Peñaloza (2021): Shifting sands: Actor role and identity reconfigurations in service systems, Journal of Business Research, 137(2630), pp.162-169
Building on previous actor-to-actor perspectives in service systems, this study mapped the dialectic trajectory of actor role and identity transitions in the context of family caregiving. The study employed the theoretical lens of role and identity transitions and drew on in-depth, qualitative interviews with 22 unpaid family caregivers caring for dependent relatives to demonstrate how family caregiver roles and identities co-evolve throughout the caregiving journey. Our findings elucidate three dynamic reconfigurations of role and identity transitions in family caregiving. We evince how such transitions vary in both degree and type, and range from incremental to disruptive, as actors assume and detach from roles and associated identities. Theoretical contributions shed light on the emergent and nuanced nature of role and identity transitions, as roles and identities synchronously and asynchronously co-evolve in a service system in conjunction with changed relations between actors, society, and the service system. The paper concludes with implications for enhancing actor engagement in dynamic service systems.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.08.001 [Google]
Hagebölling, M., B. Seegebarth and D. M. Woisetschläger (2021): Tactical termination of contractual services – An analysis of the phenomenon and its determinants, Journal of Business Research, 137(2630), pp.170-181
• Mixed method approach provides evidence for the phenomenon of tactical termination. • Customers tactically terminate service contracts to counter strategies of providers. • Social influences strongly drive customers to tactically terminate their contracts. • Moral obligations make customers reluctant to tactically terminate their contracts. • Providers condition customers to terminate tactically by offering better conditions. Due to the target-group-specific pricing policies of service providers, different prices exist for the same service across customer groups, like new or lost customers compared to existing customers. Current customers may notice these offers but do not receive any benefits for their loyalty. Consequently, they may react with a tactical termination to obtain better offers from their current provider without having a clear intention to switch. Thus, this study examines the phenomenon of tactical termination and its determinants through a mixed method approach across different service contexts. The findings provide evidence for the phenomenon of tactical termination as a particular type of customer defection behavior and provide insights into a new outcome variable in contractual relationships. The study shows that social influences have the strongest impact on tactical termination, followed by price fairness and interactional fairness.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.08.015 [Google]
Hepworth, A., N. Young Lee and A. R. Zablah (2021): Feeling anxious: The dark side of checkout charity solicitations, Journal of Business Research, 136(2630), pp.330-342
Research and practice alike suggest that checkout charity campaigns are a win–win–win for retailers, customers, and causes. The current investigation offers a complementary perspective on the effects of checkout charity by uncovering evidence of undesirable customer responses triggered by such solicitations. Specifically, across four studies, we find that checkout charity solicitations induce customer anxiety, which in turn reduces their evaluation of the service encounter. In addition, our results reveal that such anxiety decreases during solicitation episodes when customers agree to donate; however, this occurs only when requests are made by frontline employees rather than self-checkout technologies. These results caution managers that checkout charity solicitations may have unintended consequences on customers that result in negative encounter outcomes, particularly in service environments in which the solicitation is technology-mediated.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.07.050 [Google]
Homayounfard, A. and G. Zaefarian (2022): Key challenges and opportunities of service innovation processes in technology supplier-service provider partnerships, Journal of Business Research, 139(2630), pp.1284-1302
Business-to-business (B2B) technology suppliers have the potential to contribute to the service innovation process in distinct ways. Because they work with multiple service providers, they can identify emerging market trends and technological requirements. However, they face different challenges and opportunities throughout their partnership in the service innovation process. This study contributes to the B2B service innovation literature by uncovering challenges and opportunities that technology suppliers face during the service innovation process and their partnership with service providers. We identify five groups of challenges/opportunities: (1) B2B partners’ level of knowledge, (2) B2B partners’ involvement in the back/front end, (3) B2B partners’ market approach, (4) the impact of B2B partners’ organizational processes, and (5) B2B partners’ business interactions. We develop a managerially distinct service innovation process typology that identifies different roles and characteristics of B2B partners. It further identifies the extent to which the service innovation process can be outcome and process-based.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.09.069 [Google]
Huang, D.-H. and H.-E. Chueh (2022): Usage intention model of mobile apps in membership application, Journal of Business Research, 139(2630), pp.1255-1260
The growing ubiquity of wireless network and mobile devices has allowed mobile applications to flourish. Many firms have developed mobile membership applications to provide their customers with diversified and convenient services. To understand the factors influencing the intention to use mobile membership applications, the present study expanded on the technology acceptance model and devised a usage intention model. In this study, meta-analysis and structural equation modeling were used in the validation of the proposed model. The results indicate that both perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use had a significant positive effect on user attitude in decision making regarding whether to use a mobile membership application, whereas perceived risk significantly negatively affected user attitude. Furthermore, user attitude and the provision of reward program had significant positive effects on usage intention. Our research findings can help firms develop successful mobile membership applications to effectively implement customer relationship management.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.10.062 [Google]
Kandampully, J., A. Bilgihan, M. Bujisic, A. Kaplan, C. B. Jarvis and Y. Shukla (2021): Service transformation: How can it be achieved?, Journal of Business Research, 136(2630), pp.219-228
Service transformation calls for a revolutionary strategic mindset within service firms. Service firms aspire to achieve a distinctive vision through service transformation, often engaging technology and digitalization as critical partners in creating long-term firm success in the market by nurturing enhanced customer and stakeholder benefits. Therefore, it is imperative for us to examine, understand, and seek ways in which transformation can be utilized effectively by service firms. A new conceptualization is proposed that highlights how service transformation can follow many strategic paths, ranging from a relatively minor linear evolutionary reformation of service offerings to a cyclical and ongoing complete creative destruction and reincarnation of the firm. This manuscript first proposes an organizing framework to understand the internal and external factors that have the potential to render service transformation achievable, as well as the range of internal and external outcomes that can result from successful transformation. We then draw upon theories of evolution to delineate the process of transformation over time in service contexts, resulting in a conceptual model of service transformation that articulates three viable pathways to service transformation, which we call the “3Rs of Service Transformation” – reformation, renovation, and reincarnation. We define and provide examples of these three paths of service transformation and identify situations and contexts in which each approach may be most appropriate for certain firms. We conclude with a discussion of future research directions.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.07.033 [Google]
Khelladi, I., S. Castellano, J. Hobeika, M. Perano and D. Rutambuka (2022): Customer knowledge hiding behavior in service multi-sided platforms, Journal of Business Research, 140(2630), pp.482-490
Hiding knowledge engenders economic losses. Customer knowledge is an external source praised by knowledge management scholars. Multi-sided Internet platforms become knowledge flow vehicles, nurturing customer knowledge. Knowledge hiding is widespread in services contexts impairing knowledge sharing. Firms need to integrate the knowledge-based customer experience to attain performance goals. Using social exchange theory and customer experience theory, we adopt a customer perspective to uncover the type of knowledge hidden and the motivations for customers to hide it on service multi-sided platforms. Combining narrative inquiry and critical incident technique we collected an original dataset of 51 narrative accounts of multi-sided platform users (Uber, Airbnb, and BlaBlaCar). We identify 10 major categories of hidden knowledge building on the identified critical incidents and five motivations to hide knowledge. The findings enrich the literature on knowledge hiding by providing the customer viewpoint. For practitioners, firms need to acknowledge customers’ knowledge hiding behaviors in multi-sided settings.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.11.017 [Google]
Kohtamäki, M., R. Rabetino, S. Einola, V. Parida and P. Patel (2021): Unfolding the digital servitization path from products to product-service-software systems: Practicing change through intentional narratives, Journal of Business Research, 137(2630), pp.379-392
Manufacturers are increasingly struggling with the transition from products to product-service-software systems. Our study takes stock of the current research on servitization and digital servitization to investigate the challenging transition process from product to more complex product-service-software systems. We examine how does the digital servitization journey unfold as sayings and doings, and how do intentional narratives guide digital servitization. The present in-depth single case study spanning 8 years reveals the emergent process during the transition of a leading solution provider from servitization to digital servitization. The study uses social practices, such as managers’ sayings and doings, to map the change process that unfolds first as servitization and, in a second stage, as digital servitization. Even more importantly, this study unpacks the role of intentional narratives in shaping digital servitization as a lengthy change process. For managers, this study provides a detailed depiction of the servitization and digital servitization processes, and some intentional narratives for guiding the process. Thus, the process may be challenging but perhaps manageable by using intentional narratives as a strategic practice.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.08.027 [Google]
Koskela-Huotari, K., L. Patrício, J. Zhang, I. O. Karpen, D. Sangiorgi, L. Anderson and V. Bogicevic (2021): Service system transformation through service design: Linking analytical dimensions and service design approaches, Journal of Business Research, 136(2630), pp.343-355
The increasingly interconnected world is leading to continuous and profound transformations within and among service systems (e.g., firms, industries, societies). While service research studying such transformations is growing, the literature is missing a conceptualization of service system transformation (SST) that accounts for the richness and diversity of the phenomenon. This hinders the development of approaches to intentionally influence SST toward desired paths. Providing an integrated, multidimensional understanding of SST, this paper explores how service design can intentionally influence SST. To do so, the paper contributes by advancing conceptual clarity of SST and delineating three analytical dimensions— scope, endurance , and paradigmatic radicalness— that, in combination, provide a framework for understanding the diversity of the transformations unfolding within and across service systems. Building upon this conceptualization, the paper systematizes how service design approaches can foster SST along these dimensions, setting the ground for service design to further strengthen its transformative potential.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.07.034 [Google]
Lahiri, S., A. Karna, S. Chittaranjan Kalubandi and S. Edacherian (2022): Performance implications of outsourcing: A meta-analysis, Journal of Business Research, 139(2630), pp.1303-1316
Although outsourcing remains a dominant strategic choice for managers, the understanding of its implications on the firm remains inconclusive. In this paper we focus on empirical evidence around contingencies that determine whether and how outsourcing impacts firm performance. Specifically, we examine how type of value chain activity (core vs. non-core), industrial nature of activity (manufacturing vs. services), and provider’s location (domestic vs. international) impact performance. We conduct a meta -analysis of 121 samples from 106 primary studies spanning over 28 years (1992–2019). We find that outsourcing–firm performance relationship is positive. But more importantly, our results demonstrate that the association is stronger for non-core outsourcing than core outsourcing. Interestingly the outsourcing–firm performance relationship does not meaningfully vary across manufacturing and services outsourcing. Our results further indicate that the positive relationship is stronger for international outsourcing than domestic outsourcing. We discuss implications of our findings and present opportunities for future research.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.10.061 [Google]
Lehtonen, M. J., M. Vesa and J. T. Harviainen (2022): Games-as-a-Disservice: Emergent value co-destruction in platform business models, Journal of Business Research, 141(2630), pp.564-574
Digital distribution has enabled game studios to reach global audiences and treat mobile games as services rather than products, creating novel opportunities to develop value propositions through the games-as-a-service (GaaS) approach. Yet simultaneously, there are also negative consequences caused by a sharp focus on maximizing profits at the expense of customer enjoyment. Drawing on a study bridging game development and gameplay experience, we shed light on the negative consequences of GaaS. We introduce the concept of Games-as-a-Disservice that draws on value co-destruction research by highlighting how platform business models in mobile games have emergent properties that paradoxically seem to encourage the creation and maintenance of negative playing experiences. Disservice in game development is conceptualized through four analytical themes: predatory monetization, play as labor, support denial and closure denial. To counter these properties, companies could adopt participatory design methods for a more granulated understanding of who plays their games and why.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.11.055 [Google]
Li, Y., C. Zhang and S. Fang (2022): Can beauty save service failures? The role of recovery employees’ physical attractiveness in the tourism industry, Journal of Business Research, 141(2630), pp.100-110
Physical attractiveness, an important factor in tourism service encounter, has received increased attention recently. However, less attention has been devoted to its effects on tourism service recovery. The current research fills this gap by systematically examining whether, how, and when a recovery employee’s physical attractiveness affects tourists’ attitudes toward the recovery employee and the firm. Three experiments are carried out. Results show that a recovery employee’s physical attractiveness can positively improve tourists’ attitudes toward the recovery employee and the firm, and this effect works by decreasing tourists’ social distance perceptions. Moreover, the effect of recovery employee’s physical attractiveness is conditioned on gender congruence between the tourist and the recovery employee as well as the severity of service failure. This paper contributes at explaining the mechanism and mixed results of physical attractiveness in tourism service recovery. The managers can benefit from the findings for effectively managing employees’ physical presentation in service recovery.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.11.051 [Google]
Mai, E. and S. Ketron (2022): How retailer ownership of vs. collaboration with sharing economy apps affects anticipated service quality and value co-creation, Journal of Business Research, 140(2630), pp.684-692
The sharing economy has disrupted the retailing industry by increasing competition as an emerging platform of service innovation. Today’s retailing is transforming to play a role in the sharing economy as consumers can complete transactions more easily among one another. However, it is unclear whether retailers should own sharing economy platforms or partner with other, independently owned platforms. Thus, the purpose of this research is to better understand how retailer involvement in the sharing economy (i.e., ownership of vs. collaboration with sharing economy apps) affects anticipated service quality and value co-creation. The current study examines the effects of retailer ownership vs. collaboration on service quality and customer value co-creation, respectively, and documents perceived credibility as an important mediator. The findings suggest that full ownership (vs. collaboration with an independent app) can lead customers to anticipate higher service quality and greater value co-creation due to higher perceived credibility.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.11.039 [Google]
Mwesiumo, D., N. Halpern, T. Budd, P. Suau-Sanchez and S. Bråthen (2021): An exploratory and confirmatory composite analysis of a scale for measuring privacy concerns, Journal of Business Research, 136(2630), pp.63-75
• A confirmatory composite analysis identifies three dimensions of a scale for privacy concerns. • Two contexts: airport digital services and online business-to-consumer retail services, are considered. • Interaction management seems to be the most critical dimension of privacy concerns in the airport digital context. • Information and interaction management seem to be the most critical dimensions in the online retail context. • The effect of privacy concerns on willingness to provide personal data varies by context. This paper reports a confirmatory composite analysis of a scale for measuring privacy concerns, and the effect of privacy concerns on the willingness to provide personal data. The analysis is based on 468 survey responses, divided into two contexts: airport digital services and online retail services. Results from both contexts confirm that privacy concerns consist of a third-order construct comprising two-second order constructs (interaction management and information management) and a first-order construct (awareness). The effect of privacy concerns on the willingness to provide personal data is higher in the airport digital context than in the online retail context. Also, the relevance of the three dimensions varies by context. Thus, researchers must carefully consider their research context and include items for the most relevant dimensions of privacy concerns in measurement models. Likewise, managers must prioritise dimensions of privacy concerns according to their business context.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.07.027 [Google]
Schaefers, T., M. Leban and F. Vogt (2022): On-demand features: Consumer reactions to tangibility and pricing structure, Journal of Business Research, 139(2630), pp.751-761
• Conceptualization of on-demand features as sharing economy service innovation. • Consumers prefer access to intangible features. • Preference for flat rate pricing. • Both effects explained by fairness perceptions. As a service innovation in the sharing economy, on-demand features (ODFs) allow customers to temporarily access additional features of a product they already own in return for a fee. Using ODFs, manufacturers can infuse existing product-centric business models with sharing economy and servitization principles, in order to generate recurring revenues. This article conceptualizes the novel phenomenon and delineates it from other concepts. Moreover, based on two experimental studies and drawing from fairness theory, first evidence is provided for how consumers react to key characteristics of ODFs, namely their tangibility and pricing structure. While intangible, software-based ODFs appear to find acceptance, consumers perceive on-demand access to tangible, hardware-based features as unfair, which explains their reduced purchase intent. Moreover, fairness perceptions and behavioral intentions are more positive towards ODFs that offer flat rate pricing compared to those that employ a pay-per-use pricing structure.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.09.054 [Google]
Simmonds, H., A. Gazley, V. Kaartemo, M. Renton and V. Hooper (2021): Mechanisms of service ecosystem emergence: Exploring the case of public sector digital transformation, Journal of Business Research, 137(2630), pp.100-115
This research extends literature on the emergence of service ecosystems by developing new theoretical insight and explanation into how service ecosystems experience change and stability over time. Empirically, our case study focuses on digital transformation in the New Zealand public sector and the enterprise services market in 2010–2017. The exploratory and illustrative study builds on 22 in-depth interviews and extensive document analysis. We reveal three key mechanisms of service ecosystem emergence: compression, ecotonal coupling, and refraction. These mechanisms contribute to overcoming conflationary theorizing and the value of emergence in service research by establishing emergent relationality and a processual intertwining of being and becoming. These become the basis of multi-levelled, multidimensional complexity and cumulative organizing. We conclude the work by discussing the paper’s contribution to service research.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.08.008 [Google]
Snyder, H., L. Witell, A. Gustafsson and J. R. McColl-Kennedy (2022): Consumer lying behavior in service encounters, Journal of Business Research, 141(2630), pp.755-769
Whether they know it or not, firms interact with lying consumers on a daily basis. However, surprisingly little is known about consumer lying behavior and its role in service encounters. Based on two empirical studies of 2,976 consumer lies, the study sought to explore consumer lying behavior by developing and testing a comprehensive conceptual framework encompassing motives for lying, characteristics of the lie, and outcomes for consumers. Study 1 explores and details the components of the conceptual framework, and Study 2 further investigates and tests the relationships between the components of consumer lying behavior and the emotional, behavioral, and financial outcomes for consumers. The findings suggest new policies and how frontline employees might be trained and educated to address consumer lying behavior. The paper concludes by outlining an agenda for future research on lying behavior in service encounters.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.11.075 [Google]
Trompeta, M.-A., K. Karantinou, C. Koritos and T. H. A. Bijmolt (2022): A meta-analysis of the effects of music in tourism and hospitality settings, Journal of Business Research, 138(2630), pp.130-145
• First music meta-analysis fully dedicated to tourism and hospitality services. • The design, not the simple existence, of music influences customers. • Preferential musical dimensions have a stronger effect than physical ones. • Music congruence has multiple positive, significant effects on customers. • Music liking influences customer reactions more positively than all other factors. Music is a key and heavily researched stimulus in tourism and hospitality service settings. However, this growing body of research has produced contradictory results in terms of direction, strength, and statistical significance, rendering conclusions and evidence-based decisions questionable and precarious. This meta-analysis of 56 studies and 209 effects quantitatively synthesizes empirical evidence regarding the influence of music in tourism and hospitality service settings. We consider five dimensions of music and assess their effects on a wide range of customers’ organismic reactions and behavioral responses. The results indicate that it is not so much the presence of music but the design of it that influences customers. In addition, the preferential dimensions of music have a much stronger influence on customers than the physical dimensions of music. The large number of relationships examined offers practical guidance to professionals on the effective use of music in tourism and hospitality settings.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.08.067 [Google]
van Riel, A. C. R., T. W. Andreassen, L. Lervik-Olsen, L. Zhang, S. Mithas and K. Heinonen (2021): A customer-centric five actor model for sustainability and service innovation, Journal of Business Research, 136(2630), pp.389-401
Service industries are increasingly unsustainable. Considering consumers as change agents, we show how service innovation may contribute to a service ecosystem that helps achieve emerging sustainability goals. To achieve sustainability the dyadic focus on value-co-creation is complemented with a broader stakeholder perspective, abandoning the shareholder-first-doctrine toward a collaborative stakeholder perspective, emphasizing profit, planet, and people. We propose a five-actor model and argue that one stakeholder – the consumer – is a central driver of sustainability. Consumers’ sustainability-focused behaviors drive the market for sustainable products and services, leading to sustainable firm and investor behavior. Beyond a conceptual model, our empirical study shows that innovations in social and environmental dimensions drive customer loyalty to the brands. Consumers aware of the consequences and risks associated with unsustainable consumption tend to consume more responsibly. Service firms integrating a stakeholder perspective into the design of their service systems perform better on the triple bottom line.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.07.035 [Google]
Villani, E., C. Linder, C. Lechner and L. Muller (2021): How do non-innovative firms start innovation and build legitimacy? The case of professional service firms, Journal of Business Research, 137(2630), pp.614-625
• Different sets of organizational antecedents lead to similar innovation outcomes. • Clients and competitors are both stimuli for innovation and sources of legitimacy. • When imitating competitors, diffusing an internal innovation culture helps gain legitimacy. • In the case of clients’ collaboration, legitimacy is tied to dedicated structural units. • Knowledge acquisition together with knowledge creation produce innovation in law firms. As clients’ needs change, firms need to adapt and innovate, but how do firms innovate if they have not done it before? We study law firms as novice innovators. Law firms are generally conservative and averse to exploration-based innovation. We show that law firms face two challenges in starting innovation: developing innovation capacity and gaining legitimacy for innovative behavior. Employing a qualitative comparative analysis approach, we used 50 in-depth interviews with innovating multinational law firms headquartered in the United Kingdom to present six configurations of factors leading to service innovation in law firms. Clients and competitors play a key role both as innovation stimuli and legitimizing actors. We demonstrate that knowledge-based networks are important for service innovation, but legitimizing strategies are important for novice innovators to ensure innovation is recognized, approved, and diffused.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.08.062 [Google]
Wamsler, J., M. Natter and R. Algesheimer (2022): Transitioning to dynamic prices: Should pricing authority remain with the company or be delegated to the service employees instead?, Journal of Business Research, 139(2630), pp.1476-1488
[Display omitted] • When introducing dynamic pricing, prices should be set at firm not employee level. • Dynamic prices paid affect customers’ distributive fairness perception. • Distributive fairness perception mediates effect of price on behavioral outcomes. • Pricing authority (firm vs. employee) acts as a second stage moderator. • Expectations about more communal behavior of employees (vs. firm) explain effect. Dynamic pricing is typically implemented via pricing algorithms that react to varying levels of supply and demand. Some companies, such as Uber, also vary prices for different offers, such as standard cars or limousines for a ride. However, companies usually do not proceed to the next logical step and delegate pricing authority to their employees. This is astonishing as service employees often vary in service quality, possess unique business knowledge, hold close relationships with customers, and influence the overall customer experience. The authors investigate the consequences of delegating pricing authority to employees. They also investigate the responses of customers who face a situation where their firm transitions from fixed to dynamic prices set by the firm (control group) or service employees (treatment group). The findings demonstrate that the actual dynamic price paid affects customers’ distributive fairness perceptions, which influence their behavioral responses. The authors find support for pricing authority (firm vs. employee) acting as a second-stage moderator. The results provide supporting evidence for the stylized fact that firms keep the pricing authority with the company and do not delegate it to service employees instead.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.10.067 [Google]
Wang, X., Z. Xu, Y. Qin and M. Skare (2021): Service networks for sustainable business: A dynamic evolution analysis over half a century, Journal of Business Research, 136(2630), pp.543-557
• Presenting a holistic assessment of service networks for sustainable business. • “Internationalization and web service” is the biggest research topic. • Collaborative innovation emerges as the core strength of business networks. • Multiple directions in service networks and virtual networks are identified. • Sustainable business represents the general trend of the times. Scientific research on service networks for sustainable business (SN-SB) and its impact on business and economics has been growing in recent years. The first document was published in 1968, and the SN-SB research has lasted over half a century. This paper offers a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of the academic literature published between 1968 and 2019 with regards to the SN-SB research in 2,366 publications from Web of Science. By applying different bibliometric analyses, such as performance analysis, cooperation analysis, co-occurrence analysis, burst detection analysis, and timeline view analysis, we have presented the fundamental characteristics of these publications, and identified the most influential countries/regions, institutions, and authors, as well as the evolution of the keywords these years. More discussions including popular issues in current study, challenges and avenues for future research, implications, and limitations are conducted to address the existing gaps in knowledge. This paper helps in understanding the evolution of the SN-SB research from the perspective of the bibliometric and inspires researchers to think from multiple aspects in this field.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.07.062 [Google]
Xie, X., H. Wang and J. S. García (2021): How does customer involvement in service innovation motivate service innovation performance? The roles of relationship learning and knowledge absorptive capacity, Journal of Business Research, 136(2630), pp.630-643
Service innovation has become an essential element for firms to promote their business successes, attract new customers, accelerate growth, and increase profitability. Service innovation requires customers to be more deeply involved in service product innovation. Yet, few empirical studies have examined the business outcomes of customer involvement in service innovation. There has been a lack of convincing arguments for firms to improve their service innovation performance by enhancing their internal knowledge absorptive capacity or their external relationship learning. To fill these research gaps, the current work explores the internal mechanisms and contextual conditions of the relationship between customer involvement in service innovation and firms’ service innovation performance. Our findings suggest that (1) higher degrees of customer involvement in service innovation significantly contribute to the improvement of service innovation performance, (2) relationship learning plays a mediating role in the link between customer involvement in service innovation and service innovation performance, (3) greater knowledge absorptive capacity substantially increases the impact of customer involvement in service innovation on relationship learning, and (4) greater knowledge absorptive capacity significantly increases the indirect effects of customer involvement in service innovation on service innovation performance via relationship learning. Drawing on both service-dominant logic (SDL) and resource dependence theory (RDT), our findings contribute to the literature on service innovation for both manufacturing and service sector firms by revealing that the improvement of service innovation performance requires a full understanding not only of customer involvement but also of internal and external organizational learning capacities.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.08.009 [Google]
