Today we identify service articles published in Marketing, Management, Operations, Productions, Information Systems & Practioner-oriented Journals in the last months.
For more information about the alert system methodology go here
For all previous alerts go here
Hollebeek, L. D., V. Kumar and R. K. Srivastava (2022): From Customer-, to Actor-, to Stakeholder Engagement: Taking Stock, Conceptualization, and Future Directions, Journal of Service Research, 25(2986), pp.328-343
Despite the significant strides made in the customer engagement literature, the need to understand any marketing actor?s engagement (vs. merely the customer?s) is increasingly recognized. Therefore, the budding actor engagement (AE) concept, which is commonly grounded in S-D logic, describes any marketing actor?s engagement, including that of customers, firms, employees, suppliers, and so on. However, while S-D logic-informed AE offers important insight into actors? mutual value creation, it largely overlooks the sociopolitical notions that (a) actors? potentially diverging goals may see them act against (vs. pro) focal others? interests and (b) different actors may extract differing levels of value from interactions, as advanced in stakeholder theory. Based on these gaps, we extend existing AE research by developing integrative stakeholder theory/S-D logic-informed stakeholder engagement (SE). We deduce five core SE tenets, from which we conceptualize SE as a stakeholder?s state-based, boundedly volitional resource endowment in his/her role-related interactions, activities, and/or relationships. We conclude this article by discussing important implications that arise from our analyses and by identifying avenues for further research.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1094670520977680 [Google]
Hollebeek, L. D., V. Kumar, R. K. Srivastava and M. K. Clark (2022): Moving the stakeholder journey forward, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, (2987), pp.
Though the customer journey (CJ) is gaining traction, its limited customer focus overlooks the dynamics characterizing other stakeholders’ (e.g., employees’/suppliers’) journeys, thus calling for an extension to the stakeholder journey (SJ). Addressing this gap, we advance the SJ, which covers any stakeholder’s journey with the firm. We argue that firms’ consideration of the SJ, defined as a stakeholder’s trajectory of role-related touchpoints and activities, enacted through stakeholder engagement, that collectively shape the stakeholder experience with the firm, enhances their stakeholder relationship management and performance outcomes. We also view the SJ in a network of intersecting journeys that are characterized by interdependence theory’s structural tenets of stakeholder control, covariation of interest, mutuality of dependence, information availability, and temporal journey structure, which we view to impact stakeholders’ journey-based engagement and experience, as formalized in a set of Propositions. We conclude with theoretical (e.g., further research) and practical (e.g., SJ design/management) implications.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11747-022-00878-3 [Google]
Hollebeek, L. D., D. E. Sprott, S. Urbonavicius, V. Sigurdsson, M. K. Clark, R. Riisalu and D. L. G. Smith (2022): Beyond the Big Five: The effect of machiavellian, narcissistic, and psychopathic personality traits on stakeholder engagement, Psychology & Marketing, 39(2988), pp.1230-1243
Abstract Prior research has established the key impact of customers’ Big Five personality traits (e.g., agreeableness/conscientiousness) on their brand engagement, suggesting that individuals exhibiting differing personality traits engage differently with brands. In parallel, extending influential customer engagement research, stakeholder engagement, which covers any stakeholder’s (e.g., a customer’s, supplier’s, employee’s, or competitor’s) engagement in his/her role-related interactions, activities, and relationships, is rapidly gaining momentum. However, despite existing acumen in both areas, little remains known regarding the effect of stakeholders’ antisocial or maladaptive dark triad-based personality traits, including machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy, on the focal antisocial stakeholder’s, and his/her interactee’, role-related engagement, as therefore explored in this paper. To address these issues, we develop a conceptual model and an associated set of propositions that outline the nature of a stakeholder’s machiavellian, narcissistic, and psychopathic role-related engagement and its effect on his/her interactee’s engagement. We conclude by outlining pertinent theoretical and managerial implications that arise from our analyses.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21647 [Google]
Kurtmollaiev, S. and P. E. Pedersen (2022): Bringing together the whats and hows in the service innovation literature: An integrative framework, International Journal of Management Reviews, 0(2989), pp.
Abstract The concept of service has gone through both evolutionary and revolutionary changes, but this has had little effect on the way reviews portray service innovation research. Our paper is the first to investigate whether and how different conceptualizations of service influence the formation of perspectives on studying and practicing service innovation. Combining an exploratory content analysis with a thorough examination of 886 articles on service innovation published from 1981 to 2019, we suggest a novel integrative framework for the multiple perspectives on service innovation. We outline new service development, service engineering, service infusion, service design, service reconfiguration and service integration as autonomous, yet interconnected, perspectives, each with its own research focus, logic and vocabulary. This integrative framework can assist with defining research questions and designing innovation studies, as well as selecting approaches to managing innovation. We also argue that the main obstacles to the progress of service innovation research are lexical cross-contamination, parallelism in approaches, the gravity of the new service development perspective and the legacy of new product development. To overcome these challenges, we encourage a more distinct pluralism of perspectives and demonstrate possibilities for meaningful conversations across them.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12297 [Google]
Maslowska, E., E. C. Malthouse and L. D. Hollebeek (2022): The role of recommender systems in fostering consumers’ long-term platform engagement, Journal of Service Management, 33(2990), pp.721-732
Purpose Recommender systems (RS) are designed to communicate with users and drive consumers’ engagement with the platform. However, little is known about the strength of this relationship and how RS can create stronger consumer engagement (CE) with the platform brand. Addressing this gap, this paper examines the role of RS in converting consumers’ short-term engagement with the RS to their longer-term platform engagement. Design/methodology/approach To explore these issues, the authors review key literature in the areas of CE and RS, from which they develop a conceptual framework. Findings The proposed framework suggests RS design as an important precursor to consumers’ RS use, which is expected to affect their platform engagement/disengagement, in turn impacting the firm’s long-term outcomes. The authors also identify key managerial tactics, strategies and challenges to aid the conversion of consumers’ RS to CE. Research limitations/implications This research raises pertinent implications for research on the RS/CE interface, as synthesized in a proposed research agenda. Practical implications Based on the attained insight, authors outline implications for managing, facilitating and leveraging the proposed RS to CE conversion process. Correspondingly, authors argue that, to optimize RS effectiveness, RS designers should understand the nature of CE. Originality/value By exploring the effect of consumers’ RS on their longer-term CE with the platform, the analyses offer pioneering managerial insight into RS effectiveness from a CE perspective.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-12-2021-0487 [Google]
Rather, R. A., L. D. Hollebeek and S. M. Rasoolimanesh (2022): First-Time versus Repeat Tourism Customer Engagement, Experience, and Value Cocreation: An Empirical Investigation, Journal of Travel Research, 61(2991), pp.549-564
Though customer engagement (CE) and customer experience (CX) are recognized as key research priorities, empirically derived insight into their association with tourism customers? ensuing value cocreation and destination revisit intent remains tenuous, in particular for first-time versus repeat customers. In response to this gap, we develop an S-D logic?informed model that tests the effects of tourism-based CE on CX, cocreation, and revisit intent. Our findings suggest that CE?s dimensions differentially affect CX and cocreation, which subsequently affects revisit intent. Second, we identify CE?s indirect effect on revisit intent, as mediated via CX and cocreation. Thus, the effect of CE on revisit intent is most pronounced under elevated CX and cocreation. Third, involvement is found to moderate the association between CX, cocreation, and revisit intent. Moreover, we identify significant CE, CX, cocreation, and revisit intent?based differences for first-time versus repeat customers. We conclude with important implications arising from our analyses and further research avenues.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0047287521997572 [Google]
Lord Ferguson, S., C. Smith and J. Kietzmann (2022): Hands-off? Lessons from high-touch professionals about going virtual, Business Horizons, 65(2873), pp.303-313
The COVID-19 crisis has fundamentally changed how many businesses operate and connect with their customers. Previously unheard-of government restrictions and sheltering-in-place requirements forced most professional services to transition to remote delivery methods (e.g., email, telephone, video consults, Shopify storefronts). Providers of low-touch services (e.g., lawyers, accountants) naturally lent themselves to remote delivery; however, those that offer high-touch services, particularly those in healthcare (e.g., doctors, chiropractors, physical therapists), experienced a drastic change in working conditions when going virtual. Despite a long history of resistance to virtual delivery, the pandemic created an unprecedented incentive for these high-touch professionals to experiment with underutilized care models such as telehealth: the provision of healthcare services remotely using telecommunications technologies. We examine the rapid adoption of telehealth during COVID-19 through the coming together or convergence of previously unrelated technologies, spaces, and practices. Our analysis reveals opportunities and challenges associated with going hands-off that apply to many other professionals providing high-trust services. Specifically, we offer nine guiding principles for building and protecting cognitive and affective trust in virtual and hybrid delivery models. This is important given the pace of compounding technology convergences that lie ahead for service professionals.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2021.03.002 [Google]
Jacobides, M. G. (2022): How to Compete When Industries Digitize and Collide: An Ecosystem Development Framework, California Management Review, 64(2874), pp.99-123
As industry boundaries dissolve and digitalization grows apace, ecosystems are becoming increasingly important. Yet for all the excitement and Big-Tech envy, there is little guidance for how to create ecosystems. How should a firm best engage? Should it become a partner to someone else’s ecosystem, or build its own? Should it focus on a broad range of digitally connected services, or narrow down? How should we think about ecosystem value proposition, governance, and complementor choice? And, what is the case for investment in ecosystems? Drawing on recent research and projects with leading firms, this article offers a framework for understanding, engaging in, and building business ecosystems.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00081256221083352 [Google]
Senn, C. (2022): Stop Selling. Start Collaborating, Harvard Business Review, 100(2875), pp.112-119
The triple fit canvas is a sales framework designed to facilitate collaborative value creation between sellers and buyers. Inspired by the blue ocean strategy canvas developed by Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne and the business model canvas developed by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur, the triple fit canvas is both a diagnostic and an action framework. It extends a limited, product-centric view to a broader, customer-centric perspective. It shifts the focus from selling existing products and services to helping create new ones. In this article the author details the key components of the triple fit canvas and describes how companies such as BMW, Konica Minolta, and GAP have benefited from it.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ [Google]
Chen, J., A. J. Xu, M. A. Rodas and X. Liu (2022): Order Matters: Rating Service Professionals First Reduces Tipping Amount, Journal of Marketing, (2876), pp.1
As customer ratings have become ubiquitous and digital platforms can directly request ratings and tips from customers, it is important to understand how a customer rating influences tipping. The authors investigate whether, how, why, and when the order of rating and tipping affects both consumer behaviors in seven studies, including one quasi-field experiment, one archival data analysis, one randomized field experiment, and four randomized lab experiments. They show that asking customers to rate a service professional before tipping negatively impacts the tip amount but that tipping first does not affect subsequent rating scores. The authors propose that the negative effect of rating on tipping occurs because, when rating a service professional first, customers categorize their feedback as a reward for the service professional, which partially alleviates the felt obligation to tip, resulting in a smaller tip. This negative effect is more evident when customers (1) tip from their own pocket, (2) have higher categorization flexibility, or (3) perceive that the service professional benefits from the rating. Moreover, highlighting the consistency motivation after rating but before tipping can attenuate this effect. These boundary conditions not only support the proposed mechanism and evaluate alternative processes but also have significant practical implications.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00222429221098698 [Google]
Yu, S., M. Ghosh and M. Viswanathan (2022): Money-Back Guarantees and Service Quality: The Marketing of In Vitro Fertilization Services, Journal of Marketing Research (JMR), 59(2877), pp.659-673
Marketing practices like money-back guarantees (MBGs) are prevalent in many expert-service markets but are often decried as marketing gimmicks that take advantage of vulnerable and poorly informed consumers. In this research, conducted in the market for in vitro fertilization services, the authors empirically assess differences in quality of care between clinics that offer MBG programs and those that don’t, to investigate whether MBG programs can serve a purpose consistent with signaling and insurance theories. The analysis is conducted on a unique longitudinal data set that includes information on clinic-level treatment, outcome statistics, clinic characteristics, and marketing practices for fertility clinics in the United States, state-level insurance mandates, competition environments, and demographic and geographic characteristics. Using an instrumental variable approach to account for the endogeneity of MBG decisions made by fertility clinics, the authors find that MBG clinics, on average, offer better treatment outcomes in terms of success rates while undertaking lower risks. The results are consistent with signaling theory predictions that market-based programs like MBGs can serve as signals of unobservable clinic quality despite the incentives for clinics to engage in opportunistic behaviors.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00222437211060733 [Google]
Meyn, J., M. Kandziora, S. Albers and M. Clement (2022): Consequences of platforms’ remuneration models for digital content: initial evidence and a research agenda for streaming services, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, (2878), pp.1-18
Nowadays, platforms in many industries offer content for a (monthly) flat rate (e.g., music streaming). While flat rates are efficient in reducing transaction costs for administering customers, platforms’ rules for remunerating content right holders are crucial for royalty allocation and, as a result, heavily discussed in several industries. The music industry’s business practices could be on the verge of their next disruption. There is an ongoing heated debate with respect to how the income of flat rates through streaming services should be allocated to right holders (labels and artists). This research investigates aspects of the supply and demand side effects as well as the resulting monetary consequences of changing the currently applied proportional-to-usage remuneration policy (pro rata) to a user-centric policy. Using individual-level data from 3,326 participants and data from Spotify’s API, we empirically quantify the monetary consequences of this change for the music industry. Depending on the remuneration system, we find a substantial reallocation of nearly 170 million € per year at Spotify. We discuss demand and supply-side consequences that may change the way music is currently produced and consumed. We conclude with a research agenda on the impact of business conventions for users, platforms, and artists in the music streaming industry.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11747-022-00875-6 [Google]
Zierau, N., C. Hildebrand, A. Bergner, F. Busquet, A. Schmitt and J. Marco Leimeister (2022): Voice bots on the frontline: Voice-based interfaces enhance flow-like consumer experiences & boost service outcomes, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, (2879), pp.1-20
Voice-based interfaces provide new opportunities for firms to interact with consumers along the customer journey. The current work demonstrates across four studies that voice-based (as opposed to text-based) interfaces promote more flow-like user experiences, resulting in more positively-valenced service experiences, and ultimately more favorable behavioral firm outcomes (i.e., contract renewal, conversion rates, and consumer sentiment). Moreover, we also provide evidence for two important boundary conditions that reduce such flow-like user experiences in voice-based interfaces (i.e., semantic disfluency and the amount of conversational turns). The findings of this research highlight how fundamental theories of human communication can be harnessed to create more experiential service experiences with positive downstream consequences for consumers and firms. These findings have important practical implications for firms that aim at leveraging the potential of voice-based interfaces to improve consumers’ service experiences and the theory-driven “conversational design” of voice-based interfaces.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11747-022-00868-5 [Google]
Lim, W. M., S. Kumar, S. Verma and R. Chaturvedi (2022): Alexa, what do we know about conversational commerce? Insights from a systematic literature review, Psychology & Marketing, 39(2880), pp.1129-1155
Conversational agents are systems with human‐like features that can be deployed in service settings and are fast emerging as the future of online commerce. Considering the importance and proliferation of conversational commerce, it is opportune to take stock of the field’s research from a bird’s eye view to guide understanding of its current and future progress. In this regard, the goal of this study is to review the performance and intellectual structure of conversational commerce. To do so, this study conducts a comprehensive and systematic review of 722 publications on conversational commerce using the Scientific Procedures and Rationales for Systematic Literature Reviews protocol and a collection of bibliometric analysis techniques consisting of performance analysis and science mapping (e.g., content analysis, keyword co‐occurrence analysis, and bibliographic coupling). In doing so, this study reveals the performance (e.g., publication and citation trends, and top sources, publications, and authors) and the major theories and themes in the intellectual structure of the field. The study concludes with a conceptual framework depicting the constructs (e.g., antecedents, mediators, moderators, consequences, and enablers) of employing conversational agents for commerce and service delivery, as well as suggestions for its future research.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mar.21654 [Google]
Wu, H., L. Zhou, F. Ali, J. h. Chen, M. Niu and J. Hu (2022): The impacts of electronic versus waiter ordering on consumer’s healthy food choice, Psychology & Marketing, 39(2881), pp.1156-1169
With the advancement of technology and the widespread of coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, catering operators have favored electronic ordering due to its convenience and safety. However, little research has examined whether the change from traditional waiter ordering to electronic device ordering would affect consumers’ healthy eating. Based on previous research of self‐control, this article explores whether ordering by electronic device or waiter prompts healthier food choices. Through four experimental studies conducted in China, our findings demonstrated that whether ordering by electronic device or waiter is also one determinant of healthy eating. Compared to waiter ordering, consumers would make healthier food choices through electronic ordering, because it relives the time pressure brought on by the interpersonal waiter interaction. Whereas electronic ordering may be effective only if there is no waiting line or only for consumers who have a relatively low degree of trait self‐control. The findings advance the understanding of determinants of healthy eating, as well as enrich the literature that explores the difference between human and electronic service.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mar.21653 [Google]
Cui, Y. and P. van Esch (2022): Autonomy and control: How political ideology shapes the use of artificial intelligence, Psychology & Marketing, 39(2882), pp.1218-1229
Leveraging the context of artificial intelligence (AI)‐enabled checkouts (e.g., Grab‐and‐Go checkouts), we show that, across four studies, consumer response depends on their political identity salience: consumers with higher political identity salience (vs. the uninvolved) evaluate and respond to retailers using AI‐enabled checkouts more favorably compared with self‐service kiosks. Moreover, among these consumers, we propose and find political ideology as a boundary condition; liberals prefer AI‐enabled over self‐service checkouts, whereas conservatives are indifferent. Utilizing an autonomy‐based model, we demonstrate that liberal consumers’ greater preference for AI‐enabled checkouts is driven by experiences of autonomy, which then elicits approach emotions.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mar.21649 [Google]
Noble, S. M., M. Mende, D. Grewal and A. Parasuraman (2022): The Fifth Industrial Revolution: How Harmonious Human–Machine Collaboration is Triggering a Retail and Service [R]evolution, Journal of Retailing, 98(2883), pp.199-208
• This manuscript draws attention to the dawn of the Fifth Industrial Revolution (5IR) and highlights its potential for addressing a host of issues within retail and service domains. • The authors outline a 2 × 2 framework that categorizes retailers and service providers by their embrace of human–machine collaborations, a key aspect of the 5IR. • The authors outline the 5IR’s expanded definition of stakeholders (companies, employees, customers, and society); the merging of digital, physical, and biological technologies in the 5IR promises enhanced well-being for societal actors across the board. • This article establishes a roadmap for how a retail/service (r)evolution is likely to progress and offers a set of key research questions that emerge as a result. This manuscript draws attention to the dawn of the Fifth Industrial Revolution (5IR) and highlights its potential for addressing a host of issues within retail and service domains. With a retailing and service perspective, the authors outline the meaning of the 5IR, according to a 2 × 2 framework that categorizes retailers and service providers by their embrace of human–machine collaborations. They also propose an expanded definition of stakeholders in the 5IR (companies, employees, customers, and society). Merging digital, physical, and biological technologies promises enhanced well-being for societal actors across the board. By outlining these likely implications of the 5IR for retailing and services, this article establishes a roadmap for how the (r)evolution is likely to progress and offers a set of key research questions that emerge as a result. [Display omitted]
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2022.04.003 [Google]
Bolton, R. N., A. Gustafsson, C. O. Tarasi and L. Witell (2022): Managing a Global Retail Brand in Different Markets: Meta-Analyses of Customer Responses to Service Encounters, Journal of Retailing, 98(2884), pp.294-314
[Display omitted] • Customers weigh perceptions of service encounters depending on brand, store and consumer factors. • Customers who believe the retailer has high quality place less weight on in-store experience clues. • Customers who believe the retailer’s service brand promise place more weight on in-store clues. • The introduction of a digital channel changes how consumers evaluate in-store experiences. • It increases (decreases) the importance of clues that are common (unique) across channels. This study investigates how retailers can leverage their brand to shape customers’ satisfaction with service encounters. It develops and tests hypotheses about how brand, store, and consumer factors moderate customer responses to experience clues during retail service encounters. Six meta-regression analyses synthesize and compare results from 842 satisfaction equations describing customers’ encounters with a global retailer operating 400 stores in 32 countries. The results show how customers weigh their perceptions of service encounters differently depending on brand, store, and consumer factors. In markets where customers believe the retailer has high holistic brand quality, they place less weight on experience clues within the store. In markets where customers believe the retailer’s service brand promise, they place more weight on in-store experience clues. In markets where the retailer promises utilitarian value, customers weigh functional experience clues more heavily. In markets with an online purchasing channel, the effect of experience clues common to offline and online store environments is magnified, and unique clues are diminished. In addition, customers heavily weigh experience clues that fit their goals. In general, retail success factors include high brand quality (which makes customers more forgiving), a service brand promise that is mirrored in the store image (which makes customers attend to the experience clues aligned with them), and the careful monitoring and managing of retail touchpoints (to customize experience clues to each market). In this way, retailers can use customer-based strategies to effectively design and manage their global retail brand in different markets.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2021.03.004 [Google]
Xiang, D., G. Jiao, B. Sun, C. Peng and Y. Ran (2022): Prosumer-to-customer exchange in the sharing economy: Evidence from the P2P accommodation context, Journal of Business Research, 145(2885), pp.426-441
• Prosumers’ motivation, opportunity and ability attributes distinctly and significantly impact consumer responses in the P2P sharing economy context. • Consumers respond to prosumer service differently with transactional-based participation and relational-based participation. • Prosumers’ shared property management indicates a trade-off between “quantity” and “quality” which moderates the impacts of intangible service attributes. Numerous prosumers who share their spare resources have contributed significantly to sharing economy development in recent years. Existing research on the sharing economy has primarily focused on the service demand side of consumers, thus neglecting the service supply side of individual prosumers. Understanding of the service exchange between prosumers and customers in the peer-to-peer (P2P) sharing economy remains limited. Drawing on the motivation, opportunity, and ability (MOA) model and social exchange theory, we developed a conceptual framework to explore how prosumers’ service attributes influence consumers in a P2P accommodation sharing context. Using 313 questionnaires and 112 paired objective data points from prosumers in one popular P2P accommodation platform (i.e., Xiaozhu.com), this research found that prosumers’ economic motivation, service flexibility, and service knowledge level have distinct effects on consumers’ transactional-based and relational-based participation. We also found a moderating role of prosumers’ shared property management on these effects.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.02.077 [Google]
Qian, T. Y., R. Matz, L. Luo and C. Xu (2022): Gamification for value creation and viewer engagement in gamified livestreaming services: The moderating role of gender in esports, Journal of Business Research, 145(2886), pp.482-494
The current study examined the relationships between gamification, perceived value, and viewer engagement in a gamified livestreaming service, where gamification complemented the viewing of an esports event. Data from 458 viewers on a livestreaming platform were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. The results showed that immersion and socialization gamification enhanced the event’s perceived value and viewer engagement, while the effects of achievement gamification were weak and not significant. Moreover, we identified gendered differences as to engagement enhancement in esports livestreams. Immersion gamification and functional value of the event were more influential among females, whereas socialization gamification and social value were more impactful among males. Theoretical and practical implications that can help researchers and practitioners better understand, design, and operate gamification are discussed.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.02.082 [Google]
Tsiotsou, R. H. and A. Boukis (2022): In-home service consumption: A systematic review, integrative framework and future research agenda, Journal of Business Research, 145(2887), pp.49-64
[Display omitted] • Four thematic clusters of in-home service consumption are identified. • Four main actors are involved in in-home service consumption. • Antecedents, decisions and outcomes of in-home service consumption. • Theories, contexts, and methods in in-home service consumption. • The mediating role of technology in in-home service consumption. Given the increasing academic interest in in-home consumption and the fragmented, multidisciplinary scholarly knowledge in this area, this study provides a first systematic effort to review and organize the literature on in-home service consumption. Using a hybrid systematic review, combining bibliometric and framework-based literature reviews, we identify four major thematic clusters (i.e., the meaning of home, home as a consumption hub, home healthcare services, and serving the elderly), critically analyze, and discuss. We draw on Actor-Antecedents-Decisions-Outcomes (AADO) and Theories-Contexts-Methods (TCM) frameworks to synthesize our findings into an integrative framework of in-home service consumption, namely InHoServ. InHoServ provides a comprehensive understanding of the main actors involved in in-home service consumption and delineates their changing role. Finally, we provide a future research agenda highlighting four fruitful areas for researchers (i.e., theorizing in-home service consumption, the changing role of service providers, technology and service consumption at home, and the dark side of in-home consumption).
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.02.050 [Google]
Chen, Q., Y. Gong, Y. Lu and J. Tang (2022): Classifying and measuring the service quality of AI chatbot in frontline service, Journal of Business Research, 145(2888), pp.552-568
• We develop the classification and scale of AI chatbot service quality. • We use mixed-method to conduct the research. • AI chatbot service quality contains seven dimensions. • We develop a scale with reliability and validity by adopting 10-step method. • High AI chatbot service quality relates to positive outcomes. AI chatbots have been widely applied in the frontline to serve customers. Yet, the existing dimensions and scales of service quality can hardly fit the new AI environment. To address this gap, we define the dimensions of AI chatbot service quality (AICSQ) and develop the associated scales with a mixed-method approach. In the qualitative analysis, with the coding of the interviews from 55 global organizations in 17 countries and 47 customers, we develop new multi-level dimensions of AICSQ, including seven second-order and 18 first-order constructs. Then we follow a 10-step scale development method to establish the valid scales. The nomological test result shows that AICSQ positively influences customers’ satisfaction with, perceived value of, and intention of continuous use of AI chatbots. The innovative dimensions and scales of AI chatbot service quality provide conceptual classification and measurement instruments for the future study of chatbot service in the frontline.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.02.088 [Google]
Jeon, Y. A. (2022): Let me transfer you to our AI-based manager: Impact of manager-level job titles assigned to AI-based agents on marketing outcomes, Journal of Business Research, 145(2889), pp.892-904
• Human job titles (e.g., customer service manager) increase positive perceptions of the AI agents. • AI “manager” receives more favorable perceptions than AI “representative”. • The perception of AI manager differs depending on whom (AI or human) customers are transferred from. • The positive perceptions boost the marketing outcomes (e.g., AI agent’s persuasion). This paper examines to what extent the job titles assigned to AI agents can influence the customer’s perception of these agents and ultimately their marketing outcomes such as customer satisfaction, brand attitude, and intention to buy AI-recommended products. Also, this study explores how customers perceive the AI agent as the manager working with either a human or an AI representative. Across three experiments (using a scenario or a combination of a scenario and the real AI chatbot), the study shows that consumers perceive the AI manager more positively in terms of likeability, knowledgeability, and trustworthiness than the AI representative and the human manager. The customers perceive the AI manager more positively when they are transferred to the AI manager from a representative of the same kind (AI) than from a human representative. Further, the job titles given to the AI agents are found to have favorable downstream effects on customer satisfaction, brand attitude, and the customers’ intentions to buy the products recommended during the chat by the AI manager.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.03.028 [Google]
Ilk, N. and G. Shang (2022): The impact of waiting on customer‐instigated service time: Field evidence from a live‐chat contact center, Journal of Operations Management, (2890), pp.1
It is well known that the waiting time a customer experiences in a service system is determined by the service processing time of preceding customers, among other factors. We argue that a directionally opposite effect, which diffuses from waiting time to her own service time, also exists in co‐productive service contexts where a significant fraction of the service time is contributed by the customer. Multiple underlying customer behavioral mechanisms lead us to hypothesize that waiting’s impact is dependent on the service stage and magnifies as the service process approaches completion. Our empirical analysis uses a unique operational data set that combines server log information with instant‐messaging transcripts collected from a live‐chat contact center. We show that pre‐service waiting accelerates customer engagement—one dimension of customer instigated service time—only at the beginning of the conversation and then exhibits a slowdown effect as the conversation proceeds. In contrast, in‐service waiting consistently slows down customer responses—another dimension of customer instigated service time, the magnitude of which is higher in later episodes of the agent‐customer message exchanges. We discuss the practical implications of our findings on operational policies employed in contact centers.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/joom.1199 [Google]
Seongkyoon, J., A. Oke and T. Y. Choi (2022): Opportunistic innovation in the age of digital services, Journal of Operations Management, 68(2891), pp.328-352
This study is about competitive dynamics surrounding opportunistic innovation in the digital supply chain (i.e., on-line gaming, multi-media broadcasting, etc.). When a digital service firm falls short of delivering required services, consumers look for alternative service offerings. For competing firms, potential demand is created suddenly, and they are compelled to innovate to capture this opportunity. This innovation response occurs in reaction to a service failure, and we call it opportunistic innovation. We characterize opportunistic innovation as being situational and temporal–the opportunity is created by the failure of another firm, and it is taken up by the fast-responding firms. The goal of this study is to develop a theory of opportunistic innovation and empirically examine its presence and associated constructs. We have compiled the daily usage-and-update history of 460 online gaming services between 2014 and 2017 and their 58 major service failure events. Our results confirm the temporal and situational characteristics of opportunistic innovation. Firms with alternative services quickly introduce innovation to the market shortly after a service failure when the readiness for convertibility at competing firms is high. In addition, results suggest that opportunistic innovation is constrained by the resource congestion on the supplier side in the digital supply chain.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/joom.1181 [Google]
Mutha, A., S. Bansal and V. D. R. Guide (2022): What servicizing demands of a company: The need for inter-functional coordination, Journal of Operations Management, 68(2892), pp.408-420
OEMs of capital-intensive products are increasingly servicizing their business model, that is, they lease the product to the customer while selling the service. This has led to the forward and reverse flow of products and information between the OEMs and customers. The standard practices and processes of the traditional sell-a-product model do not apply to the servicizing business model. We draw upon our experience with two servicizing OEMs and highlight the inter-functional coordination and development of new business processes needed for OEMs to successfully manage the transition from selling the product to selling the service. Specifically, we discuss the interconnected nature of the business strategy, product development, supply chain, and accounting and finance functions in managing a servicizing business model. Along with close coordination in the strategic dimensions, OEMs also need to make changes in their operational processes to manage the return flow of multiple usecycle products to profitably remanufacture them and re-lease to customers. When operational changes are implemented correctly, the servicizing model also offers several benefits that are not present in the traditional sell-a-product business model.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/joom.1182 [Google]
Lai, G., H. Liu, W. Xiao and X. Zhao (2022): “Fulfilled by Amazon”: A Strategic Perspective of Competition at the e-Commerce Platform, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 24(2893), pp.1406-1420
Problem definition: This paper examines the economic effects of the fulfillment services offered by Amazon (FBA) to the third-party sellers on its retail platform. Academic/practical relevance: Logistics is critical for e-commerce. It is intriguing that the third-party sellers that use FBA may directly compete with Amazon. By FBA, their service levels are substantially improved and so is their competitiveness. Such a phenomenon has been little investigated in prior literature. Methodology: We develop a strategic competition model where Amazon and a representative third-party seller engage in both price and service competition. Results: Interestingly, we find that although FBA may intensify the service competition between Amazon and the third-party seller, it can mitigate their price competition besides the direct revenue Amazon collects from the service. The latter effects dominate the former when the cross-service sensitivity of the consumers is either sufficiently low or sufficiently high. Therefore, not only the third-party sellers but also Amazon may benefit from FBA. Moreover, because the sales of Amazon’s products may increase because of FBA, its OEM (original equipment manufacturer) supplier may gain from FBA also. These findings extend to the settings where the third-party seller is Amazon’s OEM supplier, cross-price and cross-service sensitivities are correlated, or the parties set their retail prices sequentially. Managerial implications: Our analysis provides insights about when FBA is more likely to be beneficial and when it can be harmful. They are useful for understanding the impacts of FBA on both Amazon and the third-party sellers.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/msom.2022.1078 [Google]
Schoenmeyr, T. and S. C. Graves (2022): Coordination of Multiechelon Supply Chains Using the Guaranteed Service Framework, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 24(2894), pp.1859-1871
Problem definition: We use the guaranteed service (GS) framework to investigate how to coordinate a multiechelon supply chain when two self-interested parties control different parts of the supply chain. For purposes of supply chain planning, we assume that each stage in a supply chain operates with a local base-stock policy and can provide guaranteed service to its customers, as long as the customer demand falls within certain bounds. Academic/practical relevance: The GS framework for supply chain inventory optimization has been deployed successfully in multiple industrial contexts with centralized control. In this paper, we show how to apply this framework to achieve coordination in a decentralized setting in which two parties control different parts of the supply chain. Methodology: The primary methodology is the analysis of a multiechelon supply chain under the assumptions of the GS model. Results: We find that the GS framework is naturally well suited for this decentralized decision making, and we propose a specific contract structure that facilitates such relationships. This contract is incentive compatible and has several other desirable properties. Under assumptions of complete and incomplete information, a reasonable negotiation process should lead the parties to contract terms that coordinate the supply chain. The contract is simpler than contracts proposed for coordination in the stochastic service (SS) framework. We also highlight the role of markup on the holding costs and some of the difficulties that this might cause in coordinating a decentralized supply chain. Managerial implications: The value from the paper is to show that a simple contract coordinates the chain when both parties plan with a GS model and framework; hence, we provide more evidence for the utility of this model. Furthermore, the simple coordinating contract matches reasonably well with practice; we observe that the most common contract terms include a per-unit wholesale price (possibly with a minimum order quantity and/or quantity discounts), along with a service time from order placement until delivery or until ready to ship. We also observe that firms need to pay a higher price if they want better service. What may differ from practice is the contract provision of a demand bound; our contract specifies that the supplier will provide GS as long as the buyer’s order are within the agreed on demand bound. This provision is essential so that each party can apply the GS framework for planning their supply chain. Of course, contracts have many other provisions for handling exceptions. Nevertheless, our research provides some validation for the GS model and the contracting practices we observe in practice.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/msom.2021.1043 [Google]
Suurmond, R., L. J. Menor and F. Wynstra (2022): Examining service triad operations: Formation, functioning, and feedback exchanges, Production & Operations Management, (2895), pp.1
We study service triads by examining the member‐to‐member exchanges underpinning service formation, functioning, and feedback. A service triad comprises two serviced customers from the supplier’s standpoint and two service providers from the end user’s standpoint, which can cause operational complexity and challenges. We view the service triad as an operating entity and study four information‐rich cases to improve our understanding of this operational complexity. Leveraging scholarly knowledge related to service operations management and ecosystems theory, we uncover several interesting patterns related to the formation, functioning, and feedback exchanges. First, the formation exchanges depend on the value creation goal of the service triad. Second, the service buyer engages in operational coordination, despite delegating the delivery of services to the supplier. Third, feedback exchanges allow the service triad to monitor service performance for further improvement and innovation. Our qualitative inquiry focusing on the visualization and codification of members’ participation in exchanges advances our collective understanding of service triads beyond the dominant focus on structure and governance.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/poms.13768 [Google]
Yang, N. and R. Zhang (2022): Dynamic pricing and inventory management in the presence of online reviews, Production & Operations Management, (2896), pp.1
We study the joint pricing and inventory management problem in the presence of online customer reviews. Customers who purchase the product may post reviews that would influence future customers’ purchasing behaviors. We develop a stochastic joint pricing and inventory management model to characterize the optimal policy in the presence of online reviews. We show that a rating‐dependent base‐stock/list‐price policy is optimal. Interestingly, we can reduce the dynamic program that characterizes the optimal policy to one with a single‐dimensional state space (the aggregate net rating). The presence of online reviews gives rise to the trade‐off between generating current profits and inducing future demands, thus having several important implications for the firm’s operations decisions. First, online reviews drive the firm to deliver a better service and attract more customers to post a review. Hence, the safety‐stock and base‐stock levels are higher in the presence of online reviews. Second, the evolution of the aggregate net rating process follows a mean‐reverting pattern: When the current rating is low (respectively, high), it has an increasing (respectively, decreasing) trend in expectation. Third, although myopic profit optimization leads to significant optimality losses in the presence of online reviews, balancing current profits, and near‐future demands suffices to exploit the network effect induced by online reviews. We propose a dynamic look‐ahead heuristic policy that leverages this idea well and achieves small optimality gaps that decay exponentially in the length of the look‐ahead time window. Finally, we develop a general paid‐review strategy, which provides monetary incentives for customers to leave reviews. This strategy facilitates the retailer to (partially) separately generate current profits and induce future demands via the network effect of online reviews.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/poms.13744 [Google]
Guo, P., M. Haviv, Z. Luo and Y. Wang (2022): Optimal queue length information disclosure when service quality is uncertain, Production & Operations Management, 31(2897), pp.1912-1927
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]
Delasay, M., A. Jain and S. Kumar (2022): Impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic on grocery retail operations: An analytical model, Production & Operations Management, 31(2898), pp.2237-2255
The COVID‐19 pandemic has had profound effects on grocery retailers, forcing them to make many operational changes in response to public health concerns and the shift in customers’ shopping behavior. Grocery retailers need to understand the impact of pandemic conditions on their operations, but the literature has not modeled and analyzed this issue. We bridge this gap through economic models that consider the documented changes in the customers’ shopping behavior during the COVID‐19 pandemic, including less frequent in‐store shopping and bulk‐shopping tendency. We capture the impact of occupancy limitation guidelines on grocery retailers’ service capacity, customers’ shopping behavior, and, consequently, on the retailers’ store traffic and profit. We find that though store occupancy limitations reduce the in‐store foot traffic (which helps with curbing the disease spread), interestingly, they do not necessarily result in a profit decline. Under occupancy limitations and when the retailer offers the delivery or curbside pickup service, our analyses highlight the externality impact of online customers on the shopping behavior of in‐store customers. When the retailer adds the delivery service, such externalities may increase the store traffic (higher infection risk inside the grocery store) and reduce the retailer’s profit. When the retailer adds the curbside pickup instead, it has more control over the impact of externalities, which helps in lowering the store traffic and increasing the profit. Our results offer valuable insights into how retailers should regard occupancy limitations and health safety measures. Our results also highlight conditions under which various operating modes may help retailers reduce infection risk and achieve higher profit.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/poms.13717 [Google]
Wang, Z., Y. Liu and L. Fang (2022): Pay to activate service in vacation queues, Production & Operations Management, 31(2899), pp.2609-2627
We study a vacation queueing model where an arriving customer, upon finding the server to be on vacation, is offered an opportunity to pay a fee to instantaneously end the server’s vacation, which is referred to as pay‐to‐activate‐service (PTAS). If no one utilizes PTAS, the service will automatically resume when the system’s workload reaches a critical level. We investigate customers’ equilibrium strategies: (i) joining or balking and (ii) if joining, accepting PTAS or rejecting PTAS, in response to such a mechanism; we show that customers’ equilibrium strategies exhibit both avoid‐the‐crowd (ATC) and follow‐the‐crowd (FTC) types of behavior. Our results indicate that the adoption of PTAS is efficient in improving the system performance (e.g., revenue and throughput) when the demand volume is intermediate. We also discover that, upon selecting the appropriate queue‐length information disclosure policy, the service provider has to trade off between collecting a higher revenue through PTAS and improving the system throughput, because revealing the queue‐length information will impact the aforementioned two performance metrics in opposing directions. Finally, we compare our new setting to other common mechanisms including regular vacation queues and pay‐for‐priority queues.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/poms.13705 [Google]
What is truly hard, and truly astounding, is abandoning being great and starting crafted by becoming yourself.