Considered Service-specific journals were Journal of Service Research, Journal of Service Management, Journal of Services Marketing, Journal of Service Theory and Practice, Service Industries Journal, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, and Service Science.
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Marić, J., M. Pejić Bach and S. Gupta (2024): The origins of digital service innovation (DSI): systematic review of ontology and future research agenda, Journal of Service Management, 35(3874), pp.141-175
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to disclose ontology of DSI as a novel concept in servitization community, explore the research context and themes (i.e. technological and industrial sectors) where DSI emerges, unveil methodological complexities of the research on digital servitization and DSI and provide guidelines for future research avenues regarding DSI. Design/methodology/approach: Bearing in mind the relative novelty of DSI as a concept in servitization literature, the authors adopted a systematic literature review approach to identify 111 peer-reviewed articles published in English language and available in business and management disciplines via scholar databases (Scopus). The analysis of literature discloses descriptive and thematic insights regarding digital servitization and DSI. Findings: The study provides valuable insights from the descriptive and thematic analyses where classification of articles per publication year, citations, methodology/type of the paper, geographical location of data collection, as well as industrial sector and technological contexts are discussed. Moreover, the unique value of this study is observed through its specific focus on the characteristics of DSI-related literature. Originality/value: The study is among the first of its kind to provide extensive descriptive and thematic insights on the available literature dealing with digital servitization and DSI, mapping out prior research across a wide spectrum of publication outlets and illustrating the chronological evolution of research on digital servitization and DSI.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-12-2022-0404 [Google]
Rabetino, R., M. Kohtamäki and T. Huikkola (2024): Digital service innovation (DSI): a multidisciplinary (re)view of its origins and progress using bibliometric and text mining methods, Journal of Service Management, 35(3875), pp.176-201
Purpose: This paper studies the Digital Service Innovation (DSI) concept by systematically reviewing earlier studies from various scholarly communities. This study aims to recognize how recent advances in DSI literature from different research streams complement and can be incorporated into the growing digital servitization literature to define better and understand DSI. Design/methodology/approach: After systematically identifying 123 relevant articles, this study employed complementary methods, such as author bibliographic coupling, linguistic text mining/textual analysis and qualitative content analyses. Findings: This paper first maps the intellectual structure and boundaries of the DSI-related communities and qualitatively assesses their characteristics. These communities are (1) Innovation for digital servitization, (2) Service innovation in the digital age and (3) Adoption of novel e-services enabled by information system development. Next, the composition of the DSI concept is examined and depicted to comprehend the notion’s critical dimensions. The findings discuss the range of theories and methods in the existing research, including antecedents, processes and outcomes of DSI. Originality/value: This study reviews, extends the understanding of origins and critically evaluates DSI-related research. Moreover, the paper redefines and clarifies the structure and boundaries of the DSI-concept. In doing so, it elaborates on the substance of DSI and identifies the essential themes for its understanding and conceptualization. Thus, the study helps the future development of the concept and allows knowledge accumulation by bridging adjacent research communities. It helps researchers and managers navigate the foggy emerging research landscape.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-12-2022-0375 [Google]
Burton, J., V. M. Story, J. Zolkiewski and N. Nisha (2024): Digital service innovation challenges faced during servitization: a multi-level perspective, Journal of Service Management, 35(3876), pp.202-226
Purpose: Digital Service innovation (DSI) plays a fundamental role in the successful transition from product manufacturer or traditional service provider to a provider of digitally-enabled service solutions. Multiple impediments make managing this transformation using digital technologies difficult for firms, their customers and wider ecosystems. Extant knowledge of these digital technology impediments requires synthesizing and mapping. Design/methodology/approach: A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted. DSI tools and terminology are synthesized via thematic analysis. Subsequently, impediments to DSI for servitization (covering barriers, challenges and tensions) faced by actors across three key innovation phases: strategic planning, design planning and implementation, and four interaction levels (Micro, Meso, Macro-environment, Macro-ecosystem) are mapped via template analysis. Findings: Six impediment categories (external environmental factors, internal firm factors, capabilities, business models and processes, value creation and interaction) encompassing 28 unique impediment types to DSI during servitization are identified. A framework enabling impediment comparison across innovation phases and ecosystem/network interaction levels, revealing that the majority of barriers can be framed as “challenges” was developed. Originality/value: Whilst literature is emerging relating to digital servitization, there is a lack of research on the role DSI plays in facilitating digital servitization and no comprehensive study of DSI impediments exists. Additionally, consensus around the cross-disciplinary terminologies used is lacking. This study is a structured attempt to map the domain, summarizing the terms, identifying and clarifying impediment categories and providing recommendations for researchers and managers in tackling the latter.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-12-2022-0398 [Google]
Vargo, S. L., J. A. Fehrer, H. Wieland and A. Nariswari (2024): The nature and fundamental elements of digital service innovation, Journal of Service Management, 35(3877), pp.227-252
Purpose: This paper addresses the growing fragmentation between traditional and digital service innovation (DSI) research and offers a unifying metatheoretical framework. Design/methodology/approach: Grounded in service-dominant (S-D) logic’s service ecosystems perspective, this study builds on an institutional and systemic, rather than product-centric and linear, conceptualization of value creation to offer a unifying framework for (digital) service innovation that applies to both physical and digital service provisions. Findings: This paper questions the commonly perpetuated idea that DSI fundamentally changes the nature of innovation. Instead, it highlights resource liquification—the decoupling of information from the technologies that store, transmit, or process this information—as a distinguishing characteristic of DSI. Liquification, however, does not affect the relational and institutional nature of service innovation, which is always characterized by (1) the emergence of novel outcomes, (2) distributed governance and (3) symbiotic design. Instead, liquification makes these three characteristics more salient. Originality/value: In presenting a cohesive service innovation framework, this study underscores that all innovation processes are rooted in combinatorial evolution. Here, service-providing actors (re)combine technologies (or more generally, institutions) to adapt their value cocreation practices. This research demonstrates that such (re)combinations exhibit emergence, distributed governance and symbiotic design. While these characteristics may initially seem novel and unique to DSI, it reveals that their fundamental mechanisms are not limited to digital service ecosystems. They are, in fact, integral to service innovation across virtual, physical and blended contexts. The study highlights the importance of exercising caution in assuming that the emergence of novel technologies, including digital technologies, necessitates a concurrent rethinking of the fundamental processes of service innovation.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-02-2023-0052 [Google]
Narvaiza, L., J. A. Campos, M. L. Martín-Peña and E. Díaz-Garrido (2024): Characterizing digital service innovation: phases, actors, functions and interactions in the context of a digital service platform, Journal of Service Management, 35(3878), pp.253-279
Purpose: Digital service innovation (DSI) is a type of technological innovation that is recognized in practice in the innovation structure of companies. Given the breadth of digital technologies that enable digital services and the variety of these services, analysis is needed to discern the nature of these services, as well as the process that culminates in co-innovation. The literature on DSI is fragmented and spread across multiple research areas. This fragmentation impedes conceptualization of the elements that constitute DSI. This paper describes the nature of DSI through the process and elements of initiation, adoption and routinization of DSI in the context of digital service platforms (DSPs). Design/methodology/approach: This paper presents a single exploratory case study of a provider of a leading digital solution in customer relations. The data analysis is based on abductive reasoning. Findings: The paper conceptualizes the nature of DSI and describes the process and elements of DSI (phases, actors, functions and interactions). It contributes to building a common language for DSI research in service management. The analysis shows that DSI in DSPs is synonymous with co-innovation. This paper offers insight into how co-innovation occurs, using hybrid agile methodologies with the coordination of multiple actors and multilateral interactions. Originality/value: The originality and value of the study reside in its conceptualization and analysis of what is meant by DSI. The components of the service and the technological requirements for not only provision but also ideation and development appear to be inseparable. The study unveils the mechanisms that turn a digital service solution into a co-innovative proposal. This knowledge can facilitate scalability in digital services.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-12-2022-0401 [Google]
Kowalkowski, C., J. Wirtz and M. Ehret (2024): Digital service innovation in B2B markets, Journal of Service Management, 35(3879), pp.280-305
Purpose: Technology-enabled business-to-business (B2B) services contribute the largest share to GDP growth and are fundamental for an economy’s value creation. This article aims to identify key service- and digital technology-driven B2B innovation modes and proposes a research agenda for further exploration. Design/methodology/approach: This conceptual paper adopts a techno-demarcation view on service innovation, encompassing three core dimensions: service offering (the service product, or the “what”), service process (the “how”) and service ecosystem (the “who/for whom”). It delineates the implications of three digital technologies – the internet-of-things (IoT), intelligent automation (IA) and digital platforms – for service innovation across these core dimensions in B2B markets. Findings: Digital technology has immense potential ramifications for value creation by reshaping all three core dimensions of service innovation. Specifically, IoT can transform physical resources into reconfigurable service products, IA can augment and automate a rapidly expanding array of service processes, while digital platforms provide the technical and organizational infrastructure for the integration of resources and stakeholders within service ecosystems. Originality/value: This study suggests an agenda with six themes for further research, each linked to one or more of the three service innovation dimensions. They are (1) new recurring revenue models, (2) service innovation in the metaverse, (3) scaling up service innovations, (4) ecosystem innovations, (5) power dependency and lock-in effects and (6) security and responsibility in digital domains.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-12-2022-0403 [Google]
Coreynen, W., P. Matthyssens, B. Struyf and W. Vanhaverbeke (2024): Spiraling between learning and alignment toward digital service innovation, Journal of Service Management, 35(3880), pp.306-331
Purpose: This study aims to develop theory on the process toward digital service innovation (DSI) and to generate insights into how companies deal with the rising complexity associated with DSI, both inside and outside of the organization, through organizational learning and alignment. Design/methodology/approach: After purposeful sampling, in-depth, longitudinal case studies of three manufacturers are presented as illustration. Per case, multiple semi-structured interviews are conducted, and insights are validated through rich additional data gathering. Each company’s DSI pathway is reconstructed with critical incident technique. Next, using systematic combining, a middle-range theory is developed by proposing a theoretical frame concerning the relations between DSI maturity, learning and alignment. Findings: The authors posit that, as companies gradually develop and progress toward DSI maturity, they deal with a rising degree of complexity, fueling their learning needs. Companies that are apt to learn, pass through multiple cycles of learning and alignment to overcome specific complexities associated with different DSI stages, with each cycle unlocking new DSI opportunities and challenges. Originality/value: The study applies a stage-based view on DSI combined with complexity management and organizational learning and alignment theory. It offers a theoretical frame and propositions to be used by researchers for future DSI studies and by managers to evaluate alternative DSI strategies and implementation steps.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-12-2022-0400 [Google]
Ali, B. (2024): What we know about transformational leadership in tourism and hospitality: a systematic review and future agenda, Service Industries Journal, 44(3858), pp.105-147
Leadership is crucial in tourism and hospitality, shaping employee motivation, job satisfaction, and performance. Transformational Leadership (TFL) is essential to promoting innovation and positive culture. However, knowledge of TFL needs to be more cohesive, requiring holistic research. Therefore, the study compares hospitality with the attributes of both TFL and Servant Leadership (SL). The study reviewed 38 articles published between 1970 and 2022, revealing TFL’s significant positive impact on the industry, increasing employee satisfaction, motivation, and performance. The study’s originality lies in its comprehensive systematic review of empirical research on TFL in the tourism and hospitality industry. The study addresses the gap in knowledge surrounding TFL’s impact on the industry and provides valuable insights into its positive effect on employee satisfaction, motivation, and performance. Additionally, the study highlights the common attributes of TFL and SL, suggesting that the two leadership styles may complement each other in this industry. Through this research, practitioners and researchers can gain a more comprehensive understanding of TFL’s effectiveness and develop new theories and avenues of research to enhance leadership practices in the tourism and hospitality industry. (English)
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2023.2250302 [Google]
Hong, E. and J. Ahn (2024): Effect of social status signaling in an organic restaurant setting 有机餐厅背景下社会地位信号的影响, Service Industries Journal, 44(3881), pp.63-82
Despite the popularity of organic consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic, little research has examined how organic service experience predicts brand-related outcomes. To examine how organic restaurant service providers benefit from signaling social status the authors examine identification, evaluation, and revisit intention as the key consequences. Using data from 204 American customers, the results of partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) show that social status signaling has a positive effect on identification and evaluation of restaurant brand. Also, mediating role of identification and evaluation in the relationship between social status signaling and revisit intention is found. However, signaling of social status alone is not enough to elicit positive behaviors from customers. Multigroup analysis identifies that customers’ trust has a significant moderating effect on the association of the proposed relations. This empirical evidence contributes to the application of the signaling theory and provides managerial guidelines for organic restaurant service providers. (English)
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2021.2006644 [Google]
Wu, L., B. Taheri, F. Okumus and S. Wang (2024): The effects of host sincerity on tourists’ perceived destination image, Service Industries Journal, 44(3882), pp.83-104
This study aims to explore the effects of host sincerity on tourists’ perceived destination image, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions. Data were collected via an on-site survey in China and analyzed using structural equation modeling analysis. The findings suggest that local hosts should show their sincerity toward tourists in tourist-host interactions to create a positive destination image and trigger positive behavioral intentions of tourists for sustainable development of the travel destination. Residents can be active partners and co-producers of destination branding. This study highlights interactions between tourists and local residents as important attributes of the destination experience. (English)
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2021.2011861 [Google]
Kim, J.-H. and H. Song (2024): Examining the influence of multiple dimensions of authentic dining experiences, Service Industries Journal, 44(3883), pp.317-341
This study tested multiple constructs of authenticity (i.e. true-to-ideal, true-to-fact, and true-to-self) and examined the structural relationships among authenticity perception, perceived value, positive emotions, and revisit intentions. Gilmore and Pine’s authenticity model suggests that authenticity is strongly related to customers’ trust. Customers tend to perceive chain restaurants as more credible than independent restaurants. Thus, this model contradicts the widespread argument that independent organizations reflect authenticity. Further investigation is needed to verify the relationship between restaurant ownership type and authenticity perception. Data were collected from 491 Chinese ethnic diners and analyzed using a structural modeling analysis. All three authenticity dimensions significantly influence overall authenticity perceptions. Furthermore, individuals’ authenticity perceptions affect revisit intentions through perceived value and positive emotions. Additionally, the ownership type of ethnic restaurants moderates the effects of the three authenticity dimensions on overall authentic dining experiences. Thus, ethnic restaurateurs should emphasize different authenticity dimensions of uniquely positioned restaurants. (English)
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2022.2059074 [Google]
Auh, S., B. Menguc, F. M. Thompson and A. Uslu (2024): Conflict-solving as a mediator between customer incivility and service performance, Service Industries Journal, 44(3884), pp.342-377
The customer incivility literature has primarily focused on emotional exhaustion and burnout as emotion-focused mediators that channel the effect of customer incivility. Drawing on conservation of resources (COR) theory, the current research proposes a new problem-solving-focused mediator, namely, conflict-solving behavior. The authors test the mediating role of conflict-solving behavior between customer incivility and customer service performance while controlling for emotional exhaustion and employee incivility as parallel mediation mechanisms. The results from three studies provide strong support for a negative relationship between customer incivility and conflict-solving behavior and for conflict-solving behavior as a full mediator between customer incivility and customer service performance. Furthermore, the negative effect of customer incivility on conflict-solving behavior is mitigated when customer service employees are promotion-focused and as investment in customer relationship building increases. The findings extend the scope and generalizability of customer incivility research from the business-to-customer to the business-to-business context. Managerial implications for employee training and hiring as well as the importance of cultivating customer relationships as a buffer to dampen the effect of customer incivility are discussed. (English)
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2022.2094916 [Google]
Moin, M. F., M. K. Omar, A. Ali, M. I. Rasheed and M. Abdelmotaleb (2024): A moderated mediation model of knowledge hiding, Service Industries Journal, 44(3885), pp.378-390
Building on the social exchange theory and displaced aggression theory, we examined the link between exploitative leadership and subordinates’ task performance via knowledge hiding. In addition, we examined the moderating effect of subordinates’ negative reciprocity beliefs. We collected multi-source and two-wave field data (N = 318 managers and employee dyads) from Malaysian service firms. We found that exploitative leadership decreases subordinates’ task performance via knowledge hiding. Moreover, this mediated link is the strongest among the subordinates scoring high on negative reciprocity beliefs. Despite the acknowledgment that organizations should focus on knowledge management, so far little is known about what causes knowledge hiding. To bridge this important gap, this study proposed and tested a research model for knowledge hiding and thus contributed to knowledge management literature. (English)
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2022.2112180 [Google]
Saleem, S., M. Sajid, M. Arshad, M. M. Raziq and S. Shaheen (2024): Work stress, ego depletion, gender and abusive supervision: A self-Regulatory perspective, Service Industries Journal, 44(3886), pp.391-411
Drawing upon the self-regulatory perspective, we investigate the antecedents of abusive supervision. We study supervisor’s work stress as a predictor of abusive supervisory behavior and investigate supervisor ego depletion as an intervening mechanism. Furthermore, we study the role of gender in explaining ego depletion and abusive supervision. We employed a multilevel research design to study supervisor work stress and ego depletion at group level and perception of abusive supervision at individual level. Data are collected from 59 supervisors and 295 subordinates working in the banking sector. We find that supervisor work stress is positively associated with subordinates’ perception of abusive supervision, and supervisor ego depletion plays a mediating role. We find that these relationships are more pronounced for females than males. We contribute by identifying supervisors’ work stress as an antecedent of abusive supervision and extend ego depletion theory by studying supervisor’s ego depletion as an underlying mechanism. (English)
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2022.2059073 [Google]
Hassan, Q., G. Abid, M. Ali, M. Rehmat and R. Zafar (2024): Ebullient supervision and employee life satisfaction: a moderated mediation model, Service Industries Journal, 44(3887), pp.412-436
Life satisfaction is of great significance to human beings. Based on the conservation of resource theory, the study investigates the direct and indirect impact of ebullient supervision on life satisfaction. This study investigated how ebullient supervision is related to teachers’ life satisfaction and how workaholism mediates this relation. It also investigates the moderating role of family motivation on the ebullient supervision and workaholism relationship. The data were collected using self-report survey questionnaires by utilizing a time-lagged cross-sectional study design. A moderated mediation model was tested on an actual sample of 401 using Process Macro by Hayes. The findings of our study show that ebullient supervision promotes workaholism and boost life satisfaction. It is found that workaholism enhances the life satisfaction of teachers. Finally, we also found that the relationship between ebullient supervision and workaholism is weaker when family motivation is high. (English)
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2021.2019221 [Google]
Yang, Y., J. Hu and F. Jing (2024): Does awe facilitate conformity in tourism consumption? Evidence from China, Service Industries Journal, 44(3888), pp.437-455
Although conformity is frequently used to increase the appeal of popular tourism products, research on the drivers of tourist conformity is limited. Using laboratory experiments conducted in China, we demonstrate that the emotion of awe, which is often experienced while traveling but seldom investigated in the tourism literature, may have a novel influence on tourist conformity that has been overlooked so far. We conducted three studies using different manipulation methods and tourism purchase scenarios to provide convergent evidence that participants who experience awe (vs. neutral states) prefer majority-endorsed tourism-related products over minority-endorsed ones. Moreover, the effect of awe on conformity is partly mediated by social connectedness. Our findings shed light on the emotional determinants of tourist conformity, enrich research on the consequences of awe, and have useful managerial implications for tourism practices in terms of guiding consumer conformity by managing tourists’ emotional experiences. (English)
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2021.2016714 [Google]
Chen, J. and L. Liu (2024): Social media usage for service innovation: a resilience perspective, Service Industries Journal, (3889), pp.1-22
While companies are increasingly investing in social media to foster innovation and outperform their competition, it is still unclear how social media may successfully drive corporate innovation in the service context. Drawing on the resource-based view and the organizational resilience literature, this study empirically examines the indirect impact of social media usage on service innovation. Based on responses from 235 Chinese firms, we test our theoretical model using variance-based structural equation modeling. We find that social media usage has a positive impact on incremental service innovation through precursor resilience and that it enhances radical service innovation through improvisation resilience. Furthermore, technical modularity strengthens the positive effects of social media usage on precursor resilience while weakening the effects of social media usage on improvisation resilience. Our study enriches the literature by providing a nuanced understanding of the role of social media usage in service innovation. (English)
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2024.2335653 [Google]
Abualigah, A., K. Badar, Q. A. Nisar and O. M. Karatepe (2024): A moderated mediation model of green human resource management, Service Industries Journal, (3890), pp.1-23
Our paper develops and tests a moderated mediation model of green human resource management (HRM). Time-lagged data gathered were utilized to assess climate for green initiative (GI) as a mediator of the impact of green HRM on green voice behavior (GVB) and test green servant leadership (SL) as a moderator of the indirect link of green HRM to GVB via climate for GI. Results from partial least squares structural equation modeling denote that climate for GI partly mediates the linkage between green HRM and GVB. Unexpectedly, green SL reduces the indirect positive relationship of green HRM to GVB via climate for GI. By gauging the aforesaid relationships, our paper augments the existing knowledge regarding the mediating mechanism relating green HRM to GVB. Our paper also augments the green management literature by treating green SL as a moderator. (English)
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2024.2332995 [Google]
Lumivalo, J., T. Tuunanen and M. Salo (2024): Value Co-Destruction: A Conceptual Review and Future Research Agenda, Journal of Service Research, 27(3891), pp.159-176
The service-dominant (S-D) logic lens for understanding value co-creation and customers’ interactive roles in the service exchange has emerged as a focal theme of interest among service academics and practitioners. While recent investigations have also focused on the process of value co-destruction—that is, how potential negative outcomes occur—the concept and its distinction from value co-creation remain unclear. This conceptual review synthesizes the concept of value co-destruction and proposes a framework consisting of two interrelated dimensions—actor–actor interaction and individual actor — and their components at three temporal points of the service encounter. We distinguish value co-destruction from other closely related concepts and take steps to integrate the value co-destruction concept into the S-D logic framework and the concept of value co-creation. The proposed integrative framework can help researchers and service practitioners alike to identify, analyze, and rectify the value co-destruction components in the service exchange and, thereby, avoid potential negative outcomes of service interactions. A threefold research agenda is proposed to obtain a more balanced understanding of the two dynamically interrelated concepts of value co-creation and value co-destruction and their application in practice.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/10946705231177504 [Google]
Danaher, T. S., P. J. Danaher, J. C. Sweeney and J. R. McColl-Kennedy (2024): Dynamic Customer Value Cocreation in Healthcare, Journal of Service Research, 27(3892), pp.177-193
In managing a chronic illness, customers have the opportunity to play an active role in their healthcare—by cocreating value. For example, customers can adhere to medical advice, seek out information about their condition(s), manage their diet, and interact with family and friends. Moreover, across an extended treatment period, customers may dynamically adjust their level of value cocreation. In this study, we examine 307 healthcare customers receiving treatment for cancer, with 12 value cocreation activities tracked longitudinally over 4 survey waves. Using a hidden Markov model, we reveal three latent states of customer value cocreation: low, moderate, and high. We then determine which of the 12 value cocreation activities are most strongly associated with transitions among cocreation states. Finally, we show that transitioning to a cocreation state with a higher level of cocreation activity positively correlates with customer and marketing outcomes, including customer quality of life and satisfaction. Our findings show that an increase in six cocreation activities—actively sharing information, compliance with medical requirements, interacting with staff, maintaining a healthy diet, interacting with others who receive treatment, and maintaining a good physical appearance—yields positive gains for both customer and marketing outcomes. In contrast, an increase in emotion regulation negatively affects customer outcomes.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/10946705231161758 [Google]
Bourdin, D., C. Sichtmann and V. Davvetas (2024): The Influence of Employee Accent on Customer Participation in Services, Journal of Service Research, 27(3893), pp.194-212
The increase of immigrant employees in services has made intercultural service encounters a commonplace phenomenon. In these encounters, customers frequently use service employees’ accent to infer their ethnic background, often eliciting cultural stereotypes. However, it is still unknown how accent-based stereotyping impacts customer participation (CP), that is, the degree to which customers engage in the service process by contributing effort, knowledge, and information to improve their service experience. Addressing this question in four experimental studies (N total = 1,027), we find that (1) customers contribute less to the service encounter voluntarily when the employee has an unfavorable foreign (compared to a local) accent, (2) the negative effects of unfavorable accents on voluntary CP are stronger than the positive effects of favorable ones, (3) accent-based employee stereotypes (superiority, attractiveness, dynamism) mediate the impact of accents on CP, (4) unfavorable accents impede even participatory tasks mandatory for service completion, and (5) accent effects on CP are dampened for customers with a high need for interaction and can be managerially neutralized through self-service options that offer customers higher control over the service delivery. Our findings inform staffing and training decisions for frontline service roles commonly undertaken by immigrants and assist the design of intercultural service delivery systems.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/10946705231171740 [Google]
Hammedi, W., T. Leclercq and N. Steils (2024): Gamification Myopia: Satiation Effects in Gamified Activities, Journal of Service Research, 27(3894), pp.213-230
Despite the popularity of gamification to improve the quality of experience in a variety of services, there is a lack of evidence on its effective integration into service design and the long-term impact of repeated gamified activities on customer experience. Using 10 studies, including behavioral data, survey, field, and laboratory experiments, this research investigates the effects of repeated gamified activities on customer experience quality and behavioral engagement. We examine the phenomenon through the lens of satiation theory, which explains the declining enjoyment for initially pleasurable activities. Supported by this theory, our results show evidence for a negative impact of gamified services that are highly repeated on experience quality and behavioral engagement. Further, we demonstrate strategies to compensate for such satiation by introducing mechanism and reward variety, a recovery period, and a sense of being near-to-winning. This research makes theoretical and managerial contributions by showing the potential backfire effects of gamification when gamified activities are repeated. Furthermore, this paper feeds the ongoing debate on standardization and personalization of service experiences. This paper demonstrates how high exposure to the same service experience can become counterproductive and increase risks of satiation.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/10946705231190873 [Google]
Azer, J., L. Blasco-Arcas and M. Alexander (2024): Visual Modality of Engagement: Conceptualization, Typology of Forms, and Outcomes, Journal of Service Research, 27(3895), pp.231-249
Customers proactively engage with firms’ offerings through behavioral manifestations such as brand-related social media posts, influencing other customers in online networks and, consequently, affecting brand value. With the growth of visually oriented social media platforms, interest has increased in understanding customer engagement behavior (CEB) using visual content. In this paper, we build on CEB, image acts, visual content, and communication theories to conceptualize the Visual Modality of Engagement (VME). Using both field and lab studies, we develop a typology of four distinct positive (experiential, evidential) and negative (mocking, dissuasive) forms of VME and offer empirical evidence revealing they induce different brand-related (purchase intentions, brand evaluation) and other customer-related (willingness to imitate, resharing intentions) outcomes. Additional results also reveal outcomes vary by the interplay of social and brand interactions with the various VME forms. The findings of this research offer guidance to content managers for the development of more effective engagement strategies in social media marketing.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/10946705231190867 [Google]
S Kumar, D., S. Sahadev and K. Purani (2024): Visual Aesthetic Quotient: Establishing the Effects of Computational Aesthetic Measures for Servicescape Design, Journal of Service Research, 27(3896), pp.250-267
Visual aesthetics play a pivotal role in attracting and retaining customers in service environments. Building on theories of environmental psychology, this study introduces a novel and comprehensive aesthetic measure for evaluating servicescape design, which is called as the “visual aesthetic quotient” (VAQ). This measure is presented as the ratio of the dimensions of order and complexity in servicescape’s visual design, and it aims to provide an objective and holistic approach of servicescape design evaluation. In addition, we introduce and validate a pioneering method for quantifying order and complexity objectively using algorithmic models applied to servicescape images. We investigated and established the influence of the VAQ on the perceived attractiveness of servicescapes, developing its role further in this context. The entire approach was comprehensively and rigorously examined using four studies (social media analytics, eye-tracking, a field experiment, and an experimental design), contributing to conceptual advancement and empirical testing. This study provides a novel, computational, objective, and holistic aesthetic measure for effective servicescape design management by validating computational aesthetic measures and establishing their role in influencing servicescape attractiveness; testing the mediation of processing fluency and pleasure; and examining the moderating effects of service context.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/10946705231205000 [Google]
Liu, D., Y. Zhao, G. Wang, W. A. Schrock and C. M. Voorhees (2024): Thirty Years of Service Failure and Recovery Research: Thematic Development and Future Research Opportunities From a Social Network Perspective, Journal of Service Research, 27(3897), pp.268-282
Service failure and recovery (SFR) is a well-established area of research that has made considerable progress over the past 30 years. In this study, we used a combination of text mining, co-word analysis, and social network analysis (SNA) to explore the relationships among keywords in SFR research. We analyzed a dataset of 533 SFR articles published between 1990 and 2020, extracting the most frequently used keywords using text-mining techniques. These keywords were then subjected to co-word analysis and SNA to understand the development of themes and topics in SFR research. By examining changes in network centrality measures, we gained insights into the evolution of research in this field. Furthermore, by identifying gaps or disconnections in the keyword networks, we identified future research opportunities related to the impact of service recovery strategies on customer reactions, employee reactions, and firm outcomes, as well as the relationship between customer and employee responses.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/10946705231194006 [Google]
Cenophat, S., M. Eisend, T. Bayón and A. Haas (2024): The Role of Customer Relationship Vulnerability in Service Recovery, Journal of Service Research, 27(3898), pp.283-301
The effectiveness of service recovery initiatives has primarily been explained by exchange theories implicitly assuming that the customer desires beneficial relationships. The present research extends studies in this tradition by emphasizing the crucial role of the customer’s vulnerability. Drawing on crisis theory, we argue that the effectiveness of service recovery initiatives is contingent on customer relationship vulnerability (CRV), which is defined as a customer predisposition to psychological harm in relationships with service firms. The findings show that a full-service recovery is not always possible among vulnerable customers. We discuss the implications for theory and service management practice.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/10946705231195008 [Google]
Luo, X., J.-H. Cheah, L. D. Hollebeek and X.-J. Lim (2024): Boosting customers’ impulsive buying tendency in live-streaming commerce: The role of customer engagement and deal proneness, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 77(3899), pp.103644
With the ever-growing popularity of live-streaming commerce, it is crucial for marketers to understand how live-streaming contributes to sales. While prior studies mainly focused on customer motivations for using live-streaming commerce, few studies, to date, elucidate consumers’ decision-making process in this context. Addressing this gap, we adopt the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) of persuasion to examine how live-streaming influences customers’ engagement and impulse buying behavior, as moderated by their deal proneness. To explore these issues, we analyzed data collected from 735 Millennials in China using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings show that factors characterizing the ELM-informed central (i.e., product information quality, streamer interaction quality, and streamer credibility) and peripheral (i.e., review consistency) routes exert positive effects on customer engagement and impulse buying. Moreover, deal proneness was found to moderate the relationship between engagement and impulse buying. The findings offer valuable insight for e-tailers seeking to encourage impulsive buying among millennial shoppers. Specifically, they highlight the role of central- and peripheral route factors in promoting customer engagement and impulsive buying, with the effect of customer engagement on impulsive buying being contingent on deal proneness-based differences among millennial shoppers.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2023.103644 [Google]
Gilboa, S., I. Vilnai-Yavetz and V. Mitchell (2024): Shopping mall detachment: Why do some consumers avoid malls?, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 78(3900), pp.103740
Studies focused on how enclosed shopping malls can attract consumers have rarely considered consumers who avoid visiting malls. The present study addresses this neglected population (approximately 12 % of consumers) to reveal their motivations and reasons for mall-avoidance behavior. A mixed-methods approach was employed. In Study 1, an exploratory content analysis of 193 qualitative transcripts identified three main reasons for avoiding malls: anti-consumption ideology, shopping irritants, and preference for alternative channels. In Study 2, 1502 respondents completed a questionnaire on their attitudes toward reasons for avoiding malls, and 449 were identified as mall avoiders. Structural equation modeling analysis indicated that atmospheric and social shopping irritants and a preference for online shopping increased avoidance behavior, whereas mall management’s commitment to sustainability and a preference for high-street stores decreased avoidance behavior. Segmentation analysis identified three segments of mall avoiders (n = 449) and two segments of mall visitors (n = 1053) based on shopping preferences. The results of the segmentation analysis indicated that by enhancing sustainability commitment and improving the management of mall atmospherics, sixty percent of consumers who avoid malls can be drawn to malls. Practical implications for mall management are discussed.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2024.103740 [Google]
Agatz, N., S.-H. Cho, H. Sun and H. Wang (2024): Transportation-Enabled Services: Concept, Framework, and Research Opportunities, Service Science, 16(3901), pp.1-21
As a result of rapid advancements in urban infrastructure and technology, transportation is transforming a variety of innovative and emerging services. This paper introduces the concept of transportation-enabled services (TRENS), which is a service model that uses transportation systems to enable and enhance the delivery, accessibility, and effectiveness of nontransportation services. We establish a general framework in which the transportation-enabled services involve four key stakeholders: customers, suppliers, TRENS providers, and transportation carriers. Within this general framework, we present five specific service models: a one-sided market, three variants of two-sided markets, and a three-sided market, each characterized by the interactions among suppliers, TRENS providers, and transportation carriers. Taking different models of transportation-enabled services into consideration, we highlight crucial research opportunities to enhance understanding of the planning, operations, evaluation, and regulation of transportation-enabled services. These research opportunities include demand and supply management, transportation system management and operations, coordination among stakeholders, and the evaluation and regulation of transportation-enabled services. We believe that the emergence, widespread adoption, and popularity of transportation-enabled services will significantly enhance and reshape many services and thus contribute to the overall improvement of future mobility in the broader context of smart cities.History: This paper has been accepted for the Service Science Special Issue on Innovation in Transportation-Enabled Urban Services.Funding: The work of Hai Wang was supported by the Lee Kong Chian Fellowship awarded by Singapore Management University. The work of Hao Sun was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grants 72301179].
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/serv.2024.0116 [Google]
Dong, T., X. Sun, Q. Luo, J. Wang and Y. Yin (2023): The Dual Effects of Team Contest Design on On-Demand Service Work Schedules, Service Science, 16(3902), pp.22-41
Emerging on-demand service platforms (OSPs) have recently embraced teamwork as a strategy for stimulating workers? productivity and mediating temporal supply and demand imbalances. This research investigates the team contest scheme design problem considering work schedules. Introducing teams on OSPs creates a hierarchical single-leader multi-follower game. The leader (platform) establishes rewards and intrateam revenue-sharing rules for distributing workers? payoffs. Each follower (team) competes with others by coordinating the schedules of its team members to maximize the total expected utility. The concurrence of interteam competition and intrateam coordination causes dual effects, which are captured by an equilibrium analysis of the followers? game. To align the platform?s interest with workers? heterogeneous working-time preferences, we propose a profit-maximizing contest scheme consisting of a winner?s reward and time-varying payments. A novel algorithm that combines Bayesian optimization, duality, and a penalty method solves the optimal scheme in the nonconvex equilibrium-constrained problem. Our results indicate that teamwork is a useful strategy with limitations. Under the proposed scheme, team contest always benefits workers. Intrateam coordination helps teams strategically mitigate the negative externalities caused by overcompetition among workers. For the platform, the optimal scheme can direct teams? schedules toward more profitable market equilibria when workers have inaccurate perceptions of the market.History: This paper has been accepted for the Service Science Special Issue on Innovation in Transportation-Enabled Urban Services.Funding: This work was supported by the National Science Foundation [Grant FW-HTF-P 2222806].Supplemental Material: The online appendices are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/serv.2023.0320.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/serv.2023.0320 [Google]
Jia, M., H.-S. Kim and S. Tao (2023): B&B Customer Experience and Satisfaction: Evidence from Online Customer Reviews, Service Science, 16(3903), pp.42-54
With the popularity of the internet and the rapid growth of user-generated content facilitated by various platforms of social media, online reviews have become an important source of information for customers to obtain product information and affect their purchasing decisions in the service industry. The accelerated development of bed-and-breakfasts (B&Bs) in the context of a rural revitalization strategy implies a shift in people?s demand from standardized to personalized accommodation. From the first establishment to the well-developed industry, the competition among diverse B&Bs is getting fiercer, and it is essential for business operators to understand their customers deeply and timely. Therefore, online reviews posted by customers freely and in real time were adopted to explore key dimensions reflecting customer experience and examine their relationship with customer satisfaction, which is a vital antecedent for customer loyalty, repurchase intention, etc. A total of 8,691 reviews from Ctrip were collected and then used for extracting relative insights and cognition by qualitative and quantitative analysis. Consequently, several implications for future research development and practical application are discussed for service promotion and development of the B&B industry.Funding: This work was supported by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2022S1A5A2A03052622).
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/serv.2022.0080 [Google]
Xie, L., W. Zhang, X. Guan and T.-C. Huan (2023): Exploring Customer Citizenship Behavior Through Customer–Organization Identification, Service Science, 16(3904), pp.55-68
This paper aims to investigate the influence of customer?organization identification from a customer?employee relationship perspective. Specifically, this paper examines the mediating effects of the customer?employee identification and customer?employee trust between the relationship between customer?organization identification and customer citizenship behavior. Based on social identity theory, this paper builds a research framework that is empirically tested using a sample of 465 patients or their families from one of the largest high-level hospitals in China. Structural equation modeling and a bootstrapping method were adopted to test the model and the mediation effects. Results of data analysis reveal that customer?organization identification has a direct positive influence on customer citizenship behavior, and customer?employee identification and customer?employee trust have positive mediation effects between customer?organization identification and customer citizenship behavior.Funding: This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant 71772186 to L. Xie and Grant 71802052 to X. Guan].
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/serv.2021.0051 [Google]
