Today we identify service articles published in Marketing, Management, Operations, Productions, Information Systems & Practioner-oriented Journals in the last months.
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Eldor, L. (2021): Leading by Doing: Does Leading by Example Impact Productivity and Service Quality?, Academy of Management Journal, 64(2), pp.458-481
This paper presents a research model for the creation of organizational value through leading by example. I argue that leading by example serves as a unique value-creation driver by enhancing engagement, productivity, and service quality at the business level. Using a strategy-based resource management framework, I also argue that there are synergies between leading by example and the manifestation of organizational core values. My theory is grounded in the strategy-based notion that combining organizational resources—leading by example (practical element) and organizational core values (conceptual element)—optimizes employee engagement, which in turn enhances productivity and service quality. I examine my model empirically using two-time-point panel data derived from three different sources (employees, financial data, and secret shoppers) in a sample of 233 retail stores. The findings provide evidence that leading by example improves productivity and service quality (after taking into account the potential influence of charismatic leadership). The indirect effect of leading by example on productivity and service quality (through engagement) is even stronger when manifestation of organizational core values is high. Contributions to theory, research, and practice are presented.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.5465/amj.2018.0706 [Google]
Phares, J., D. D. Dobrzykowski and J. Prohofsky (2021): How policy is shaping the macro healthcare delivery supply chain: The emergence of a new tier of retail medical clinics, Business Horizons, 64(3), pp.333-345
The healthcare industry continues to face substantial pressure to simultaneously improve costs and patient centricity. Much of the focus to date has concerned policy interventions capable of improving these performance measures for traditional healthcare providers, such as hospitals. But recently, nontraditional healthcare providers like Walmart Health and Amazon have made forays into the industry by establishing retail medical clinics (RMCs). These efforts constitute a redistribution of how services are organized across the macro healthcare delivery supply chain. While RMCs stand to bring innovative models of service delivery to patients, the policy environment can both enable and inhibit their involvement in the industry. We develop a framework that explains how structural and conduct regulations have historically influenced demand for and supply of healthcare services. We then describe how these regulatory factors can support nontraditional healthcare providers as they launch innovative service delivery models aimed at efficiency and customer centricity.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2021.02.040 [Google]
(2021): Why Customer Loyalty Programs Can Backfire, Harvard Business Review, 99(3), pp.21-25
The article reports on research by professors at the Wharton School on service failures in customer loyalty programs. It mentions the need to understand which problems cause the most damage, how to deliver benefits to consumers to keep them from leaving, and includes an interview with Janey Whiteside, chief customer officer of Walmart, in the subject of customer trust. INSET: “If You Violate Emotional Trust, You Might Lose the Customer….
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ [Google]
Casidy, R., A. Duhachek, V. Singh and A. Tamaddoni (2021): Religious Belief, Religious Priming, and Negative Word of Mouth, Journal of Marketing Research (JMR), 58(), pp.1
This research examines the effects of religious belief and religious priming on negative word-of-mouth (NWOM) behavior. Drawing on social exchange and norm paradigms, the authors theorize and find evidence of the unique effects of religious belief and religious priming on NWOM in everyday service failure encounters. Specifically, they find that religious belief is associated with higher NWOM, driven by a greater sensitivity to violations of fairness norms, which in turn reduces forgiveness. However, exposure to religious priming attenuates NWOM among more religious consumers by reducing sensitivity to violations of fairness norms, which in turn enhances forgiveness. A field study involving over 1.2 million online reviews of actual restaurant experiences, in addition to four lab studies, provides support for the theorized effects. This study sheds light on the religion–forgiveness discrepancy by establishing the mediating role of sensitivity to fairness violations on the relationship between religion and forgiveness in the NWOM context. Further, the results demonstrate the importance of religion as a strategic variable in the management of service failure experiences, providing theoretical implications for the literature on the effects of religion on consumer behavior.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00222437211011196 [Google]
Zhou, C., P. Albuquerque and R. Grewal (2021): Competition and Firm Service Reliability Decisions: A Study of the Airline Industry, Journal of Marketing Research (JMR), 58(2), pp.377-399
To understand the impact of competition on organizational service reliability decisions, this study investigates whether firms in the airline industry consider competitors’ actions when making their service reliability decisions. Using data from the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics on flight cancellation rates and average length of flight delays, the authors use two complementary approaches, a simultaneous equation model and a discrete game framework, to examine competitive influence on firm decisions on the level of service reliability. The authors find that competitive effects are asymmetric and differ by the type of firm and its competitors—full-service versus low-cost airlines—as well by level of market concentration. The authors show that internal initiatives, such as on-time bonuses, can substantially improve service reliability but require the firm to account for competitive reactions. Ignoring competitive effects leads to an overestimation of the impact of these programs on service reliability levels.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0022243720973943 [Google]
Davis, A. M., V. Gaur and D. Kim (2021): Consumer Learning from Own Experience and Social Information: An Experimental Study, Management Science, 67(4), pp.2924-2943
We investigate how different types of social information affect the demand characteristics of firms competing through service quality. We first generate behavioral hypotheses around both consumers’ learning behavior and firms’ corresponding demand characteristics: market share, demand uncertainty, and rate of convergence. We then conduct a controlled human-subject experiment in which a consumer chooses to visit one of two firms, each with unknown service quality, in a repeated interaction and is exposed to different information treatments from a social network: (1) no social information; (2) share-based social information, which details the percentage of people who visited each firm; (3) quality-based social information, which illustrates the percentage of people who received a satisfactory experience from each firm; or (4) full social information, which contains both share- and quality-based social information. A key insight from our study is that different types of social information have different effects on firms’ demand. First, promoting quality-based social information leads to a significantly higher market share, lower demand variability, and faster rate of convergence for a firm with significantly better service quality. Second, when the higher quality firm has only a marginal advantage over the other firm, promoting only share-based information leads to significantly higher market share and lower demand variability. A third important result is that providing only one type of social information can actually be more helpful to the higher quality firm than providing full social information. This paper was accepted by David Simchi-Levi, operations management.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2020.3691 [Google]
Debo, L. and C. Li (2021): Design and Pricing of Discretionary Service Lines, Management Science, 67(4), pp.2251-2271
For discretionary services, longer service duration implies higher service quality. We study the optimal design and pricing of discretionary service lines, a range of services that are vertically differentiated through their duration (quality), offered to a market with customers who are heterogeneous in terms of their sensitivity to service duration. In a resource-constrained environment with stochastic arrival of demand, longer service duration also implies longer wait, which all customers dislike. Hence, service line design takes into consideration both customer heterogeneity in quality sensitivity and customer disutility in waiting. We first study the case when the firm serves customers in the order they arrive (first in first out (FIFO)). Then we investigate a processing-time-based sequencing rule with two priority classes (two classes shortest processing time (2-SPT)) as a practical operational improvement of FIFO. We identify service variety reduction as an instrument to mitigate congestion, in addition to service time reduction and throughput control used for discretionary service design. Although FIFO results in a range of closely related service durations and an increasing price schedule, we show that 2-SPT gives rise to a clustered service line with a gap between the ranges of service durations offered for different priority classes, along with a decrease of demand volume and a possible price drop from the lower-quality to the higher-quality cluster. Finally, even without customer heterogeneity, it is still optimal for the firm to offer a variety of services under 2-SPT, driven by operational efficiency improvement, whereas under FIFO the service line collapses to a single service. This paper was accepted by Terry Taylor, operations management.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2020.3670 [Google]
O’Brien, S. and T. O’Toole (2021): The effectiveness of role autonomy in influencing job pursuit intentions of customer‐oriented frontline job seekers, Psychology & Marketing, 38(3), pp.504-523
Attracting customer‐oriented frontline employee (FLE) job seekers is important for many service organisations, particularly in competitive environments. It is widely accepted that FLEs’ customer‐focused behaviours are instrumental in organisational success. Numerous studies demonstrate that autonomy plays an important role in supporting FLEs’ self‐efficacy and in helping to reduce stress attributed to job demands. While autonomy is recognised as a key resource for FLEs, its influence over job pursuit intentions of tertiary‐educated FLE job seekers has received little empirical attention. Based on a sample of 120 undergraduates in their final year and postgraduate students in an Irish university we address this question and the possible impact of perceived job complexity on job pursuit intentions of this particular cohort. In addition, we investigate whether the individual difference characteristic of customer orientation (CO) affects the extent to which autonomy influences job pursuit intentions. Results support the importance of autonomy however, the findings suggest that autonomy’s effect on job pursuit intentions is influenced by job seekers’ individual CO. The results indicate that autonomy has a stronger effect on job pursuit intentions of FLE job seekers (educated to undergraduate level and beyond) with high versus low CO.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mar.21450 [Google]
Park, S. S., C. D. Tung and H. Lee (2021): The adoption of AI service robots: A comparison between credence and experience service settings, Psychology & Marketing, 38(4), pp.691-703
Would consumers experience the same psychological processes when adopting AI service robots in different service areas? Results of multigroup structural equation modeling (n = 517) indicate that consumers’ psychological processes are not the same in different service areas. Specifically, how consumers perceive AI service robots’ usefulness is shown to be a significant underlying mechanism affecting consumers’ attitudes toward adopting AI service robots in a service setting with a credence attribute (e.g., a hospital), but is not significant for a service setting with an experience attribute (e.g., a café). Furthermore, regardless of the different service settings, both privacy concerns and trust toward AI technology are shown to be significant antecedents, consistent with previous literature. Our results provide empirical insights at the intersection of psychology, marketing, and AI technology on how consumers adapt to using service robots across different service areas.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mar.21468 [Google]
Pozharliev, R., M. De Angelis, D. Rossi, S. Romani, W. Verbeke and P. Cherubino (2021): Attachment styles moderate customer responses to frontline service robots: Evidence from affective, attitudinal, and behavioral measures, Psychology & Marketing, 38(5), pp.881-895
Despite the growing application of interactive technologies like service robots in customer service, there is limited understanding about how customers respond to interactions with frontline service robots compared to those with frontline human employees. Moreover, it is unclear whether all customers respond to the interaction with frontline service robots in the same way. Our research looks at how individual differences in social behaviors, specifically in customers’ attachment styles, influence three types of customer responses: affective responses (experienced pleasantness), attitudinal responses (perceived empathy, satisfaction), and behavioral responses (word‐of‐mouth). Three experimental studies reveal that customers with low (vs. high) scores on anxious attachment style (AAS) measures respond more negatively to frontline service robot (compared to a frontline human agent). We investigate alternative explanations for these findings, such as robots’ level of anthropomorphism and we show that human‐likeness features such as voice type and level of human‐like physical appearance, cannot explain our findings. Our results indicate that for low‐AAS customers replacing frontline human service agent with frontline robot undermines customer attitude and behavioral responses to service robots, leading to possible implications on customer segmentation, targeting, and marketing communication.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mar.21475 [Google]
Whang, C. and H. Im (2021): “I Like Your Suggestion!” the role of humanlikeness and parasocial relationship on the website versus voice shopper’s perception of recommendations, Psychology & Marketing, 38(4), pp.581-595
Voice assistants are changing the way consumers shop. Guided by the anthropomorphism literature and parasocial interaction theory, this study investigated how the new unique relationship between consumers and artificial intelligence‐powered voice assistants may affect the way consumers evaluate the recommended products through two experiments. Study 1 (n = 85, students) employed a 2 (shopping medium type: voice assistant vs. website) × 2 (interaction style: task‐oriented vs. socially‐oriented) between‐subjects design lab experiment. Study 2 (n = 418, Mechanical Turk) employed a 2 (shopping medium type: voice assistant vs. website) × 2 (product type: search vs. experience) between‐subjects online experiment. The results suggested that consumers may perceive voice assistants as pseudohuman agents detached from the service provider while perceiving websites as a tool or interface used by the provider, resulting in a more positive perception and evaluation of websites. As one of the few studies investigating voice assistants from the consumer perspective, this study contributes to the growing body of research in voice assistants. The study also contributes to anthropomorphism literature and parasocial interaction theory by confirming the causal relationship between humanlikeness and parasocial relationships.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mar.21437 [Google]
Yun, J. H., E. J. Lee and D. H. Kim (2021): Behavioral and neural evidence on consumer responses to human doctors and medical artificial intelligence, Psychology & Marketing, 38(4), pp.610-625
Will consumers accept artificial intelligence (AI) as a medical care provider? On the basis of evolution theory, we investigate the implicit psychological mechanisms that underlie consumers’ interactions with medical AI and a human doctor. In a behavioral investigation (Study 1), consumers expressed a positive intention to use medical AI’s healthcare services when it used personalized rather than mechanical conversation. However, neural investigation (Study 2) using functional magnetic resonance imaging revealed that some consumers’ implicit attitudes toward medical AI differed from their expressed behavioral intentions. The brain areas linked with implicitly apathetic emotions were activated even when medical AI used a personalized conversation, whereas consumers’ brains were activated in areas associated with prosociality when they interacted with a human doctor who used a personalized conversation. On the basis of our neural evidence, consumers perceive an identical personalized conversation differently when it is offered by a medical AI versus a human doctor. These findings have implications for the area of human–AI interactions and medical decision‐making and suggest that replacing human doctors with medical AI is still an unrealistic proposition.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mar.21445 [Google]
Hartwig, K., L. von Saldern and F. Jacob (2021): The journey from goods-dominant logic to service-dominant logic: A case study with a global technology manufacturer, Industrial Marketing Management, 95(), pp.85-98
Using a single case study of a multinational industrial organization, this article examines the journey of a large technology manufacturer from goods-dominant logic to service-dominant logic. The findings indicate that four external factors – investors, competing forces in the market, customers and technological advancements – drive this reconfiguration. In addition, the study discusses four propositions that support the internal transformation process: First, a formal redefinition process of corporate cultural values facilitates the transformation to service-dominant logic. Second, new value creation practices in separate settings help transformation proceed more quickly. Third, restricting the transformation to deliberately selected markets and to complementary business models mitigates the risk of resistance. Fourth, setting the company in a pivotal position in the ecosystem leverages existing strengths. The results bring empirical insights to a research discussion that to date has been predominantly shaped by theoretical contributions. With this paper, we provide a contribution to the quest for more midrange theories in further developing the service-dominant logic of marketing. • We examine the conversion of a global technology manufacturer from GDL to SDL. • We identify four external drivers for SDL transition. • We discuss four propositions that support the internal SDL transformation process. • We extend SDL research by contributing to the development of midrange theory.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2021.04.006 [Google]
Lievens, A. and V. Blažević (2021): A service design perspective on the stakeholder engagement journey during B2B innovation: Challenges and future research agenda, Industrial Marketing Management, 95(), pp.128-141
Innovation in business-to-business (B2B) contexts deals with highly dynamic, complex, and heterogeneous constellations of stakeholders with a diversity of goals, motives, and capabilities that further challenge successful management of B2B innovation processes and outcomes. Complex challenges, such as sustainability and digitization trends, push these B2B firms to embrace new innovation methods that help them manage disruptive change. Service design thinking has emerged as an innovation management practice emphasizing a human-centered innovation process of user interactions, creativity, and learning mindsets. In this article, we aim to evaluate the challenges and develop a research agenda on how service design can effectively enable stakeholders’ engagement during the B2B innovation process. We argue that to advance service design opportunities for stakeholder engagement, we need to address the unique complexities and challenges of stakeholder engagement during innovation from a systemic and dynamic process perspective. From a systemic perspective, we zoom in on the building blocks of stakeholder engagement and address multi-level stakeholder engagement platforms (i.e., innovation networks). From a dynamic process perspective, we treat stakeholder engagement as an emerging process and zoom in on the temporal and relational connections and hybrid orchestration to allow for both structural and emerging stakeholder engagement during innovation. We develop a stakeholder engagement journey in which we integrate service and innovation stages and propose how service design activities can support and facilitate the aforementioned challenges and complexities. Finally, we identify concrete research questions and, accordingly, develop a research agenda for future research on stakeholder engagement in B2B innovation trajectories.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2021.04.007 [Google]
Rabetino, R., M. Kohtamäki, S. A. Brax and J. Sihvonen (2021): The tribes in the field of servitization: Discovering latent streams across 30 years of research, Industrial Marketing Management, 95(), pp.70-84
The servitization domain consists of over three decades of multi-disciplinary research on service activities in industrial contexts. Servitization literature combines different research streams that share a set of critical concepts. Existing meta-analytical studies have organized information content of sub-streams, homogenized theoretical propositions, and concepts to discover shared patterns, and identified an implicit meta-narrative. This study reverses the meta-analysis direction to deconstruct the servitization body of knowledge using the dynamic topic modeling (DTM) methodology to analyze 550 research articles. DTM enables complex forms of content analysis that combine quantitative and qualitative analysis. The analysis demonstrates how these streams have informed the development of the servitization domain and shaped the collective construction of this body of knowledge. The contributions of this study are threefold. First, the study increases understanding of the conceptual dynamics and thematic trends within the servitization research domain and the nuances between the sub-streams. The study offers some strategies for the future development of the field, facilitating the renewal of the servitization-related research agenda. Second, it illustrates the role of DTM as an alternative tool for conducting a literature review. Finally, it supports the development of a common language for the servitization field, thereby reducing the entry barriers for new contributors and favoring the knowledge transfer to professionals. • We use Dynamic Topic Modeling to shows how alternative vocabularies informed the servitization meta-narrative formation. • Vocabularies have converged in an identity-building process, including differentiation, mobilization, and legitimation. • The study supports the construction of a common language to facilitate a joint agenda and strengthen the domain’s identity.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2021.04.005 [Google]
Dong, Y., S. Song, S. Venkataraman and Y. Yao (2021): Mobile Money and Mobile Technologies: A Structural Estimation, Information Systems Research, 32(1), pp.18-34
Mobile money is a service bundled with mobile technology and a social good that promotes financial inclusion for the under-served populations. Although the effect of mobile money has been examined in the past, we look at the supply side effects as it is important for managers to understand the role of mobile money in both providing social good and making a profit. From 1G to 4G mobile technologies, mobile money consistently serves as a competitive advantage for mobile network operators (MNOs). However, this does not mean that the effect stays unchanged over the generations of mobile technology. Instead, when the 3G technology allows web browsing as a major upgrade of mobile functionality, MNOs with mobile money have a substantially larger set of options to differentiate from those without mobile money; and as a result, mobile money implemented with 3G and 4G leads to larger market shares than that with 1G and 2G. Using a data set on mobile technologies and mobile money in the emerging markets from 2000 to 2014, we examine the demand patterns of mobile technologies and mobile money when multiple generations of mobile technologies coexist in the market and each generation of the technologies may be bundled with mobile money. Using a structural model, we estimate the own and cross price elasticities for both mobile technologies and mobile money, and the demand effects between mobile money and mobile technologies. We find that the current, dominant technology (i.e., 3G) tends to have more robust demand as compared with other technologies that are either declining (i.e., 1G and 2G) or new to the market (i.e., 4G), and that customers are more likely to substitute forward toward newer technologies than backward toward older technologies when the price increases for a technology. We also find that mobile money differentiates the market and mitigates competition for those firms that offer mobile money. Theoretical and managerial implications are also discussed.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/isre.2019.0891 [Google]
Lam, H. K. S. and Y. Zhan (2021): The impacts of supply chain finance initiatives on firm risk: evidence from service providers listed in the US, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 41(4), pp.383-409
Purpose: This study empirically investigates how supply chain finance (SCF) initiatives together with different firm capabilities and resources (i.e. information technology (IT) capability, operational slack and political connections) affect the financial risk of service providers. Design/methodology/approach: This study collects secondary longitudinal data to test for a direct impact of SCF initiatives on service providers’ financial risk. It further investigates the moderating effects of the service provider’s IT capability, operational slack and political connections. Additional tests and analytical strategies are performed to ensure the robustness of the results. Findings: The findings indicate that SCF initiatives help service providers mitigate financial risk. The risk reduction is greater for service providers with higher IT capability, operational slack and political connections, but the last factor applies only to multinational corporations, not domestic companies. Research limitations/implications: The data used in this research is limited to SCF service providers publicly listed in the United States, which may restrict the generalisability of the findings. Nonetheless, the research urges scholars to focus more on the financial risk implications of SCF in different market contexts. Practical implications: This study encourages service providers to embrace the power of SCF initiatives for mitigating financial risk and allows them to evaluate their SCF investments in light of different firm capabilities and resources. Originality/value: This is the first study investigating the impacts of SCF initiatives and various firm capabilities and resources on service providers’ financial risk. The empirical findings provide important implications for future research and practices.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJOPM-07-2020-0462 [Google]
Song, H., M. Li and K. Yu (2021): Big data analytics in digital platforms: how do financial service providers customise supply chain finance?, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 41(4), pp.410-435
Purpose: This study examines the role of financial service providers (FSPs) in assessing the supply chain credit of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and how they help SMEs obtain supply chain finance (SCF) through an established digital platform using big data analytics (BDA). Design/methodology/approach: This study conducted data mining analysis on the archival data of China’s FSPs in the mobile production industry from 2015 to 2018, using neural networks in the first stage and multiple regression in the second stage. Findings: The findings suggest that digital platforms sponsored by FSPs have a discriminative effect based on implicit BDA on identifying the quality and potential risks of borrowers. The results also show that tailored information utilised by FSPs has a supportive effect based on explicit BDA in helping SMEs obtain financing. Originality/value: This study contributes to the emergent research on BDA in supply chain management by extending the contextual research on information signalling and platform theory in SCF. Furthermore, it examines the distinctive financing decision models of FSPs and provides a solution that addresses the information deficiency and overload of both lenders and borrowers and plays a certain reference role in alleviating the financing problems of SMEs.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJOPM-07-2020-0485 [Google]
Tian, L., B. Jiang and Y. Xu (2021): Manufacturer’s Entry in the Product-Sharing Market, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 23(3), pp.553-568
Problem definition: Mobile communications technologies and online platforms have enabled large-scale consumer-to-consumer (C2C) sharing of their underutilized products. This paper studies a manufacturer’s optimal entry strategy in the product-sharing market and the economic implications of its entry. Academic/practical relevance: Sharing of products or services among consumers has experienced dramatic growth in recent years. The impact of C2C sharing on traditional firms can be very significant. In response to C2C product sharing, many manufacturers (e.g., General Motors and BMW) have entered the product-sharing market to provide business-to-consumer (B2C) rental services in addition to outright sales to consumers. Methodology: We employ a game-theoretic analytical model for our analysis. Results: Our analysis shows that when C2C sharing has a low transaction cost and the manufacturer’s marginal cost of production is not very high, the manufacturer will find it not optimal to offer its own rental services to consumers. In contrast, when the C2C sharing transaction cost is high or the manufacturer’s marginal cost of production is high, the manufacturer should offer enough units of the products for rental to squeeze out C2C sharing (in expectation). When the C2C-sharing transaction cost and the manufacturer’s marginal cost are both in the middle ranges, the manufacturer’s rental services and the C2C sharing will coexist, in which case the manufacturer’s entry in the sharing market may reduce the total number of units of the product in the whole market, but increase the consumer surplus and the social welfare. This reduced number of products due to the manufacturer’s B2C rental service also suggests less environmental impact from production. Managerial implications: The production cost and the C2C sharing transaction cost play critical roles in determining the manufacturer’s optimal quantity to use for its B2C rental services and the equilibrium outcome. In some situations, the manufacturer’s entry in the sharing market provides not only economic benefits to the firm and consumers, but also environmental benefits to the society as a whole.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/msom.2020.0919 [Google]
Zhang, Y., M. Lu and S. Shen (2021): On the Values of Vehicle-to-Grid Electricity Selling in Electric Vehicle Sharing, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 23(2), pp.488-507
Problem definition: We study electric vehicle (EV) sharing systems and explore the opportunity for incorporating vehicle-to-grid (V2G) electricity selling in EV sharing. Academic/practical relevance: The problem involves complex planning and operational decisions, as well as multiple sources of uncertainties. The related optimization models impose significant computational challenges. The potential value of V2G integration may have far-reaching impacts on EV sharing and sustainability. Methodology: We formulate the problem as a two-stage stochastic integer linear program. In the first stage, we optimize decisions related to service planning, the capacity of parking and charging facilities, EV battery capacities, and EV allocation in each zone under uncertain time-dependent trip demand and electricity prices. In the second stage, for a realized demand–price scenario, we construct a time-and-charging-status expanded transportation network and optimize operations of the shared vehicle fleet, EV battery charging, and V2G selling. We develop Benders decomposition and scenario decomposition approaches to improve computational efficiency. A linear-decision-rule-based approximation approach is also provided to model dynamic operations. Results: Via testing instances based on real-world and synthetic data, we demonstrate the computational efficacy of our approaches and study the benefits of integrating V2G in EV sharing from the service provider, consumer, and socioenvironmental aspects. Managerial implications: V2G integration can significantly increase the profitability of EV sharing and the quality of service. It results in the preference of larger EV fleets and battery capacities, which further leads to various socioenvironmental benefits. The benefit of V2G can still prevail, even with more severe battery degradation and can be more significant when combined with (i) more stringent service levels, (ii) more traffic congestion, or (iii) urban spatial structures with concentrated business/residential areas. V2G integration (complemented by fast charging technology) can also benefit carshare users through improvement in the quality of service.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/msom.2019.0855 [Google]
Gaimon, C. and K. Ramachandran (2021): The Knowledge Value Chain: An Operational Perspective, Production & Operations Management, 30(3), pp.715-724
The successful launch of an innovative product or service is driven by an unexplored market opportunity or a technological breakthrough. Oftentimes, however, firms lack the necessary resource capabilities to exploit new market opportunities; alternately, markets may not exist for firms to successfully profit from technological breakthroughs. In other words, firms suffer from performance gaps between their market opportunities and their resource capabilities. In this study, we organize the growing literature on knowledge management to develop the concept of a knowledge value chain, which we characterize as the transformative engine by which a firm can close such performance gaps. In addition to motivating the framework through case studies and placing the existing research literature in knowledge management within this framework, we also identify several directions of future research.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/poms.13312 [Google]
Golara, S., K. J. Dooley and N. Mousavi (2021): Are Dealers Still Relevant? How Dealer Service Quality Impacts Manufacturer Success, Production & Operations Management, 30(), pp.1
Most automobile manufacturers use franchised dealers to distribute their products and to perform sales‐related and after‐sales services. However, the link between dealers’ service quality and manufacturer performance is not well understood. Some studies suggest that these services’ quality affects product sales, repeat sales, and brand reputation. Others posit that dealer services are a commodity, and their quality may only affect sales in the extremes. We constructed data representing sales and service quality ratings of 1078 U.S. automobile dealerships over a year in five different car classes. We find that the quality of after‐sales services positively influences sales of the brand in the dealer’s region. Manufacturers whose dealers struggle with after‐sales services take a hit in market share even in markets where they enjoy superior competitive status. We also find that sales‐related services gain importance in highly competitive markets where the manufacturer has few dealers and competitors have many.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/poms.13450 [Google]
Keskin, B. B., G. J. Bott and N. K. Freeman (2021): Cracking Sex Trafficking: Data Analysis, Pattern Recognition, and Path Prediction, Production & Operations Management, 30(4), pp.1110-1135
Human trafficking, the exploitation of humans for monetary gain or benefit, is a widespread humanitarian issue that is typically sub‐classified into labor and sex trafficking. In the last decade, sex traffickers have used online classified advertisements to advertise sexual services. Although these advertisements are visible to the general public and law enforcement, the volume of ads, the frequency with which their posting locale changes, and the use of obfuscation tactics make it difficult for law enforcement agencies to react. Existing products for law enforcement focus on identifying, tracking, and correlating individual activity by performing deep searches for specific information against a database of historical posts. While this deep search capability is useful for investigating specific cases, it overlooks higher‐level patterns that exist in ads. Using a website that has been linked to several sex trafficking‐related arrests, we demonstrate a framework for harvesting, linking, and detecting these patterns in a dataset comprised of more than 10 million advertisements targeting US cities. Our framework combines information systems and operations research concepts to identify groups of posts based on text, phone numbers, and pictures; determine circuits associated with post groups, and predict future movements using four different methods. Our description of the framework and comparison of the grouping and prediction methods provide insights that can assist law enforcement agencies to combat individuals/organizations involved in illicit sexual activities, including sex trafficking, proactively. Also, this demonstration provides researchers interested in developing advanced interdiction models targeting illicit sexual activities with a clear picture regarding available data formats.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/poms.13294 [Google]
Sun, H., J. Chen and M. Fan (2021): Effect of Live Chat on Traffic‐to‐Sales Conversion: Evidence from an Online Marketplace, Production & Operations Management, 30(5), pp.1201-1219
Over the years, online retailers have increasingly embraced live chat to improve customer service and facilitate transactions. We examine how online sellers’ use of live chat influences their online traffic conversion into sales. Like brick‐and‐mortar stores, a fundamental task for online stores is to convert traffic into purchases, an important problem in retail service operations management. We argue that live chat can increase online sales conversion by performing the functions of informing and persuading. We explore how the two roles of live chat interact with existing information regarding sellers and their products, such as product descriptions, ratings, price, and reviews, as these types of information also influence consumers’ perceived product quality and help mitigate uncertainties in product fit to their needs. We apply a random‐coefficient model in a Bayesian hierarchical framework and test the model using a panel dataset from Taobao, the leading C2C platform in China. Our results suggest that live chat has a positive impact on conversion and that the strength of this positive effect depends on seller and product characteristics. The positive effect is stronger when product information on web pages is less comprehensive (where live chat manifests an informative role), and when the perceived value of the product is higher (where live chat manifests a persuasive role) with either a higher product rating or a lower product price. Our results provide relevant and useful implications for online merchants and platform owners.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/poms.13320 [Google]
Wang, K., S. Chen, Z. Jiang, W. Zhou and N. Geng (2021): Capacity Allocation of an Integrated Production and Service System, Production & Operations Management, 30(), pp.1
Manufacturing servitization has become a major trend in industry that is implemented by so called integrated production and service systems (IPSSs) to offer not only products but also their associated services. In this study, we explore the capacity allocation policy for an IPSS that consists of a manufacturing facility and a service center. The IPSS serves two classes of customers, each demanding a specific product produced at the manufacturing facility and, subsequently, the associated service offered by the service center. We formulate this problem of resource allocation as a Markov decision process. Our analysis suggests that it is optimal to serve the customer with the larger cost saving rate and slower service rate, where the cost saving rate equals service rate times the sum of holding cost and waiting cost. Then we explore production control policies coupled with optimal service ones. We demonstrate that, with light service traffic, the system under the optimal production policy becomes similar to a make‐to‐stock system. Such a system can effectively hedge the system uncertainty. Therefore, the optimal production policy for the IPSS is also a hedging point policy. Under this policy, switching and idling curves split the state space into three regions: one without any production, the two others for production of two type products, respectively. We also discuss the optimal control policies of the two extensions of the IPSS (one with multiple types of product and customers, and the other with a single product and two classes of customers) and find that the characters of the optimal production and service policy still hold. Finally, we develop three heuristic integrated scheduling policies. Numerical experiments show that one is very effective.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/poms.13407 [Google]
Zhu, H., Y. Yu and S. Ray (2021): Quality Disclosure Strategy under Customer Learning Opportunities, Production & Operations Management, 30(4), pp.1136-1153
For experience goods (products or services), given the uncertainty about their actual quality and the growing popularity of social media, potential customers nowadays depend on experiences of peers who have used the goods previously to learn about their quality. In this paper, we study how such customer learning affects a firm’s (credible) quality disclosure strategy as well as other relevant decisions. To model such learning, we adopt the anecdotal reasoning framework, which we show to be rational and a special case of the Bayesian framework. There are two main insights that we glean from this study. First, we find that the incorporation of the learning behavior significantly alters the optimal disclosure strategy from its single threshold structure in the extant literature to a multi‐threshold policy. Specifically, firms with high‐ or low‐quality goods prefer not disclosing quality information in order to utilize the pricing flexibility that such a strategy affords; on the other hand, a medium‐quality firm might disclose its quality level, even though this hinders its pricing flexibility, so that customers are confident about it when purchasing the product. Second, we show that the change in the disclosure strategy impacts the optimal pricing decision, which can be non‐monotone in the quality level. Our results suggest that when disclosure is expensive, high‐quality firms are better off educating potential customers through advertising or social media, rather than disclosing their quality levels. They also suggest to policymakers that mandatory quality disclosure may not be socially optimal as more customers obtain quality information through peer learning. Our findings are robust and hold true under quite general customer valuation distributions, in capacitated settings and even when price can be used as a signal of quality level by firms.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/poms.13295 [Google]
Hutzinger, C. and W. J. Weitzl (2021): Co-creation of online service recoveries and its effects on complaint bystanders, Journal of Business Research, 130(), pp.525-538
Potential customers often consider public online complaints and the subsequent recovery episode in their purchasing decisions. This research reveals that direct recovery responses by satisfied customers (i.e., brand advocates) are an interesting alternative to marketers’ direct recovery responses. Brand advocates’ responses particularly influence the pre-purchase brand attitude of individuals who are low in ‘susceptibility to normative influence’ (SNI). In contrast, high-SNI individuals are equally receptive to both response sources. However, the response content moderates the effect of response source, such that ‘consumer vouching’ (i.e., favorable defensive statements based on positive personal brand experiences) leads to a positive brand attitude of high-SNI individuals. This study also sheds light on the role of other consumers’ activities after the direct recovery response (i.e., ‘virtual presence’ (VP)), which shape high-SNI individuals’ brand attitude: It demonstrates that simple positive comments supporting consumers’ initial vouching (i.e., substantial positive VP) stimulate its effectiveness, but also that negative comments after marketers’ initial vouching (i.e., substantial negative VP) harm the brand. However, after marketer and consumer vouching, the brand does not benefit from supportive ‘likes’ (i.e., superficial VP).
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.10.022 [Google]
So, K. K. F., W. Wei and D. Martin (2021): Understanding customer engagement and social media activities in tourism: A latent profile analysis and cross-validation, Journal of Business Research, 129(), pp.474-483
Customer engagement has gained noteworthy attention among academics and practitioners over the last decade. Two studies employ latent profile analysis (LPA), a person-centered approach, to uncover discrete customer subgroups with similar profiles based on multiple customer engagement dimensions and relate these LPA groups to brand loyalty. Study 1 identifies four latent classes of airline and hotel customers. Customer engagement dimension scores inform four class profiles: enthusiastic, reserved, unpassionate, and disengaged. Results show a significant association between the latent profiles and customer participation in customer engagement activities. Interestingly, the results indicate that highly engaged customers do not necessarily participate in cyberspace-related customer engagement activities; instead, they participate more often in traditional, offline customer engagement activities. Study 2 validates these findings in a tourism destination context. The consistent findings across the two studies challenge the customer engagement literature’s general assumption linking customer engagement and consumer participation in social media.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.05.054 [Google]
Gao, W., H. Fan, W. Li and H. Wang (2021): Crafting the customer experience in omnichannel contexts: The role of channel integration, Journal of Business Research, 126(), pp.12-22
Although the customer experience is a key factor in helping firms gain a competitive advantage, the knowledge regarding how to provide a superior customer experience in an omnichannel retailing environment remains limited. To fill this research gap, this study investigated and compared the effects of channel integration on cognitive and affective customer experiences. The findings suggest that integrated efforts encompassing promotion, product and price, and transaction information are more influential in enhancing the cognitive customer experience than the affective customer experience. Furthermore, integrated customer service has a weaker effect on the cognitive customer experience than on the affective customer experience. The results also indicate that integrated information access and order fulfillment do not differ significantly in their contributions to cognitive and affective customer experiences. These findings enhance the literature on the customer experience and channel integration. They also offer insightful implications for omnichannel retailers in terms of creating and managing the customer experience.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.12.056 [Google]
Jain, G., J. Paul and A. Shrivastava (2021): Hyper-personalization, co-creation, digital clienteling and transformation, Journal of Business Research, 124(), pp.12-23
The purpose of this study is to extend the technology-based service adoption model in the fashion industry using digital clienteling and examine the impact of the customer innovativeness, willingness to co-create, and customer involvement on their adoption intention towards co-creatively developed new services through digital transformation. Confirmatory factor analysis with structural equation modelling (SEM) was carried out for the data analysis. The findings of this study reveal that customer innovativeness, attitude, and subjective norms significantly affect their involvement. Policy planners and managers in the fashion industry for implementing technology applications for co-creating service innovation. The study provides an understanding of the TBRA (technology-based reasoned action) model with co-creation as the mediating variable in the use of digital clienteling for hyper-personalization. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that uses co-creation as the mediator for investigating digital clienteling for hyper-personalization in the fashion industry.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.11.034 [Google]
Polese, F., A. Payne, P. Frow, D. Sarno and S. Nenonen (2021): Emergence and phase transitions in service ecosystems, Journal of Business Research, 127(), pp.25-34
• Synthesis of research and definition of emergence and phase transitions in service ecosystems. • Conditions under which the phenomena exist independently or co-exist. • Comparison and contrast of the phenomena on features, triggers, processes, outcomes. • Conceptual framework showing how the phenomena jointly/separately drive dynamics. • Need for non-predictive approaches and environmental scanning. Service ecosystems provide a valuable perspective for exploring value co-creation, as they offer a relevant context to study dynamic resource integration processes. Although recent literature considers service ecosystem dynamics, little research concurrently addresses two key drivers of it: emergence and phase transitions. These two phenomena are often confused and frequently co-exist, with phase transitions necessarily involving emergence. Drawing on meta-theoretical foundations of service-dominant logic and systems theory, this conceptual paper synthesizes and extends knowledge of emergence and phase transitions in service ecosystems, including proposed new definitions. To achieve these aims, first the conditions where phase transitions and emergence exist or co-exist are identified, and second, key features, triggers, processes and outcomes are compared and contrasted. A conceptual framework illustrates how emergence and phase transition, together and separately, impact service ecosystem dynamics. In addition to the theoretical contribution, our work can assist managers discern, navigate and harness these phenomena by adopting non-predictive approaches such as effectuation and environmental scanning. Promising future research topics are also proposed.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.11.067 [Google]
Steinhoff, L. and M. M. Zondag (2021): Loyalty programs as travel companions: Complementary service features across customer journey stages, Journal of Business Research, 129(), pp.70-82
• Loyalty program complementary service features are important customer journey touchpoints. • Loyalty programs have different roles in prepurchase, purchase, and postpurchase stages. • Loyalty programs should provide complementary service benefits beyond reward benefits. • Member activity throughout journey stages fosters affective commitment and recommendation likelihood. • Member prepurchase-stage activity is most effective in driving positive outcomes. Traditionally, loyalty programs have rewarded members following their purchases. However, current versions of these programs feature extended scopes of benefits, including technology-facilitated complementary service features that span multiple purchase stages. Using a multimethod approach, this research explores the potential of loyalty programs to become meaningful “travel companions” along the customer’s journey. First, a qualitative focus group study finds the different roles of loyalty programs: purchase process facilitation (prepurchase stage), value enhancement (purchase stage), and reassurance (postpurchase stage). Then, a survey of members of a grocery retailer’s loyalty program shows the relative importance of stage-specific interactions with service features. Managers can apply these insights for designing their loyalty program to leverage its full benefits and help members co-create value with technological support.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.02.016 [Google]
Iheanachor, N., Y. David-West and I. O. Umukoro (2021): Business model innovation at the bottom of the pyramid – A case of mobile money agents, Journal of Business Research, 127(), pp.96-107
Business models have historically facilitated the ability of firms to create and capture value. Focusing on financial service agents (FSAs) as actors in the Nigerian financial services industry, this study helps to elucidate how value creation and distribution can facilitate business model innovation (BMI) in an emerging market. We deployed Osterwalder and Pigneur’s business model canvas alongside Amit and Zott’s Sources of Value in e-Business (SVCeB) model in mapping FSA business models and value creation sources. We find that the constant need to align the resources of a firm with the demand conditions at the customer end triggers the need for BMI by FSAs. The findings also demonstrate that FSAs have weak business models that inhibit their sustainability and ultimately impede their ability to play their role in closing the country’s financial exclusion gap. We suggest the need for business model innovation by FSAs as a pathway to viability, profitability and sustainability.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.01.029 [Google]
Cheng, L. T. W., P. Sharma, J. Shen and A. C. C. Ng (2021): Exploring the dark side of third-party certification effect in B2B relationships: A professional financial services perspective, Journal of Business Research, 127(), pp.123-136
• Dark side of B2B relationships in the professional financial services context. • Proprietary dataset of undisclosed voting records for Hong Kong listed firms for Investor Relation (IR) awards. • Nominated firms with stronger international (versus local) analysts show better certification effect. • More opaque nominated firms demonstrate a larger valuation effect from international analysts’ voting. • Nominated (but not awarded) firms show significant improvement in transparency after the event. This paper extends the growing research on the dark side of B2B relationships by exploring the differences in third-party certification effects based on social capital with professional financial services firms, using a proprietary dataset with confidential voting records of the nominations for Investor Relation Awards in Hong Kong. Results confirm the dark side of these relationships by showing that the nominated firms with more favorable voting from international (vs. local) analysts experience stronger certification effect with higher valuations upon announcement. Moreover, nominated (but not awarded) firms with lower levels of information transparency demonstrate a larger certification effect but they also show significant improvement in their information transparency after the event, which represents an unexpected bright outcome from this dark side of B2B relationships. Overall, these findings extend the social capital argument that international financial services firms bring higher positive return through the support of their own professional and social network.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.01.031 [Google]
Luri Minami, A., C. Ramos and A. Bruscato Bortoluzzo (2021): Sharing economy versus collaborative consumption: What drives consumers in the new forms of exchange?, Journal of Business Research, 128(), pp.124-137
Digital transformation led to the proliferation of new forms of exchange. This study aims, firstly, to put forward a parsimonious conceptualization for sharing economy (SE) and collaborative consumption (CC), concepts used interchangeably in literature and practice; secondly, to understand why consumers participate in each and whether they have significantly different drivers. We applied structural equation modeling to test our conceptual model with 400 participants. A market research company collected the data in Brazil. The convenience sample included respondents who had used one of the services at least once. Results show that SE is explained mostly by intrinsic reasons, while CC is driven by the extrinsic factor economics and the intrinsic reason enjoyment. Economic motivations are significantly stronger in CC than in SE, while convenience and environmental orientation are predominant in SE. The study advances knowledge in the field, making important managerial contributions revealing consumers’ priorities in each mode of exchange.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.01.035 [Google]
Haaker, T., P. T. M. Ly, N. Nguyen-Thanh and H. T. H. Nguyen (2021): Business model innovation through the application of the Internet-of-Things: A comparative analysis, Journal of Business Research, 126(), pp.126-136
The Internet-of-Things (IoT) empowers remote monitoring and management of the performance of machines, vehicles, processes, etc., which facilitate service business models. However, companies in emerging and transitional economies, in particular, face challenges when applying IoT, not only related to the use of technology, but especially regarding the need for a new business model. The main goal of this paper is to better understand emerging IoT business models in Vietnam through identifying and interpreting business model design options and choices. The case studies and their commonalities are used to perform a morphological analysis and create a generic IoT business model providing business model alternatives for each of the four business model dimensions. The research provides insights into the commonalities and discrepancies of IoT-based business models. Also, it provides a novel application of morphological analysis to business model innovation to create a generic business model for IoT applications in emerging markets.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.12.034 [Google]
Xu, X., N. Yan and T. Tong (2021): Longer waiting, more cancellation? Empirical evidence from an on-demand service platform, Journal of Business Research, 126(), pp.162-169
Consumer cancellation disrupts companies’ normal operations and incurs significant costs. This urges companies to understand the reasons for consumer cancellation. However, existing literature has barely discussed consumers’ cancellation behavior in the on-demand service context. This study examines the impact of consumers’ waiting time on cancellation on the on-demand food service platform. We find consumers’ longer waiting time for service production, but not for delivery, increases cancellation. Additionally, merchant popularity and price negatively affect consumer cancellation. Category and location of the merchant moderate the effect of waiting time on consumer cancellation. This study contributes to the cognitive timer theory through highlighting that consumers can have different perceived waiting time when they wait for service production versus wait for delivery. Our findings provide insights for platforms and merchants to cooperate to enhance information transparency and achieve a quick response upon receiving consumer orders to reduce waiting time in the on-demand service context.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.12.035 [Google]
Bertrand, J.-L., X. Brusset and M. Chabot (2021): Protecting franchise chains against weather risk: A design science approach, Journal of Business Research, 125(), pp.187-200
Franchisees are often small business owners whose sales, profitability, and financial equilibrium in the first years of operation are increasingly being impacted by weather variability. The literature has analysed the effectiveness of various guarantees offered by franchisors in franchise agreements, but the case of hedging the local weather risk to which each franchisee is exposed has never been addressed. Using Design Science, we show that franchisors operating in one of the activities which are among the 70% of activity sectors exposed to weather risks, can support the setup of franchises, measure their weather risk and incorporate financial protections against the consequences of adverse weather in the franchise agreement. By doing this they can reduce the risk of financial distress, provide an innovative service, and reinforce the quality of the relationship with their franchisees.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.12.020 [Google]
Tran, T. P., E. S. Mai and E. C. Taylor (2021): Enhancing brand equity of branded mobile apps via motivations: A service-dominant logic perspective, Journal of Business Research, 125(), pp.239-251
• Utilitarian and hedonic motivations are positively related to value in use (VIU). • VIU relates to perceived quality, brand loyalty, and brand association/awareness. • The effect of motivations upon VIU is not moderated by app type or self-construals. Mobile devices have become a dominant feature of modern life, and increasingly organizations are employing dedicated mobile phone applications to maintain communication with consumers. Despite the increasing adoption of these branded apps among firms, however, a comprehensive framework explaining how these branded apps create value for both consumers and firms has yet to emerge in the marketing literature. Drawing from motivational and service-dominant logic theories, this paper develops a model of the effects of motivational sources on value in use, which translates into higher brand equity. Analysis results from 323 branded app users show that five hypotheses capturing the main effects are supported. However, four hypotheses pertaining to moderation effects are not supported. Specifically, utilitarian motivation and hedonic motivation have an impact on value in use, which in turn leads to enhanced perceived quality, brand loyalty, and brand awareness and associations–the three components of brand equity.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.12.029 [Google]
Alhouti, S., S. A. Wright and T. L. Baker (2021): Customers need to relate: The conditional warm glow effect of CSR on negative customer experiences, Journal of Business Research, 124(), pp.240-253
In this article, we develop and empirically test a theoretical framework explaining when and how Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) might influence evaluative judgments following a service failure. Across three studies, we find that company CSR enhances evaluations, but this effect is bounded by the fundamental need for relatedness, which reflects the extent to which individuals feel connected to others. That is, CSR enhances evaluations when this need is heightened versus not heightened, and when experiences involve human interaction versus a Self-Service Technology (SST). The findings are replicated using different sampling sources, real and hypothetical customer experiences, various relatedness cues, multiple product categories, and different evaluative judgments. The findings demonstrate that CSR helps to offset negative evaluations following a service failure but only under certain conditions. The managerial and theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.11.047 [Google]
Tafesse, W. (2021): Communicating crowdfunding campaigns: How message strategy, vivid media use and product type influence campaign success, Journal of Business Research, 127(), pp.252-263
• Product type is investigated as a boundary condition to campaign communication strategy. • Objective information is associated with greater campaign success for intangible products. • Positive emotions are associated with greater campaign success for intangible products. • Campaign photos are associated with greater campaign success for tangible products. • Campaign videos are associated with greater campaign success for intangible products. Online crowdfunding platforms allow creators to raise funds from a large crowd of distributed backers. In these platforms, creators’ campaign communication strategy plays a crucial role in persuading backers to support their projects. At the same time, creators may need to modify their campaign communication strategy depending on the product type they are raising funds for (i.e., tangible products or intangible services and experiences). However, research has not considered the possibility of product type moderating the effect of creators’ campaign communication strategy on campaign success. Drawing on theoretical insights from the advertising and services communication literature and employing a dataset of over 8000 reward-based crowdfunding campaigns from kickstarter.com, the current study tests the moderating effect of product type. A computational algorithm deciphered creators’ campaign communication strategy. The findings contribute to the literature by offering nuanced insights about the effects of creators’ campaign communication strategy on the success of tangible product and intangible service and experience campaigns.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.01.043 [Google]
Haq, M., M. Johanson, J. Davies, L.-P. Dana and T. Budhathoki (2021): Compassionate customer service in ethnic minority microbusinesses, Journal of Business Research, 126(), pp.279-290
• Compassionate customer service sustains success of ethnic minority microbusinesses. • Ethnic minority microbusinesses are grounded in social fabric of coethnic communities. • Customer service skills are transferred informally in ethnic minority microbusinesses. • This transfer between generations occurs through hands-on experience over time. • Ethnic minority microbusinesses offer culturally sensitive services to customers. Business researchers and policymakers frequently overlook ethnic minority microbusinesses. Yet, together with small and medium-sized organizations, microbusinesses drive both local and national economies. Combining social capital theory with the resource-based view and building upon 43 in-depth interviews, this study proposes a model of ‘compassionate customer service’. In ethnic minority microbusinesses, coethnic culturally sensitive customer service is an important strategic resource for sustainable success, which high street chains lack. A key challenge for ongoing business survival and success is to ensure that future ethnic minority generations sustain coethnic compassionate customer service.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.12.054 [Google]
Flavián, C., S. Ibáñez-Sánchez and C. Orús (2021): The influence of scent on virtual reality experiences: The role of aroma-content congruence, Journal of Business Research, 123(), pp.289-301
• Pleasant and congruent scents in virtual reality experiences enhance sensory states. • These enriched multisensory experiences promote affective and behavioral reactions. • Ease of imagination mediates sensory stimulation effect on destination images. • Relationship between affective-conative images is stronger in multisensory experiences. • Congruent integration of sensory stimuli is essential for digital experiences. We live in a multisensory world. Our experiences are constructed by the stimulation of all our senses. Nevertheless, digital interactions are mainly based on audiovisual elements, while other sensory stimuli have been less explored. Virtual reality (VR) is a sensory-enabling technology that facilitates the integration of sensory inputs to enhance multisensory digital experiences. This study analyzes how the addition of ambient scent to a VR experience affects digital pre-experiences in a service context (tourism). Results from a laboratory experiment confirmed that embodied VR devices, together with pleasant and congruent ambient scents, enhance sensory stimulation, which directly (and indirectly through ease of imagination) influence affective and behavioral reactions. These enriched multisensory experiences strengthen the link between the affective and conative images of destinations. We make recommendations for researchers and service providers with ambitions to deliver ambient scents, especially those congruent with displayed content, to enhance the sensorialization of digital VR experiences.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.09.036 [Google]
Schweitzer, V. and F. Simon (2021): Self-construals as the locus of paradoxical consumer empowerment in self-service retail technology environments, Journal of Business Research, 126(), pp.291-306
While its use has expanded considerably, self-service retail technology (SSRT) continues to face mixed customer evaluations. This paper introduces an SSRT paradoxes approach, drawing on the theory of psychological empowerment that incorporates self-construals to address the various entities that SSRT users enlist to gain control over their environment. Based on consumer narratives, this study provides an extensive description of the positive and negative manifestations of SSRT-based customer empowerment, and gives credence to customer relational and collective selves as major loci of enabling or disenabling agency. Additionally, a similarity analysis of 200 data points identifies SSRT users across four communities sharing similar cognitive schemas, while revealing a paradoxical nexus between political forms of disempowerment, including dehumanization and inequitable exchange, and a sense of ubiquitous autonomy. The implications of these findings are significant for research on consumer empowerment and SSRT acceptance, as well as for retailers.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.11.027 [Google]
McLean, G., K. Osei-Frimpong and J. Barhorst (2021): Alexa, do voice assistants influence consumer brand engagement? – Examining the role of AI powered voice assistants in influencing consumer brand engagement, Journal of Business Research, 124(), pp.312-328
Artificially Intelligent (AI) voice assistants (VAs) are continuing to grow in popularity amongst consumers. While in their infancy, several brands are now utilising VAs such as the Amazon Echo to deliver brand-related information and services. However, despite the increasing use of VAs, we have little understanding of what motivates consumers to use such devices for brand-related information. Focusing on the Amazon Echo in-home VA, and its associated Alexa Skills, this research uncovers the key drivers of consumer brand engagement through VAs. In study 1, through a set of in-depth exploratory interviews with 21 respondents, we established three factors as key drivers of why consumers use VAs to engage with brands: AI attributes, technology attributes, and situational attributes. Study 2 examines these specific drivers via a questionnaire with 724 respondents. The findings outline the VA as an actor in the engagement process and affirm the importance of the VA’s AI attributes of social presence , perceived intelligence , and social attraction in influencing consumer brand engagement. Additionally, technology attributes influence consumer brand engagement, along with the utilitarian benefits derived from interactions with brand-related information. Hedonic benefits do not influence consumer brand engagement via VA technology, while trust concerns play a negative role in brand engagement behaviour. Lastly, the results convey that consumer brand engagement via a VA influences brand usage intention, but in contrast to previous research, does not directly influence future purchase intention.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.11.045 [Google]
Upadhyaya, S., C. P. Blocker, H. R. Houston and M. R. Sims (2021): Evolving two-generation services to disrupt the intergenerational effects of poverty and promote family well-being, Journal of Business Research, 125(), pp.324-335
• Families participating in social services experience imbalanced polarities. • 2-Gen Services advance a holistic approach to address the needs of the family. • 2-Gen services are designed to disrupt the intergenerational effects of poverty. • 2-Gen services advance ideas on value co-creation and consumer well-being. How do social services disrupt the generational effects of poverty to help families flourish? To address this question, we highlight a less familiar, but resurgent, social work model known as two-generation services that avoids serving only individuals and instead orients around holistic family outcomes. Despite the optimism of leading think tanks and publicized exemplars, the prevalence of the two-generation approach is rare. To empower these initiatives with ideas to reach their potential, we synthesize two-generation principles with extant research and data with social service participants to identify gaps in service design and value creation that impede two-generation approaches. Analysis reveals entrenched skepticism and imbalanced polarities for families that participate in social service ecosystems. To stimulate progress against these imbalances, we synthesize insights from Family Systems Theory and Service-Dominant Logic to generate research propositions and practical insights for services seeking to reduce the intergenerational effects of poverty and promote family well-being.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.12.019 [Google]
Tueanrat, Y., S. Papagiannidis and E. Alamanos (2021): Going on a journey: A review of the customer journey literature, Journal of Business Research, 125(), pp.336-353
Customer journey has become an increasingly important concept to understand complex customer behaviours and get insights into their experiences. While the term has been used in diverse disciplines since the 1990s and its literature has grown more than sevenfold over the last eight years, understanding of the topic remains incoherent. This paper adopted a stream-based systematic review approach to identify the underlying themes of the customer journey presented in the business literature up to May 2020. 147 relevant papers were retrieved from Scopus, Web of Science and EBSCO for the analysis. The quantitative content analysis identified five underlying themes of the customer journey, namely, service satisfaction, failure and recovery, co-creation, customer response, channels and technological disruption. The results section reviewed and discussed each theme and its sub-themes in turn. The review identified important gaps in the literature related to the key stages of a customer journey.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.12.028 [Google]
Gross, H., N. Schwarz, S. Cramer von Clausbruch and K. Hary (2021): Art projects as transformative services to integrate refugees, Journal of Business Research, 127(), pp.373-381
Drawing from transformative service and intergroup contact theory, as well as research into the impact of the arts, this article explores the power of Integrative Art Projects among refugees and citizens to foster integration. A mixed method approach, with a representative panel survey of 702 German citizens and qualitative interviews with 30 refugees and 38 arts managers, reveals the positive association of Integrative Art Projects with citizens and refugees’ well-being. The Integrative Art Projects’ value co– creation enhances hedonic and eudaimonic well-being, when four pre-requisites are met: contact, equal status, common goal, and a social authority. This study accordingly advances understanding of the value co-creation in transformative services through the intergroup contact theory and confirms Integrative Art Projects as transformative services that foster integration. Consequently, arts managers should maintain co– creation as a collaborative, customer-specific process and provide space for equal- level exchanges to ensure the integrative power of art projects.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.01.015 [Google]
Mustak, M., J. Salminen, L. Plé and J. Wirtz (2021): Artificial intelligence in marketing: Topic modeling, scientometric analysis, and research agenda, Journal of Business Research, 124(), pp.389-404
The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) offers exciting opportunities for marketing practice and academic research. In this study, through the application of natural language processing, machine learning, and statistical algorithms, we examine extant literature in terms of its dominant topics, diversity, evolution over time, and dynamics to map the existing knowledge base. Ten salient research themes emerge: (1) understanding consumer sentiments, (2) industrial opportunities of AI, (3) analyzing customer satisfaction, (4) electronic word-of-mouth–based insights, (5) improving market performance, (6) using AI for brand management, (7) measuring and enhancing customer loyalty and trust, (8) AI and novel services, (9) using AI to improve customer relationships, and (10) AI and strategic marketing. The scientometric analyses reveal key concepts, keyword co-occurrences, authorship networks, top research themes, landmark publications, and the evolution of the research field over time. With the insights as a foundation, this article closes with a proposed agenda for further research.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.10.044 [Google]
Ray, A., P. K. Bala and N. P. Rana (2021): Exploring the drivers of customers’ brand attitudes of online travel agency services: A text-mining based approach, Journal of Business Research, 128(), pp.391-404
• Exploring customer’s brand attitude using qualitative aspects of online reviews. • Qualitative aspects can help in separating reviews reflecting low brand-attitude. • Total sentiment content and content polarity have a positive effect on brand attitude. • Negative high arousal and low arousal emotions have a negative effect on attitude. • Parts-of-speech aspects have no significant effect on predicting brand attitude. This paper aims to explore the important qualitative aspects of online user-generated-content that reflects customers’ brand-attitudes. Additionally, the qualitative aspects can help service-providers understand customers’ brand-attitudes by focusing on the important aspects rather than reading the entire review, which will save both their time and effort. We have utilised a total of 10,000 reviews from TripAdvisor (an online-travel-agency provider). This study has analysed the data using statistical-technique (logistic regression), predictive-model (artificial-neural-networks) and structural-modelling technique to understand the most important aspects (i.e. sentiment, emotion or parts-of-speech) that can help to predict customers’ brand-attitudes. Results show that sentiment is the most important aspect in predicting brand-attitudes. While total sentiment content and content polarity have significant positive association, negative high-arousal emotions and low-arousal emotions have significant negative association with customers’ brand attitudes. However, parts-of-speech aspects have no significant impact on brand attitude. The paper concludes with implications, limitations and future research directions.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.02.028 [Google]
Arndt, A. D., K. Karande, K. Harrison and L. Khoshgadam (2021): Goal-relevant versus incidental similarity when choosing between multiple service providers, Journal of Business Research, 126(), pp.556-564
• Similarity on a characteristic may be goal-relevant or incidental. • Goal-relevant similarity provides diagnostic information. • Goal-relevant similarity is prioritized over incidental similarity. • Goal-relevance depends on buying situations. Jiang, Hoegg, Dahl, and Chattopadhyay (2009) demonstrated that customers prefer a service provider who shares incidental similarity, such as having the same birthday. However, customers often choose from multiple service providers simultaneously. It is unclear which specific shared characteristics will influence choice in any given buying situation. Although all similarity may lead to a personal connection, g oal-relevant similarity also provides diagnostic information that is related to customer buying goals while incidental similarity does not. This research consists of four experimental studies that demonstrate specific benefits and limitations of incidental similarity. When there are multiple service providers, customers will prefer providers with goal-relevant similarity over incidental similarity. However, when customers share goal-relevant similarity with multiple providers, customers then use incidental similarity to further narrow down their choice. Finally, characteristics are not inherently “goal-relevant” or “incidental,” but rather vary based on customer buying need and situational factors.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.12.012 [Google]
Kraus, S., F. Schiavone, A. Pluzhnikova and A. C. Invernizzi (2021): Digital transformation in healthcare: Analyzing the current state-of-research, Journal of Business Research, 123(), pp.557-567
• Digital transformation in healthcare is of increasing relevance for theory and practice. • Prior research about digital transformation in healthcare falls into five clusters. • All these forms of technology implementation lead to operational efficiencies. Digital transformation in healthcare is of increasing relevance for both scholars and practitioners in the field. Our article attempts to assess the research question how multiple stakeholders implement digital technologies for management and business purposes. To answer this question, we perform a systematic literature review about the state of the art of digital transformation in healthcare. Our findings show that prior research falls into five clusters: operational efficiency by healthcare providers; patient-centered approaches; organizational factors and managerial implications; workforce practices; and socio-economic aspects. These clusters are linked together into a model showing how these various forms of technology implementation lead to operational efficiencies for services providers. Various directions for future research and management implications are offered.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.10.030 [Google]
Stefanini, A., D. Aloini, P. Gloor and F. Pochiero (2021): Patient satisfaction in emergency department: Unveiling complex interactions by wearable sensors, Journal of Business Research, 129(), pp.600-611
We analyzed the interaction between patients and providers in the emergency department of a large university hospital using Sociometric Badges. Providers (doctors and nurses) were equipped with wearable sensors (Sociometric Badges), the badges measure body movements and speech energy with accelerometers, microphones, Bluetooth and infrared sensors. Results show that patient satisfaction and service perceptions are greatly influenced by behavioral and network factors. Patients appreciate the physical closeness of the doctors and the providers’ continuous monitoring of their health conditions. They also desire to be actively involved into the communication network with practitioners. In addition, patients perceive positively teams where doctors take the leadership of the communication network and ensure an effective team conversation.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.12.038 [Google]
Vendrell-Herrero, F., O. F. Bustinza and M. Opazo-Basaez (2021): Information technologies and product-service innovation: The moderating role of service R&D team structure, Journal of Business Research, 128(), pp.673-687
Drawing on the ambidexterity and organizational design theoretical lenses this article analyzes the interplay between R&D team structure, firm’s Information Technology (IT) processes deployment and innovation outcomes. The evidence presented herein upholds the importance of IT and R&D team structure for strategic decisions and to better exploiting firm’s innovation capabilities. Concretely, we argue that R&D team structure (centralized vs formalized vs autonomous) moderates the relationship between IT processes and innovation because it influences the way in which IT is utilized. Considering these facts, we focus on a specific type of innovation, Product-Service Innovation (PSI), largely underexplored despite being increasingly important in modern manufacturing companies. PSI differs from other technological innovations in that it involves continuous engagement with customers and logistics. Through estimation of a Multiple-Indicators Multiple-Causes (MIMIC) model with a unique sample of 352 Manufacturing Multinational Enterprises (MMNEs), we find that customer and logistics IT processes are positively linked to higher levels of PSI and that, as hypothesized, service R&D team structure moderates this relationship. In firms with autonomous R&D teams, customer-based IT processes lead to higher PSI levels, whereas in firms with formalized R&D teams, logistics-based IT processes is conducive to higher PSI levels. IT processes are not an input of PSI in centralized service R&D teams.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.01.047 [Google]
Swani, K., G. R. Milne and E. G. Miller (2021): Social media services branding: The use of corporate brand names, Journal of Business Research, 125(), pp.785-797
Companies are increasingly searching for ways to better engage consumers through social media. In this paper, we explore the impact of using different levels of brand names (corporate vs. product) in social media posts on customer engagement and purchase intentions for services. Building on services branding and brand self-identity literature, we argue that the use of corporate brand names in a services context will increase message likes and purchase intention and that corporate customer brand identification drives these effects. We test this assertion with both field and experimental studies. A field study, using actual services’ Facebook brand posts, provides support for this hypothesis, finding that the use of corporate brand names increases message likes while the use of product brand names reduces them. Four follow-up experiments replicate these results, identify boundary conditions, and provide process evidence that the effect is mediated by customer brand identification. Implications are discussed.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.04.033 [Google]
Dahl, A. J., G. R. Milne and J. W. Peltier (2021): Digital health information seeking in an omni-channel environment: A shared decision-making and service-dominant logic perspective, Journal of Business Research, 125(), pp.840-850
The health service ecosystem traditionally has focused on unidirectional information flow from the health provider to consumer. However, this model fails to adequately engage consumers in their health decision-making to improve consumers’ wellness. Consumers’ health information seeking in today’s omni-channel information environment is a critical value co-creation activity that increases consumers’ engagement. Yet little is known about how consumers’ health information seeking is evolving the information flow pattern and resulting consequences on consumers’ health self-awareness. Our study closes this gap by empirically exploring the effects of consumers’ health information seeking in an omni-channel environment and its influences on consumers’ health self-awareness. We used structural equation modeling to analyze survey results from 310 health consumers collected as part of a healthcare organization’s annual door-to-door wellness study. The results demonstrate the importance of helping consumers integrate informational inputs outside the service encounter to increase consumers’ engagement and conscious reflection on their well-being. • Identifies necessary paradigm shift in healthcare services to maximize well-being • Encouraging digital information seeking enhances consumers’ health self-awareness • Consumers are more mindful when motivated to seek external digital health resources.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.02.025 [Google]
Leone, D., F. Schiavone, F. P. Appio and B. Chiao (2021): How does artificial intelligence enable and enhance value co-creation in industrial markets? An exploratory case study in the healthcare ecosystem, Journal of Business Research, 129(), pp.849-859
• Artificial intelligence supports organizations in value co-creation. • We explore customers’ knowledge, users’ knowledge and external market knowledge. • Healthcare organizations are extensively exploiting artificial intelligence. • A framework connecting value co-creation and improved patient journey is proposed. • We highlight the performance improvements customers get at the level of service. The technological revolution brought about from the digital transformation is dramatically reshaping how firms co-create value in B2B industrial markets. Among the many forms digital technologies can take, artificial intelligence is having the strongest pervasive impact. Relying upon empirical evidence stemming from a case study in the healthcare industry, our research aims at understanding how different types of artificial intelligence-based solutions support firms in co-creating value in B2B industrial markets. We advance an integrative framework having two iterative loops. The first iterative loop connects the technology service providers with the healthcare customers, showing how artificial intelligence-based customer-centric solutions are co-created through perceptive and responsive mechanisms; the second iterative loop connects the healthcare customers with the patients, enhancing operational practices through users’ knowledge and resulting in better care and improved patient journey. Implications for theory and practice are discussed and ideas for future research are presented.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.11.008 [Google]
Zhu, J. J., Y.-C. Chang, C.-H. Ku, S. Y. Li and C.-J. Chen (2021): Online critical review classification in response strategy and service provider rating: Algorithms from heuristic processing, sentiment analysis to deep learning, Journal of Business Research, 129(), pp.860-877
This research proposes and tests mechanisms for defining and identifying the critical online consumer reviews that firms could prioritize to optimize their online response strategies, while incorporating the latest artificial intelligence (AI) technology to deal with the overwhelming volume of information. Three sets of analytical tools are introduced: Heuristic Processing, Linguistic Feature Analysis, and Deep Learning-based Natural Language Processing (NLP), to extract review information. Twelve algorithms to classify critical reviews were developed accordingly and empirically tested for their effectiveness. Our econometric analysis of 110,146 online reviews from a chain operation in hospitality industry over seven years identifies six outstanding algorithms. Firm value rating, comment length, valence, and certain consumer emotions, in addition to past comment-response behavior, are found to be superior in predicting incoming review criticality. However, the service attributes such as urgency to reply and the feasibility of actions to take are not as informative.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.11.007 [Google]
Lalicic, L. and C. Weismayer (2021): Consumers’ reasons and perceived value co-creation of using artificial intelligence-enabled travel service agents, Journal of Business Research, 129(), pp.891-901
This study analyzes the relationship between consumers’ values and their reasons for and against perceived value co-creation as well as their behavioral intentions related to using artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled travel service agents (chatbots). Structual equation modeling (SEM) results mainly support the hypotheses driven by the behavioral reasoning theory (BRT) but presume that one means lead to usage intentions of AI-enabled travel service agents. Given the interdependency and complexity of consumers’ reasoning processes, in addition, fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) is conducted to provide more insight into this unexplored topic presuming multiple different trajectories. The complex solutions of fsQCA indicate that four different combinations sufficiently explain consumers’ intent to use AI-enabled travel service agents. Overall, the findings shed light on a new area of consumer behavior and the acceptance of AI-enabled service encounters.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.11.005 [Google]
Perez-Vega, R., V. Kaartemo, C. R. Lages, N. Borghei Razavi and J. Männistö (2021): Reshaping the contexts of online customer engagement behavior via artificial intelligence: A conceptual framework, Journal of Business Research, 129(), pp.902-910
As new applications of artificial intelligence continue to emerge, there is an increasing interest to explore how this type of technology can improve automated service interactions between the firm and its customers. This paper aims to develop a conceptual framework that details how firms and customers can enhance the outcomes of firm-solicited and firm-unsolicited online customer engagement behaviors through the use of information processing systems enabled by artificial intelligence. By building on the metaphor of artificial intelligence systems as organisms and taking a Stimulus-Organism-Response theory perspective, this paper identifies different types of firm-solicited and firm-unsolicited online customer engagement behaviors that act as stimuli for artificial intelligence organisms to process customer-related information resulting in both artificial intelligence and human responses which, in turn, shape the contexts of future online customer engagement behaviors.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.11.002 [Google]
Mele, C., T. Russo Spena, V. Kaartemo and M. L. Marzullo (2021): Smart nudging: How cognitive technologies enable choice architectures for value co-creation, Journal of Business Research, 129(), pp.949-960
People make decisions and take actions to improve their viability everyday, and they increasingly turn to artificial intelligence (AI) to assist with their decision making. Such trends suggest the need to determine how AI and other cognitive technologies affect value co-creation. An integrative framework, based on the service-dominant logic and nudge theory, conceptualizes smart nudging as uses of cognitive technologies to affect people’s behaviour predictably, without limiting their options or altering their economic incentives. Several choice architectures and nudges affect value co-creation, by (1) widening resource accessibility, (2) extending engagement, or (3) augmenting human actors’ agency. Although cognitive technologies are unlikely to engender smart outcomes alone, they enable designs of conditions and contexts that promote smart behaviours, by amplifying capacities for self-understanding, control, and action. This study offers a conceptualization of actors’ value co-creation prompted by AI-driven nudged choices, in terms of re-institutionalizing processes that affect agency and practices.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.09.004 [Google]
Du, S. and C. Xie (2021): Paradoxes of artificial intelligence in consumer markets: Ethical challenges and opportunities, Journal of Business Research, 129(), pp.961-974
Products and services empowered by artificial intelligence (AI) are becoming widespread in today’s marketplace. However, consumers have mixed feelings about AI technologies due to the numerous ethical challenges associated the development and deployment of AI. Drawing upon prior research on the moral significance of technology and the emerging literature on AI, we delineate three key dimensions of AI-enabled products (i.e., multi-functionality, interactivity, and AI intelligence stage) that have relevance for ethical implications and adopt a socio-technical approach to provide a multi-layered ethical analysis of AI products at the product-, consumer-, and society-levels. Some key ethical issues identified in the paper include AI biases, ethical design, consumer privacy, cybersecurity, individual autonomy and wellbeing, and unemployment. Companies need to engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) to shape the future of ethical AI; drawing upon stakeholder theory and institutional theory, we develop a conceptual framework on AI-related CSR, highlighting the product-, company-, and institutional environment-specific factors that influence firms’ socially responsible actions in the domain of AI and discussing the subsequent outcomes for firm, consumers, and the society. We include a section on future research agenda for AI ethics and firm CSR in this important domain.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.08.024 [Google]
