Journal of Service Research

The authors delve into the impact of dynamic pricing versus simple price differentiation on price-disadvantaged consumers' intentions to spread negative word of mouth. They uncovered key insights on the effects of price confusion and perceptions of price unfairness, particularly for frequently purchased services. The results have significant implications for businesses aiming to manage customer perceptions and minimize negative WOM. Check out more here.

Consumers' Intentions to Spread Negative Word of Mouth About Dynamic Pricing for Services: Role of Confusion and Unfairness Perceptions.
– Silke Bambauer-Sachse, Ashley Young
https://buff.ly/3WJKGeD

Study uncovers micro-level mechanisms that support the co-creation of value between service providers and customers. These findings provide valuable insights for businesses looking to enhance their digital service offerings. Check out more here.

Micro-Level Mechanisms to Support Value Co-Creation for Design of Digital Services.
– Tuure Tuunanen, Juuli Lumivalo, Tero Vartiainen, Yixin Zhang, Michael D. Myers
https://buff.ly/4fmxV0N

Gamification Myopia: Satiation Effects in Gamified Activities.
– Hammedi, Wafa, Thomas Leclercq, and Nadia Steils.
https://buff.ly/3KomCqM

Are you using gamification to improve the quality of experience in your services? This study reveals that highly repeated gamified activities can have a negative impact on customer experience and behavioral engagement. Satiation theory explains the declining enjoyment for initially pleasurable activities.

Virtual Paper Development Workshop –
Journal of Service Research Special Issue "Disadvantaged and Vulnerable Consumers"

When: Tuesday, July 23, 11:00am-1:00pm (Eastern).
Link: https://buff.ly/4bO2LfS

Workshop Overview: The purpose of this workshop is to provide interested authors with the guidelines and expectations for submissions to the Journal of Service Research special issue. In addition, the workshop is designed to help you and your author team to consider:
(1) What contribution are you trying to make to the theory and practice of service research?
(2) Recognizing service research is multidisciplinary (consumer behavior, strategy, operations, human resources, technology/engineering, etc.), what conversation are you trying to join, and what are you contributing to that conversation?

Ron Hill, Linda Price, Sterling Bone
Guest Co-Editors

The Role of Customer Relationship Vulnerability in Service Recovery.
– Cenophat, Sadrac, Martin Eisend, Tomás Bayón, and Alexander Haas
https://buff.ly/3Y4pVvi

The effectiveness of service recovery initiatives has been primarily explained by exchange theories, which assume that customers seek beneficial relationships. This research emphasizes the important role of customer vulnerability and argues that the effectiveness of service recovery initiatives depends on customer relationship vulnerability (CRV). The findings suggest that vulnerable customers may not always be fully satisfied with service recovery efforts.

This research on customer engagement behavior (CEB) through visual content develops the Visual Modality of Engagement (VME) and identifies four distinct positive and negative forms of VME that can impact brand-related outcomes such as purchase intentions, brand evaluation, willingness to imitate, and resharing intentions. The findings can guide content managers in developing more effective engagement strategies for social media marketing. More here.

Visual Modality of Engagement: Conceptualization, Typology of Forms, and Outcomes.
– Azer, Jaylan, Lorena Blasco-Arcas, and Matthew Alexander.
https://buff.ly/3KomPdy

Are you using gamification to improve the quality of experience in your services? This study reveals that highly repeated gamified activities can have a negative impact on customer experience and behavioral engagement. Satiation theory explains the declining enjoyment for initially pleasurable activities. More here.

Gamification Myopia: Satiation Effects in Gamified Activities.
– Hammedi, Wafa, Thomas Leclercq, and Nadia Steils.
https://buff.ly/3KomCqM

This special issue explores the impact of CSR activities on stakeholders, specifically customers and shareholders/investors. This study explores the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities on customers and investors, and the recognition and demand for these activities. We found that CSR activities have a lesser impact on service firms than on product firms, but a greater impact on B2B firms than on B2C firms. These findings have important implications for marketing theory and practice. More here.

The Influence of Corporate Social Responsibility on Stakeholders in Different Business Contexts
– Tohid Ghanbarpour, Lawrence Crosby, Michael D. Johnson, Anders Gustafsson
https://buff.ly/4dYfIG5

The authors conducted a study on how shopping channels impact the purchase of environmentally and socially sustainable products. People tend to be more self-oriented when shopping online, which is a better fit for environmental benefits. Service providers can promote sustainable alternatives by tailoring their strategies to different types of sustainability labels and shopping channels. More here.

Does the Label Fit the Channel? How “Bricks” and “Clicks” Influence Demand for Environmental and Social Sustainability Labels
– Emelie Fröberg, Svetlana Kolesova, Sara Rosengren
https://buff.ly/4aC3oZ7

Circular business models (CBMs), such as product-service systems, are becoming more popular for a sustainable and circular economy. The authors suggest using the Motivation-Opportunity-Ability (MOA) framework to achieve "circular economy engagement" - an actor's willingness to embrace CBMs. They recommend motivation-related practices such as signaling and convincing, opportunity-related practices like matching and legitimizing, and ability-related practices such as supporting and empowering. The ultimate goal is to push the transition to a circular economy forward. More here.

Pushing Forward the Transition to a Circular Economy by Adopting an Actor Engagement Lens
– Katrien Verleye, Arne De Keyser, Néomie Raassens, Alex Alblas, Fernando Caasi Lit, Josephina Cornelia Huijben
https://buff.ly/4c0sRwK

This paper focuses on sustainability in service provision, specifically the issue of food waste in retail. We offer a systemic conceptualization of sustainability in service and explain the mechanisms that contribute to (un)sustainable service provision. Our work has practical implications for food retailers and policymakers working towards the UN's Sustainable Development Goal 12.3. More here.

Drivers and Hinderers of (Un)Sustainable Service: A Systems View
– Kaisa Koskela-Huotari, Kristin Svärd, Helén Williams, Jakob Trischler, Fredrik Wikström
https://buff.ly/3Vkl1Iw

This issue focuses on sustainability, using the UN Sustainable Development Goals and Global Compact as its foundation. It argues that services research should be the center of sustainability research and introduces a new definition of "service sustainability". Organizations are urged to adapt services that cater to present-day demands while ensuring the flourishing of future generations. This approach emphasizes improving services while being aware of the social, environmental, and economic aspects of our connected world. More here.

Sustainable Service
– Timothy Keiningham, Lerzan Aksoy, Edward C. Malthouse
https://buff.ly/3UzJhq8

Impressions from the HICSS 2024 workshop

JSR organized a pre-conference event about the Special Issue on GenAl Service at the HICSS-57, Oahu, Hawaii, Jan 3 or 4, 2024. Find some impressions of the event here.
https://buff.ly/49bF40g

Special Sessions at the 2024 Winter AMA –

JSR organized two special sessions at the 2024 Winter AMA conference for the Managerial Service special issue. The sessions and the special issue highlight the importance of academic-practitioner dialog for the managerial relevance of service research. More here.
https://buff.ly/49aBROG

The circular economy challenges the traditional linear model of manufacturing by promoting a waste-free economy that mimics natural ecosystems. This study introduces the concept of circular service ecosystems that allow resources to flow seamlessly between nested systems without any waste or leakage. The study proposes a process framework that explains the emergence of novel circular solutions and identifies six shaping strategies that actors can use to drive circular service ecosystem transitions. More here.

Shaping Circular Service Ecosystems
– Julia Fehrer, Joya A. Kemper, Jonathan J. Baker
https://buff.ly/3UC7Rqp

Current research is exploring how to create service ecosystems to address the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, the role of spaces and places in sustainable service ecosystem design (SED) is relatively underexplored. To fill this gap, we conducted a longitudinal investigation of two case studies and identified five spatial mechanisms and three tensions affecting the implementation of sustainable SED. More here.

Uncovering the Hidden "Where" of Sustainable Service Ecosystems: The Role of Spaces and Places
– Alessia Anzivino, Suvi Nenonen, Roberta Sebastiani
https://buff.ly/491g1gt

Call for Papers Special Issue: GenAl Service

Co-edited by Tilo Böhmann, Tuure Tuunanen, Paul Maglio, Julia Fehrer.
Submission Deadline: Full papers due May 1, 2024

JSR invites submissions for a multidisciplinary and multimethod special issue on GenAI Service. The recent advance in generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is on the verge of fundamentally transforming service. Such new technologies allow delegating key decisions in creating and delivering service to machines. We welcome research using diverse methods, including empirical studies and design science research, and we encourage studies that leverage field data and contribute to open data repositories. Read the full call here. https://buff.ly/469bBCU

Special Sessions at the 2024 Winter AMA –

JSR organized two special sessions at the 2024 Winter AMA conference for the Managerial Service special issue. The sessions and the special issue highlight the importance of academic-practitioner dialog for the managerial relevance of service research. More here.
https://buff.ly/3t0MpQw

Frontline employees (FLEs) often have to deal with customer incivility which includes rude or demeaning remarks, verbal aggression, or hostile gestures. Unfortunately, this type of behavior from customers is becoming increasingly common, yet most organizations are not taking any decisive action to protect their FLEs or to stop customer incivility. In response to this issue, the authors propose FLE Constructive Resistance (FLE CR) as a strategy to confront customer incivility. More here.

Constructive Resistance in the Frontlines: How Frontline Employees’ Resistance to Customer Incivility Affects Customer Observers
– Kamran-Disfani, O., R. Bagherzadeh, A. Bhattarai, M. Farhang and L. K. Scheer
https://buff.ly/482LSfI

When Journal of Service Research (JSR) completed its fifth lustrum in 2022, it offered an ideal opportunity to celebrate the present, review the past, and look forward to the service research community's future. The current mixed-method study examines its evolution, thereby offering guidance for further research in the service domain. More here.

A Systematic and Visual Overview of 25 Years of the Journal of Service Research: The Journey Continues
– ­Martin Wetzels, Dhruv Grewal, Ruud Wetzels
https://buff.ly/3uP5aXA

The Journal of Service Research (JSR) is delighted to announce that Professor Florian von Wangenheim joins the editorial team as a Co-Editor. Florian replaces Edward Malthouse as he steps down due to personal reasons. More here: https://buff.ly/3GomcP7