Journal of Service Management最新文献

Purpose

Technological innovations are rapidly transforming service frontlines, resulting in increasingly complex service touchpoints. These touchpoints place greater demands on frontline employees (FLEs) to deliver a positive customer experience. Despite the considerable extant body of knowledge on FLE competencies, the literature on frameworks for managing the complexity of contemporary frontlines from the FLE’s perspective is sparse. This paper aims to fill this critical gap by developing a framework that enables FLEs to deliver positive moments of truth (MOTs) while ensuring the well-being of all actors involved.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses a conceptual approach rooted in the organizational mindfulness and individual mindfulness literature as the theoretical lens. This is complemented by a comprehensive review of the FLE skills literature supported by marketplace examples to illustrate the optimal use of the said skills.

Findings

This paper proposes a conceptual framework of mindfulness orientation which delineates how FLE competencies underpinned by a set of key skills can deliver positive MOTs and actor well-being.

Research limitations/implications

The research is conceptual in nature and does not contain validation through empirical data.

Practical implications

This comprehensive skill set provides a clear roadmap for firms in both recruitment and developing training for their FLEs, thus contributing to practice.

Originality/value

Firstly, we present a conceptual framework of mindfulness, combining organizational mindfulness and individual mindfulness that will enable employees to help facilitate the creation of positive MOTs. Secondly, we develop a comprehensive set of employee skills that underpin the mindfulness orientation framework.

Purpose

Customer perceptions toward hybrid human–robot teams remain largely unexplored. We focus on the impact of frontline robots’ (FLRs) automated social presence (ASP) on customers’ perceived teamwork quality, and ultimately frontline employees’ (FLEs) competence and warmth. We explore the role of interrogation as a relevant contingency. We complement the customer view with insights into the FLEs’ viewpoint.

Design/methodology/approach

We manipulate FLR’s ASP cues (speech and identity) in a hybrid team in four business-to-consumer (B2C) video-based experiments and collect data from online participants. We combine these with one business-to-business (B2B) field survey which collected data from FLEs working in hybrid teams.

Findings

When FLR’s ASP increases, customers more positively evaluate teamwork quality, ultimately affecting FLEs’ competence and warmth. FLEs who correct (interrogate) robotic mistakes strengthen the positive effect of FLRs’ ASP on teamwork quality. When FLRs correct FLEs, ASP’s effect on teamwork quality is also strengthened, while FLEs are not “punished” for erring. In contrast, FLEs themselves do perceive corrections as detrimental to teamwork quality. We term this the hybrid team evaluation paradox.

Practical implications

We recommend that firms deploy hybrid teams equipped with high-ASP FLRs (name and speech suffice). FLEs should be trained, and FLRs programmed, to appropriately use interrogation. Managers should pay attention to the paradox, given the conflicting perceptions toward interrogative behaviors.

Originality/value

We advance the hybrid teams literature by drawing on ASP, social cognition and collective mindfulness theories and behaviors that ameliorate customer perceptions. Our results support using FLRs to enhance FLEs’ capabilities.

Purpose

This study examine how provider- and customer-related factors interact to influence servitization success. It adopts the transaction cost theory along with a configurational approach and hypothesizes that different configurations of five key conditions—service offering, specific investments, perceived customer opportunism, willingness for integration and demand uncertainty—can lead to servitization success or failure.

Design/methodology/approach

The study applies fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) to a sample of 143 German manufacturers, addressing the complex causalities involved in servitization success.

Findings

The analysis identifies six sufficient configurations for servitization success and five for servitization failure. The findings reveal that servitization can succeed through various types of service offerings. While opportunism does not hinder success, the decision to offer an extensive service portfolio is influenced by anticipated opportunism and complex customer needs. Specific investments function primarily as drivers for success, particularly when combined with a limited service offering and complex customer needs. However, these investments can increase transaction costs when linked to an extensive service portfolio. Though not essential, customer integration emerges as a relevant success factor, acting as a safeguard against opportunism.

Practical implications

Servitization can be successful even with opportunism. Developing methods to assess customers’ readiness for integration can mitigate opportunistic behavior and foster successful servitization.

Originality/value

This study advances servitization research by addressing the often-overlooked interplay between provider- and customer-related factors. Applying the transaction cost theory and a cutting-edge fsQCA, it contributes to the theoretical and methodological plurality of the field.

Purpose

The service failure and recovery (SFR) research field has reached its maturity stage and is now at a critical juncture. There are growing calls for fresh perspectives and innovative approaches in SFR research to ensure its continued relevance and growth. The purpose of this paper is to identify boundary-breaking opportunities in SFR research by fundamentally challenging some of the central assumptions of the field.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper employs a unique “review of reviews” methodology to synthesise findings from 19 prior SFR reviews, complemented by an in-depth analysis of 116 primary articles published in the past five years.

Findings

This paper makes several contributions. First, it identifies and critically evaluates the central underlying assumptions of SFR, highlighting their inherent limitations in light of emerging conceptual and substantive developments. Second, it offers alternative perspectives that reframe these assumptions and open up new avenues for research. Third, within each alternative perspective, we propose specific research ideas that can benefit from further exploration. To develop the ideas, we build on recent conflicts and negative events in the marketplace. Our review of reviews approach also enables us to track how frequently such ideas have been proposed in prior reviews. Finally, the paper briefly discusses some methodological considerations for conducting more impactful research.

Originality/value

This paper leverages insights from prior SFR literature reviews and recent research and steeps into real-world marketing issues to challenge the central assumptions of the field and recommend future research avenues.

Purpose

Previous research has not considered the impact on human frontline employees (FLEs) of altered employee–customer relationships in the presence of a service robot (i.e. an intrusion challenge), nor how FLEs may respond. The purpose of this study is to explore the task allocation strategies by human frontline employees’ (FLE) work well-being responses within the intrusion challenge.

Design/methodology/approach

This study employs a mixed-method approach, whereby an in-depth qualitative study (Study 1, n = 15) is followed by a quantitative field study (Study 2, n = 81).

Findings

Results indicate that FLEs experience the intrusion challenge, impacting social, purpose, physical and community well-being. Study 1 reveals that while service robots trigger this challenge, FLEs use them for task allocation to maintain their initial work well-being state. Study 2 shows that using robots instead of colleagues positively affects FLE work well-being.

Practical implications

Service robots, as a task allocation strategy by FLEs, can be used to empower FLEs by assisting them to preserve their work well-being within the intrusion challenge.

Originality/value

This study is one of the first to involve FLEs from a live service robot site, where data is based on personal lived experiences rather than anticipated experiences. This is the first study to investigate how FLEs respond to the intrusion challenge.

Purpose

Language styles of online reviews are becoming increasingly important in consumers’ purchase decisions. However, there are inconsistencies in research on the effects of literal and figurative language styles in online reviews on service consumption. Drawing upon construal level theory, this research explores the effects of literal and figurative online reviews on consumers’ word-of-mouth recommendations and their internal mechanisms in the context of service consumption. In addition, this research identifies service types (experience vs credence services) as boundary conditions under which online review language styles play a role.

Design/methodology/approach

Three studies are designed to verify the effect of language style in online reviews on consumer word-of-mouth recommendations. Study 1 (N = 195) tests the interaction between construal level and (literal vs figurative) language style on consumers’ word-of-mouth recommendations. Study 2 (N = 191) identifies the depth of information processing as an underlying mechanism. Study 3 (N = 466) examines the boundary condition due to service type. The main methods used are independent sample t-test, ANOVA and bootstrapping.

Findings

The results illustrate that (1) consumers at different construal levels prefer online reviews with different language styles, and this can influence their word-of-mouth recommendations: consumers with a low construal level prefer online reviews with a literal language style, while those with a high construal level prefer online reviews with a figurative language style; (2) the depth of information processing plays a mediating role in the above interaction effect and (3) service type serves as a boundary condition such that the preference for literal (vs figurative) language style among low- (vs high-) construal-level consumers holds only for experience services; for credence services, online reviews with a literal language style enhance word-of-mouth recommendations, regardless of consumers’ construal level. The findings shed light on the drivers of word-of-mouth recommendations and provide insights to promote more effective word-of-mouth recommendations.

Originality/value

Drawing upon the construal level theory, this research explores the factors that influence online review language styles on consumer word-of-mouth recommendations and their underlying mechanisms and discusses the moderating effects of different service types (i.e. experience services and trust services). It not only sheds light on the contradictions in the previous literature but also provides new insights for academics and business managers to deepen their understanding of facilitating word-of-mouth recommendations.

Purpose

This study explores how the format of explanations used in artificial intelligence (AI)-based services affects consumer behavior, specifically the effects of explanation detail (low vs high) and consumer control (automatic vs on demand) on trust and acceptance. The aim is to provide service providers with insights into how to optimize the format of explanations to enhance consumer evaluations of AI-based services.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on the literature on explainable AI (XAI) and information overload theory, a conceptual model is developed. To empirically test the conceptual model, two between-subjects experiments were conducted wherein the level of detail and level of control were manipulated, taking AI-based recommendations as a use case. The data were analyzed via partial least squares (PLS) regressions.

Findings

The results reveal significant positive correlations between level of detail and perceived understanding and between level of detail and perceived assurance. The level of control negatively moderates the relationship between the level of detail and perceived understanding. Further analyses revealed that the perceived competence and perceived integrity of AI systems positively and significantly influence the acceptance and purchase intentions of AI-based services.

Practical implications

This research offers service providers key insights into how tailored explanations and maintaining a balance between detail and control build consumer trust and enhance AI-based service outcomes.

Originality/value

This article elucidates the nuanced interplay between the level of detail and control over explanations for non-expert consumers in high-credence service sectors. The findings offer insights into the design of more consumer-centric explanations to increase the acceptance of AI-based services.

Purpose

The purpose of this research note is to call for action and research on higher education as a service ecosystem. By explicating the need for service innovation in higher education, this research note deepens the understanding of how institutional dissonance can influence value cocreation in service ecosystems.

Design/methodology/approach

Viewing higher education from a service-centered, systems-oriented lens reveals how institutional dissonance related to diversity, equity and inclusion can catalyze innovation for the university. In other words, when nontraditional faculty, staff, students and stakeholders cannot meaningfully engage with the university or, vice versa, it is not possible for value cocreation to truly emerge in the service ecosystem.

Findings

Because extant research and data on persistence in higher education is based on findings from Predominantly White Institutions (PWI), the higher education and service literature do not yet provide insights for universities and other large-scale institutions that need to adapt to and engage with nontraditional, nonwhite college students or actors.

Originality/value

The proposed framework integrates the higher education and service management literature to describe how innovation can improve value cocreation and reconcile institutional dissonance in higher education.

Purpose

The process of introducing a new robotic technology into a service system is complex, and its impacts on work practices can be challenging. By adopting a system perspective, this study investigates how human–robot collaboration (HRC) transforms work practices (i.e. customer care).

Design/methodology/approach

We conducted a two-year longitudinal analysis of an international company specializing in natural health products, examining changes in customer care practices following the introduction of chatbots. The study leverages expansive learning theory, which emphasizes activity systems and the transformations that occur within them, to trace the integration of robots and their effects on work practices.

Findings

The findings reveal that HRC enhances customer care practices by creating a human–robot activity system organized around shared goals. This system, mediated by tools, rules and the community, evolves through expansive learning dynamics. The process begins by identifying and addressing the contradictions and tensions between current human work practices and robotic capabilities, often revealing challenges and opportunities to improve HRC.

Originality/value

This research offers a novel conceptualization of the systemic and dynamic nature of HRC by placing it within broader frames of activity systems and expansive learning. Collaborations between humans and robots entail an expansive performativity that extends beyond the traditional roles or tasks of either actor or actant. It spans a diverse range of objects, tools, procedures and institutional setups, culminating in transformations of customer care practices.

Purpose

Neurotechnologies such as brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are rapidly moving out of laboratories and onto frontline employees' (FLEs) heads. BCIs offer thought-controlled device operation and real-time adjustment of work tasks based on employees’ mental states, balancing the potential for optimal well-being with the risk of exploitative employee treatment. Despite its profound implications, a considerable gap exists in understanding how BCIs affect FLEs. This article’s purpose is to investigate BCIs’ impact on FLEs’ well-being.

Design/methodology/approach

This article uses a conceptual approach to synthesize interdisciplinary research from service marketing, neurotechnology and well-being.

Findings

This article highlights the expected impact from BCIs on the work environment and conceptualizes what BCIs entail for the service sector and the different BCI types that may be discerned. Second, a conceptual framework is introduced to explicate BCIs’ impact on FLEs’ well-being, identifying two mediating factors (i.e. BCI as a stressor versus BCI as a resource) and three categories of moderating factors that influence this relationship. Third, this article identifies areas for future research on this important topic.

Practical implications

Service firms can benefit from integrating BCIs to enhance efficiency and foster a healthy work environment. This article provides managers with an overview of BCI technology and key implementation considerations.

Originality/value

This article pioneers a systematic examination of BCIs as workplace technology, investigating their influence on FLEs’ well-being.