Customer emotion in services has been extensively studied, but prior research has overlooked the dynamics of emotion over time. Our research addresses this gap by studying how emotional arousal varies throughout a service encounter. Drawing from the psychology literature, we identify certain features (or patterns) that characterize how arousal varies throughout a service encounter and predict how they may affect customer approach response (e.g., spending, unplanned purchases). We explore the effect of these features in field studies in two stores using a psychophysiological measure (electrodermal activity) to capture arousal over time. We find that (1) the highest arousal level reached during the encounter and (2) the skewness of the distribution of arousal levels (i.e., the frequency of lower arousal levels relative to higher ones) predict customer approach response. This paper opens new avenues for understanding customers from an emotional perspective, which can improve the customer experience in service encounters.
Ghanbarpour, Tohid; Crosby, Lawrence, Johnson, Michael & Gustafsson, Anders (2023)
The Influence of Corporate Social Responsibility on Stakeholders in Different Business Contexts
The authors explore two important topics related to this special issue. One is how corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities impacts stakeholders, more specifically customers and shareholders/investors. Second is understanding customer recognition and demand for CSR activities. Insight into these topics is gained through the study of contextual differences in this value creation. Previous studies suggest that two important contextual differences have the potential to impact CSR-based value creation, the product versus service nature of the firm and whether the firm operates primarily in a business-to-business (B2B) versus business-to-consumer (B2C) channel. The lower innovative capabilities of service firms and the relative intangibility of services should hamper the impact of CSR activities in service versus product contexts. The impact should be higher, however, in a B2B versus B2C context based on the need for greater organizational alignment, adaptation, and relationship-specific investments. Results from a large-scale secondary dataset reinforce prior findings that CSR activities influence firm value through customer satisfaction. Moreover, the results reveal that this effect is weaker for service (vs. product) firms and stronger for B2B (vs. B2C) firms. The findings offer important implications for marketing theory and practice.
Caruelle, Delphine Sylvie Sophie; Lervik-Olsen, Line & Gustafsson, Anders (2023)
The Clock is Ticking—Or Is It? Customer Satisfaction Response to Waiting Shorter vs. Longer than Expected During a Service Encounter
Customer waits are commonplace in retail settings. To develop efficient wait management strategies, retailers need insights into how customers respond to waiting during service encounters. An intuitive insight supported by extensive research is that a longer wait duration decreases customer satisfaction. However, the same wait duration might have different effects on customers depending on whether it is shorter or longer than what customers expected. To address this question, we draw upon the research on time value and predict asymmetry in the customer satisfaction response to waiting shorter versus longer than expected: Though the clock is often said to be ticking, waiting longer than expected leads to a minor decrease in satisfaction, whereas waiting shorter than expected substantially increases satisfaction. We provide evidence for this asymmetric effect across three studies and identify two boundary conditions: if the source of the expectation is external (e.g., wait time estimate provided by the retailer) or if the wait is much longer than expected. Overall, our research encourages retailers to put the customer response to waiting into perspective: Customers will tolerate waiting longer than expected, up to a certain point.
Product demonstrations are powerful promotional tools which can vary in how they present information, either illustrating step-by-step processes, or showcasing final outcomes customers may achieve after product usage. Our research investigates customers’ cognitive and social experiences while viewing product demonstrations to reveal which type is most effective in driving purchase intentions. Drawing on theories of mental simulation, cognitive flow, and narrative transportation, we propose that when a customer views a demonstration with a process (versus outcome) focus, this encourages a cognitive flow state which facilitates customers’ absorption into the product story, and results in increased purchase intentions for the demonstrated product(s). Effects are attenuated when the customer experiences the social presence of other audience members. We find support for our proposed process across five studies using multiple product categories and presentation modalities and offer practical guidance to help marketers optimize product demonstrations to motivate purchasing in a constantly evolving, increasingly digital marketplace.
The initial hype and fanfare from the Meta Platforms view of how the metaverse could be brought to life has evolved into an ongoing discussion of not only the metaverse's impact on users and organizations but also the societal and cultural implications of widespread usage. The potential of consumer interaction with brands within the metaverse has engendered significant debate within the marketing-focused discourse on the key challenges and transformative opportunities for marketers. Drawing on insights from expert contributors, this study examines the marketing implications of the hypothetical widespread adoption of the metaverse. We identify new research directions and propose a new framework offering valuable contributions for academia, practice, and policy makers. Our future research agenda culminates in a checklist for researchers which clarifies how the metaverse can be beneficial to digital marketing and advertising, branding, services, value creation, and consumer wellbeing.
Fronczek, Lane Peterson; Mende, Martin, Scott, Maura, Nenkov, Gregana & Gustafsson, Anders (2022)
Friend or foe? Can anthropomorphizing self-tracking devices backfire on marketers and consumers?
Self-quantification, with the promise of motivating consumers to engage in health behaviors through measuring their performance, is a popular trend amongst consumers. Despite the economic impact of self-tracking technologies, consumers’ experiences with self-tracking devices and corresponding consequences for firms remain understudied. Six studies examine how the popular marketing tactic of anthropomorphization influences (a) consumers’ favorability towards wearable tracking devices, (b) their health motivation, and (c) their health behavior (number of steps taken) over time. The authors uncover a novel dynamic effect of anthropomorphism, such that with use, the initially positive evaluations of anthropomorphized (vs. non-anthropomorphized) devices decrease, and (contrary to prior literature), anthropomorphized devices are not favored. Importantly, health motivation and health behaviors are also reduced over time with the use of an anthropomorphized (vs. non-anthropomorphized) wearable device. This decrease occurs because anthropomorphized devices reduce the wearers’ perceived autonomy, which in turn, reduces their health motivation and health behavior. However, customizing the anthropomorphized device (by setting a customized goal or by monitoring a greater number of health-related indicators) can mitigate its negative effects. These findings provide novel insights to marketing scholars and managers, by suggesting that anthropomorphism can be a successful short-term selling strategy, but over time, it can have unintended consequences for both firms and consumers.
Dwivedi, Yogesh K.; Hughes, Laurie, Baabdullah, Abdullah M., Ribeiro-Navarrete, Samuel, Giannakis, Mihalis, Al-Debei, Mutaz M., Dennehy, Denis, Metri, Bhimaraya, Buhalis, Dimitrios, Cheung, Christy M.K., Conboy, Kieran, Doyle, Ronan, Dubey, Rameshwar, Dutot, Vincent, Felix, Reto, Goyal, D.P., Gustafsson, Anders, Hinsch, Chris, Jebabli, Ikram, Janssen, Marijn, Kim, Young-Gab, Kim, Jooyoung, Koos, Stefan, Kreps, David, Kshetri, Nir, Kumar, Vikram, Ooi, Keng-Boon, Papagiannidis, Savvas, Pappas, Ilias, Polyviou, Ariana, Park, Sang-Min, Pandey, Neeraj, Queiroz, Maciel M., Raman, Ramakrishnan, Rauschnabel, Philipp A., Shirish, Anuragini, Sigala, Marianna, Spanaki, Konstantina, Wei-Han Tan, Garry, Tiwari, Manoj Kumar, Viglia, Giampaolo & Wamba, Samuel Fosso (2022)
Metaverse beyond the hype: Multidisciplinary perspectives on emerging challenges, opportunities, and agenda for research, practice and policy
The metaverse has the potential to extend the physical world using augmented and virtual reality technologies allowing users to seamlessly interact within real and simulated environments using avatars and holograms. Virtual environments and immersive games (such as, Second Life, Fortnite, Roblox and VRChat) have been described as antecedents of the metaverse and offer some insight to the potential socio-economic impact of a fully functional persistent cross platform metaverse. Separating the hype and “meta…” rebranding from current reality is difficult, as “big tech” paints a picture of the transformative nature of the metaverse and how it will positively impact people in their work, leisure, and social interaction. The potential impact on the way we conduct business, interact with brands and others, and develop shared experiences is likely to be transformational as the distinct lines between physical and digital are likely to be somewhat blurred from current perceptions. However, although the technology and infrastructure does not yet exist to allow the development of new immersive virtual worlds at scale - one that our avatars could transcend across platforms, researchers are increasingly examining the transformative impact of the metaverse. Impacted sectors include marketing, education, healthcare as well as societal effects relating to social interaction factors from widespread adoption, and issues relating to trust, privacy, bias, disinformation, application of law as well as psychological aspects linked to addiction and impact on vulnerable people. This study examines these topics in detail by combining the informed narrative and multi-perspective approach from experts with varied disciplinary backgrounds on many aspects of the metaverse and its transformational impact. The paper concludes by proposing a future research agenda that is valuable for researchers, professionals and policy makers alike.
Ghanbarpour, Tohid; Sahabeh, Easa & Gustafsson, Anders (2022)
Consumer response to online behavioral advertising in a social media context: The role of perceived ad complicity
Brands and social media platforms are two main players in online behavioral advertising (OBA), but the extant literature overlooks the interaction between them. Although advertising brands invest considerable resources to target potential consumers through social media advertising, our analysis indicates that publisher-platform-related activities can elicit negative consequences. Thus, we examined the role of perceived ad complicity, that is, consumers' perception regarding advertisers partnering with the social media platforms in the OBA process. We used perceived ad complicity as a moderator to explain the variation in consumers' negative responses to OBA in a social media context. Our results indicate that consumers with high perceived ad complicity experience greater perceived ad intrusiveness. This effect directly impacts their attitudes toward publisher platforms and advertising brands but consumers react more negatively toward brands (vs. publisher platforms) regarding this practice. Furthermore, we found that consumers who are more sensitive to social norms experience stronger perceived ad complicity and that informing consumers about why they are seeing specific ads on their social media platforms does not change their views on ad complicity.
Caruelle, Delphine Sylvie Sophie; Shams, Poja, Gustafsson, Anders & Lervik-Olsen, Line (2022)
Affective Computing in Marketing: Practical Implications and Research Opportunities Afforded by Emotionally Intelligent Machines
After years of using AI to perform cognitive tasks, marketing practitioners can now use it to perform tasks that require emotional intelligence. This advancement is made possible by the rise of afective computing, which develops AI and machines capable of detecting and responding to human emotions. From market research, to customer service, to product innovation, the practice of marketing will likely be transformed by the rise of afective computing, as preliminary evidence from the feld suggests. In this Idea Corner, we discuss this transformation and identify the research opportunities that it ofers
Snyder, Hannah; Witell, Lars, Gustafsson, Anders & McColl-Kennedy, Janet, R. (2022)
Whether they know it or not, firms interact with lying consumers on a daily basis. However, surprisingly little is known about consumer lying behavior and its role in service encounters. Based on two empirical studies of 2,976 consumer lies, the study sought to explore consumer lying behavior by developing and testing a comprehensive conceptual framework encompassing motives for lying, characteristics of the lie, and outcomes for consumers. Study 1 explores and details the components of the conceptual framework, and Study 2 further investigates and tests the relationships between the components of consumer lying behavior and the emotional, behavioral, and financial outcomes for consumers. The findings suggest new policies and how frontline employees might be trained and educated to address consumer lying behavior. The paper concludes by outlining an agenda for future research on lying behavior in service encounters.
Ghanbarpour, Tohid & Gustafsson, Anders (2021)
How do corporate social responsibility (CSR) and innovativeness increase financial gains? A customer perspective analysis
Previous research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and firm innovativeness and their impact on financial performance has focused on firms’ actions (i.e., what firms do). However, how customers perceive these firm activities have not been fully explored; there is a lack of research particularly on the long-term effects of these actions. Consequently, the present study investigates the effects of customer-perceived CSR and firm innovativeness on financial earnings, both in the short and long term. Firm actions, if meaningful, should impact customer perceptions of a firm, which affect customer satisfaction and the firm’s earnings consequently. Using panel data from service firms, our analysis indicates that perceived firm actions positively influence future earnings through customers’ overall evaluations of a firm. Furthermore, the results reveal a carryover effect of perceived actions in the long term. The present research also indicates that customers’ positive perceptions of firm actions do not directly impact financial earnings; however, they do impact earnings through customer satisfaction. This emphasizes the importance of communicating innovation, and particularly CSR activities, to customers.
Bolton, Ruth; Gustafsson, Anders, Tarasi, Crina & Witell, Lars (2021)
Designing satisfying service encounters: website versus store touchpoints
This study investigated how touchpoints moderate the antecedents of customer satisfaction with service encounters by comparing online and in-store encounters. Construal level theory was used within the Touchpoint, Context, Qualities (TCQ) Framework (De Keyser et al., 2020) to integrate a comprehensive model of how touchpoints—websites or stores—influence the magnitude of customer responses to qualities of service encounters. A hierarchical linear model (HLM) was estimated using survey data describing the service encounters of 2.4 million customers with a global retailer. Online customers weighed cognitive and behavioral qualities more heavily than in-store customers, whereas they weighed emotional and sensorial qualities less heavily. Moreover, random effects in the HLM model indicated that each country and store would have unique clientele effects for specific qualities. Since each firm has limited resources, this research offers guidance on key qualities in designing satisfying service encounters for each touchpoint and how qualities should be standardized and customized in global omnichannel environments.
This article utilizes input from service scholars, practitioners, reviews of published literature, and influential policy documents to identify service research priorities that push the boundaries of extant research. In a companion piece, we focused on four service research priorities related to managing and delivering service in turbulent times. Further, we identified a set of stakeholder-wants from the literature and included research questions that tie key stakeholder-wants to each of the three priorities in this article and the four priorities in the companion article. Here, we highlight the critical importance of scholarship and practice related to the design of sustainable service ecosystems and discuss three key service research priorities: large-scale and complex service ecosystems for transformative impact (SRP5), platform ecosystems and marketplaces (SRP6), and services for disadvantaged consumers and communities (SRP7). We call for an engaged service scholarship that considers the interrelationships among consumers, organizations, employees, platforms, and societal institutions and pursues transformative goals.
Transformative changes in the societal and service context call out for the service discipline to develop a coherent set of priorities for research and practice. To this end, we utilized multiple data sources: surveys of service scholars and practitioners, web scraping of online documents, a review of published service scholarship, and roundtable discussions conducted at the world’s foremost service research centers. We incorporated innovative methodologies, including machine learning, natural language processing, and qualitative analyses, to identify key service research priorities that are critical to address during these turbulent times. The first two priorities—technology and the changing nature of work and technology and the customer experience—focus on leveraging technology for service provision and consumption. The next two priorities—resource and capability constraints and customer proactivity for well-being—focus on responding to the changing needs of multiple stakeholders. Further, we identified a set of stakeholder-wants from the literature and include research questions that tie key stakeholder-wants to each of the four priorities. We believe the set of research priorities in the present article offer actionable ideas for service research directions in this challenging environment.
Purpose Journal of services marketing (JSM) is a leading journal that has published cutting-edge research in services marketing over the past 34 years. The main objective of this paper is to provide a retrospective of the thematic structure of papers published in JSM over its publication history. Design/methodology/approach This study uses bibliometric methods to present a retrospective overview of JSM themes between 1987 and 2019. Using keywords co-occurrence analysis, this paper unveils the thematic structure of JSM’s most prolific themes. Bibliographic coupling analysis uncovers the research trends of the journal. Findings Leading authors, leading institutions, authors’ affiliated countries and critically, the dominant themes of JSM are identified. As its founding, JSM has published approximately 40 papers each year, with 2019 being its most productive year. On average, lead JSM authors to collaborate with 1.30 others. Keywords co-occurrence analysis identifies nine prominent thematic clusters, namely, “marketing to service”, “quality, satisfaction and delivery systems”, “service industries”, “relationship marketing”, “service failure, complaining and recovery”, “service dominant logic”, “technology, innovation and design”, “wellbeing” and “service encounters”. Bibliographic coupling analysis groups JSM papers into four clusters, namely, “brand & customer engagement behaviour”, “service co-creation”, “service encounters & service recovery” and “social networking”. Research limitations/implications This study is the first to analyse the thematic structure of JSM themes over its history. The themes are analysed across time periods and then compared to dominant themes identified in contemporary service research agendas. Recommendations are made based on the gaps found. This retrospective review will be useful to numerous key stakeholders including the editorial board and both existing and aspiring JSM contributors. The selection of literature is confined to Scopus. Originality/value JSM’s retrospection is likely to attract readership to the journal. The study’s recommendations regarding which areas have matured and which are still ripe for future contributions will offer useful guidelines for all stakeholders.
This study investigates how retailers can leverage their brand to shape customers’ satisfaction with service encounters. It develops and tests hypotheses about how brand, store, and consumer factors moderate customer responses to experience clues during retail service encounters. Six meta-regression analyses synthesize and compare results from 842 satisfaction equations describing customers’ encounters with a global retailer operating 400 stores in 32 countries. The results show how customers weigh their perceptions of service encounters differently depending on brand, store, and consumer factors. In markets where customers believe the retailer has high holistic brand quality, they place less weight on experience clues within the store. In markets where customers believe the retailer’s service brand promise, they place more weight on in-store experience clues. In markets where the retailer promises utilitarian value, customers weigh functional experience clues more heavily. In markets with an online purchasing channel, the effect of experience clues common to offline and online store environments is magnified, and unique clues are diminished. In addition, customers heavily weigh experience clues that fit their goals. In general, retail success factors include high brand quality (which makes customers more forgiving), a service brand promise that is mirrored in the store image (which makes customers attend to the experience clues aligned with them), and the careful monitoring and managing of retail touchpoints (to customize experience clues to each market). In this way, retailers can use customer-based strategies to effectively design and manage their global retail brand in different markets.
He, Hongwei; Kim, Sumin & Gustafsson, Anders (2021)
What Can We Learn from #StopHateForProfit Boycott Regarding Corporate Social Irresponsibility and Corporate Social Responsibility?
In July 2020 more than 1,100 companies paused their paid advertising on Facebook to demand clear and unequivocal actions to stop its platform from being used to spread and amplify racism and hate. This Business-to-Business (B2B) boycott phenomenon is related to both corporate social irresponsibility (CSI) and corporate social responsibility (CSR), as Facebook and other social media platforms can be seen to be engaging in CSI, while the boycotting advertisers are engaging in CSR. Understanding how consumers respond to this hybrid form of B2B boycotting, involving both CSI and CSR elements, is critical for marketing and branding practice and theories. This research develops a preliminary framework on the factors influencing consumer responses to both the transgressing brand (i.e., Facebook) and the boycotting brands (i.e., the advertisers). We then discuss the implications for the literature on traditional CSI and CSR. Finally, future research directions are presented on this under-studied issue.
Verma, Surabhi & Gustafsson, Anders (2020)
Investigating the Emerging COVID-19 Research Trends in the Field of Business and Management: A Bibliometric Analysis Approach
The COVID-19 pandemic has been labeled as a black swan event that caused a ripple effect on every aspect of human life. Despite the short time span of the pandemic—only four and half months so far—a rather large volume of research pertaining to COVID-19 has been published (107 articles indexed in Scopus and the Web of Science). This article presents the findings of a bibliometric study of COVID-19 literature in the business and management domain to identify current areas of research and propose a way forward. The analysis of the published literature identified four main research themes and 18 sub-themes. The findings and propositions of this study suggest that COVID-19 will be the catalyst of several long- and short-term policy changes and requires the theoretical and empirical attention of researchers. The offered propositions will act as a roadmap to potential research opportunities.
Luangrath, Andrea Webb; Peck, Joann & Gustafsson, Anders (2020)
Should I Touch the Customer? Rethinking Interpersonal Touch Effects from the Perspective of the Touch Initiator
Previous research has highlighted the effects of receiving interpersonal touch on persuasion. In contrast, we examine initiating touch. Individuals instructed to touch engage in egocentric projection in which they project their own affective reaction onto their expectations for how the recipient will feel (i.e., empathic forecast), how they appear to the recipient (i.e., metaperception), and the evaluation of the interaction itself (i.e., interaction awkwardness). Touch initiators expect that recipients will feel worse with touch, express concern for how they, themselves, will be perceived, and think that interactions are more awkward. Interestingly, touch recipients do not evaluate these interactions more negatively and leave higher tips after having been touched; touch initiators do not expect this to be the case. As a result, instructed touch initiators (vs. volitional touch initiators) are less (more) likely to engage in subsequent interactions with customers, potentially undermining future service provided to customers. Across five studies, four of which involve actual dyadic interactions, we test the consequences of initiating touch with an inquiry into the effects of interpersonal touch on the initiator. We discuss theoretical and managerial implications.
Gustafsson, Anders; Snyder, Hannah & Witell, Lars (2020)
Service Innovation: A New Conceptualization and Path Forward
Service innovations challenge existing offerings and business models, shape existing markets, and create new ones. Over the last decade, service research has shown increasing interest in the concept of innovation and should by now have reached maturity and created a strong theoretical basis. However, there is no coherent theoretical framework that captures all the facets of service innovation, and to move service innovation research forward, we must revisit the key assumptions of what an innovation is. To enable this, the present article addresses three fundamental questions about service innovation: (1) What is it and what is it not? (2) What do we know and what do we not know? and (3) What do we need to know to advance service research? By doing so, this article offers an updated and comprehensive definition of service innovation and provides a research agenda to suggest a path forward.
Witell, Lars; Holmlund, Maria & Gustafsson, Anders (2019)
EDITORIAL: A NEW DAWN FOR QUALITATIVE SERVICE RESEARCH
The purpose of this study is to highlight the role of qualitative research in service research. This study discusses what qualitative research is, what role it has in service research and what interest, rigor, relevance and richness mean for qualitative service research. Design/methodology/approach This study examines the most common qualitative research methods and discusses interest, rigor, relevance and richness as key characteristics of qualitative research. The manuscripts in the special issue are introduced and categorized based on their contributions to service research. Findings The findings suggest that the amount of research using qualitative research methods has remained stable over the last 30 years. An increased focus on transparency and traceability is important for improving the perceived rigor of qualitative service research. Originality/value This special issue is the first issue that is explicitly devoted to the qualitative research methodology in service research. In particular, the issue seeks to contribute to a better use and application of qualitative research methodology.
Wünderlich, Nancy V.; Gustafsson, Anders, Hamari, Juho, Parvinen, Petri & Haff, André (2019)
The great game of business: Advancing knowledge on gamification in business contexts
Gamification is a rather significant trend in recent years. It builds on the emotional and involving qualities of gaming but may not entail a full-fledged game. Gamification exists in a large number of industries; retail, media, consumer goods, and healthcare. It is used as means to educate employees in all types of industry, create customer engagement to brands and businesses, and even nudge people to change their behavior. The present paper is an introduction to the special issue on “Theoretical Perspectives and Applications of Gamification in Business Contexts”. In total the special issue comprises of 11 novel and high-quality contributions on gamification. These are selected to enhance our understanding of underlying mechanisms that impact employees’ and customers’ attitudes and behaviors.
Fombelle, Paul; Voorhees, Clay, Jenkins, Mason, Sidaoui, Karim, Benoit, Sabine, Gruber, Thorsten, Gustafsson, Anders & Abosag, Ibrahim (2019)
Customer Deviance: A Framework, Prevention Strategies, and Opportunities for Future Research
The phrase the “customer is always right” assumes that customers provide universal benefits for firms. However, in recent years, customer deviance is on the rise and the academic literature has provided little insight into the drivers of deviance, the actual behaviors, and strategies for how managers can better manage a customer base that cannot be classified as universally benign. This article addresses customer deviance ranging from classic examples like shoplifting to engaging in hostile anti-brand behaviors on social media or even breaking established norms such as trespassing in stores after closing hours. In an effort to spur new research into customer deviance, we propose a customer deviance framework encompassing the triggers, behaviors, and consequences of customer deviance with attention given to differentiating firms, employees, and other customers as the possible targets of deviant behaviors. We outline prevention strategies that comprise social, design, and technological-oriented factors, which in turn can help firms better manage deviant behavior. In doing so, we identify gaps in the literature and close with an actionable agenda for future research that can help firms curtail these negative customer behaviors.
Verhulst, Nanouk; De Keyser, Arne, Gustafsson, Anders, Shams, Poja & van Vaerenbergh, Yves (2019)
Neuroscience in service research: an overview and discussion of its possibilities
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss recent developments in neuroscientific methods and demonstrate its potential for the service field. This work is a call to action for more service researchers to adopt promising and increasingly accessible neuro-tools that allow the service field to benefit from neuroscience theories and insights. Design/methodology/approach: The paper synthesizes key literature from a variety of domains (e.g. neuroscience, consumer neuroscience and organizational neuroscience) to provide an in-depth background to start applying neuro-tools. Specifically, this paper outlines the most important neuro-tools today and discusses their theoretical and empirical value. Findings: To date, the use of neuro-tools in the service field is limited. This is surprising given the great potential they hold to advance service research. To stimulate the use of neuro-tools in the service area, the authors provide a roadmap to enable neuroscientific service studies and conclude with a discussion on promising areas (e.g. service experience and servicescape) ripe for neuroscientific input. Originality/value: The paper offers service researchers a starting point to understand the potential benefits of adopting the neuroscientific method and shows their complementarity with traditional service research methods like surveys, experiments and qualitative research. In addition, this paper may also help reviewers and editors to better assess the quality of neuro-studies in service.
This research investigates situations in which frontline employees deliberately restrict customers’ access to touch products on display (active interpersonal haptic blocking), and how this understudied form of sensory blocking may increase customers’ downstream purchasing. While previous research examines the benefits of increased product touch, we temporarily block touch for specific products in display areas and then investigate the subsequent impact on customer behavior. Through four studies, including a retail field experiment, we find that when an employee asks a customer not to touch a product on display, this initiates a serial mediation process which: (1) engenders feelings of psychological reactance that result in (2) increased compensatory touching of subsequently encountered products to counterbalance a loss of sensory freedom, and (3) increased spending and purchasing once the customer leaves the reactance-inducing encounter. Effects are moderated by socioeconomic status (SES) and need for touch (NFT) whereby psychological reactance was significantly stronger for high SES customers with a moderate or high NFT when actively blocked. Results also demonstrate that active interpersonal haptic blocking does not result in more negative attitudes toward retailers, thus retailers might consider implementing this counterintuitive practice to encourage downstream sales.
Caruelle, Delphine; Gustafsson, Anders, Shams, Poja & Lervik-Olsen, Line (2019)
The use of electrodermal activity (EDA) measurement to understand consumer emotions – A literature review and a call for action
Electrodermal activity (EDA) is a psychophysiological indicator of emotional arousal. EDA measurement was first employed in consumer research in 1979 but has been scarcely used since. In the past decade, the ease of access to EDA recording equipment made EDA measurement more frequent in studies of consumer emotions. Additionally, recent calls to include physiological data in consumer studies have been voiced, which in turn is increasing the interest in EDA. Such a growing interest calls for assessing why and how EDA measurement has been used and should be used in consumer research. To this end, we undertook a critical review of studies of consumer emotions that employed EDA measurement. We found that most of these studies did not sufficiently report how they recorded and analyzed EDA data, which in turn impeded the replication of the findings. We therefore make recommendations derived from the psychophysiology literature to help consumer researchers get meaningful insights from EDA measurements. Finally, we call on researchers to be more transparent when reporting how they recorded and analyzed EDA data.
Högberg, Johan; Ramberg, Marcus Olsson, Gustafsson, Anders & Wästlund, Erik (2019)
Creating brand engagement through in-store gamified customer experiences
Purpose – Open service innovation is an emergent new service development practice, where knowledge on how to organize development work is scarce. The purpose of the present research is to identify and describe relevant archetypes of open service innovation. The study views an archetype as an organizing template that includes the competence of participants, organizing co-creation among participants and ties between participants. In particular, the study’s interest lies in how open service innovation archetypes are used for incremental and radical service innovation. Design/methodology/approach – For the research, a nested case study was performed, in which an industrial firm with nine open service innovation groups was identified. Forty-five interviews were conducted with participants. For each case, first a within-case analysis was performed, and how to perform open service innovation in practice was described. Then, a cross-case analysis identifying similarities and differences between the open service innovation groups was performed. On the basis of the cross-case analysis, three archetypes for open service innovation were identified. Findings – The nested case study identified three archetypes for open service innovation: internal group development, satellite team Development and rocket team development. This study shows that different archetypes are used for incremental and radical service innovation and that a firm can have multiple open service innovation groups using different archetypes. Practical implications – This study provides suggestions on how firms can organize for open service innovation. The identified archetypes can guide managers to set up, develop or be part of open service innovation groups. Originality/value – This paper uses open service innovation as a mid-range theory to extend existing research on new service development in networks or service ecosystems. In particular, it shows how open service innovation can be organized to develop both incremental and radical service innovations.
Otterbring, Tobias; Ringler, Christine, Sirianni, Nancy J. & Gustafsson, Anders (2018)
The Abercrombie & Fitch Effect: The Impact of Employees’ Physical Dominance on Male Customers’ Status-Signaling
Consumer lay theory suggests that women will spend more money than men in the presence of a physically dominant male employee, whereas theories of intrasexual competition from evolutionary psychology predict the opposite outcome. A retail field study demonstrates that male customers spend more money and purchase more expensive products than their female counterparts in the presence (vs. absence) of a physically dominant male employee. This effect has a more powerful impact on male customers who lack bodily markers of dominance (shorter stature or measures linked to lower levels of testosterone). When confronted with other physically dominant (vs. nondominant) men, these male customers are particularly prone to signal status through price or logo size. Their elevated feelings of intrasexual (male-to-male) competitiveness drive them to spend more money on status-signaling, but not functional, products and to prefer and draw larger brand logos. Because pictorial exposure is sufficient for the effect to occur, these findings are not limited to in-store interactions with dominant male employees but have broad implications for marketing and advertising.
Patricio, Lia; Gustafsson, Anders & Fisk, Raymond P. (2018)
Upframing Service Design and Innovation to Strengthen Future Research Impact
Responsible Research in Business and Management (RRBM) and the Journal of Public Policy & Marketing: Connected through Impact
Journal of Public Policy & Marketing [Kronikk]
Lervik-Olsen, Line & Gustafsson, Anders (1)
Digital markedsføring før og etter covid-19
Magma forskning og viten [Kronikk]
Gustafsson, Anders (1)
Digital markedsføring før og etter covid-19
Magma forskning og viten [Kronikk]
Berry, Leonard L.; Reibstein, David, Wijen, Frank, Van Wassenhove, Luk N., Voss, Chris, Gustafsson, Anders, Vereecke, Ann & Bolton, Ruth N. (1)
Encouraging Business Scholars to Address Issues Facing Society
BizEd [Kronikk]
Gustafsson, Anders & Kristensson, Per (1)
Emerging fields in service research
Journal of Service Management (JOSM) [Kronikk]
Donthu, Naveen & Gustafsson, Anders (1)
Effects of COVID-19 on Business and Research
Journal of Business Research [Kronikk]
The COVID-19 outbreak is a sharp reminder that pandemics, like other rarely occurring catastrophes, have happened in the past and will continue to happen in the future. Even if we cannot prevent dangerous viruses from emerging, we should prepare to dampen their effects on society. The current outbreak has had severe economic consequences across the globe, and it does not look like any country will be unaffected. This not only has consequences for the economy; all of society is affected, which has led to dramatic changes in how businesses act and consumers behave. This special issue is a global effort to address some of the pandemic-related issues affecting society. In total, there are 13 papers that cover different industry sectors (e.g., tourism, retail, higher education), changes in consumer behavior and businesses, ethical issues, and aspects related to employees and leadership.
Burton, Jamie; Gruber, Thorsten & Gustafsson, Anders (1)
Fostering Collaborative Research for Customer Experience – Connecting Academic and Practitioner Worlds
Journal of Business Research [Kronikk]
This editorial calls for greater use of academic-practitioner workshops to co-create value for academics, practitioners and wider network actors through promotion of research relevance and sharing of problems, ideas and data. It describes how one such workshop, the 2nd Academic-Practitioner Research with Impact Workshop focusing on the design and decision making for customer experience, co-hosted in Manchester on 18th and 19th of June 2018 by Alliance Manchester Business School, University of Manchester and Loughborough University’s Centre for Service Management (CSM), was delivered. The key processes for success and issues to consider for future such events are discussed. The workshop resulted in 8 papers (six theoretical and two empirical). This Special Issue advances current understanding of CE through the research considering the role of technology (AI and big data) in CE research, atypical CE (vulnerability, deviance behaviours and service failure and recovery) and focusing on important organizational and B2B issues (business model innovation, and CEM in business markets).
Gustafsson, Anders & Lartey, Jared Offei (2023)
Metaverse: On the human aspects, privacy and value destruction
[Academic lecture]. Seminar Series on the Digital Future for Business and Society.
Janotta, Frederica; Hogreve, Jens, Lervik-Olsen, Line & Gustafsson, Anders (2022)
The role of mindful observation in automated driving contexts
[Academic lecture]. AMA winter conference.
Ghanbarpour, Tohid; Gustafsson, Anders & Crosby, Lawrence (2022)
Innovation, Antecedents and Firm Value: A Resource Based View Approach
[Academic lecture]. 2022 AMA Winter Academic Conference.
Summary of Findings • We show a positive effect of EE on innovation (at the firm level and in a general) and on CSR, empirically demonstrating the prediction of natural RBV. • CSR partially mediates the influence of EE on innovation, which indicates that engaged employees contribute to innovation practices that are beneficial to stakeholders in a socially responsible manner. • Consistent with prior research on CSR, our results showed an insignificant direct effect of CSR on firm value. However, we demonstrate an indirect path through innovation. Thus, CSR activities increase firm value by contributing to innovation. In other words, firms that engage in CSR activities that require being innovative should enjoy higher firm value. • Our results show a positive direct and indirect effect of EE on firm value through innovation. According to the obtained results, we conclude that employee engagement attracts investors, which enhances firm value directly, while employee engagement also strengthens firm capabilities such as CSR and innovation. This increases the total impact of EE and demonstrates the vital role of innovation in transmitting the full effect of EE and CSR on firm value.
Gustafsson, Anders (2021)
Meet the editor at Griffith University
[Academic lecture]. Invited speaker.
Gustafsson, Anders (2021)
How to publish
[Academic lecture]. Pd. D course.
Gustafsson, Anders (2021)
Meet the editor
[Academic lecture]. IMP 2021.
Gustafsson, Anders (2021)
The current research priorities
[Academic lecture]. The Naples Forum on Service.
Janotta, Frederica; Hogreve, Jens, Lervik-Olsen, Line & Gustafsson, Anders (2021)
Back to nature: the role of mindful observation in automated driving contexts
[Academic lecture]. Frontiers in Service.
Gustafsson, Anders (2021)
COVID-19 and the “Next Normal” in Service, Retail, and Entertainment
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide authors with guidelines for carrying out excellent qualitative service research. It describes the features that editors and reviewers use to evaluate qualitative research and pinpoints what authors can do to improve their manuscripts for publication. Design/methodology/approach The paper identifies five features of excellent qualitative service research – relevance, rigor, integrity, narration and impact – and describes them with a focus on what they mean and what authors can do to meet these standards. Findings The paper suggests that manuscripts are often rejected because they fail to meet key standards of excellent qualitative research. It calls for more discussion on research methodology and research ethics, especially when service research strives to make a difference such as investigating critical service contexts or dealing with vulnerable participants. Originality/value This paper contributes to a better use and application of qualitative research methodology. It focuses on specific actions that researchers can take to improve the quality of their service research manuscripts.
Witell, Lars; Snyder, Hannah, Gustafsson, Anders & McColl-Kennedy, Janet (2019)
Is honesty always the best policy? The effects of lying to your customers
[Academic lecture]. QUIS (Quality in Service).
De Keyser, Arne; VERHULST, Nanouk, Gustafsson, Anders, Shams, Poja & van Vaerenbergh, Yves (2019)
Neuroscience in Service Research: An Overview and Discussion of Its Possibilities
[Academic lecture]. Frontiers in Service.
Ringler, Christine; Sirianni, Nancy, Gustafsson, Anders & Peck, Joann (2019)
Look but Don’t Touch! The Impact of Active Interpersonal Haptic Blocking on Compensatory Touching