Linda Nasr

Exploring the impact of customer feedback on the well-being of service entities : A TSR perspective

Purpose – Adopting the transformative service research (TSR) perspective, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of positive customer feedback on the well-being of front-line employees, companies, and society. Using a multidisciplinary approach, the overlooked area of “positive feedback” is explored resulting in the development of the “Positive Feedback Model” (PFM). The study also compares managers’ and employees’ perceptions of positive customer feedback. Design/methodology/approach – Two exploratory qualitative studies were conducted: Study 1 consisted of 22 semi-structured interviews with managers working in the service industry and Study 2 consisted of seven focus groups with front-line service employees. The extensive literature review and the results of these two studies contributed to the development of the PFM. Findings – Positive customer feedback is an overlooked area of service research which offers potential for improving the well-being of the service entities. Front-line empl...

Transformative service research and service design: synergistic effects in healthcare

ABSTRACT This conceptual paper answers the question: How do we design service experiences in whole to increase the well-being of all participants in the healthcare system – patients, families, and caregivers? In order to do so, we position service design as an essential tool and even a mindset needed for transformative service research success. We discuss the transformative role service design plays in improving service and consumer entities’ well-being with a focus on how this approach can lead to improved healthcare service outcomes. We also add to the conversation surrounding service and consumer entities’ well-being by broadening the concept and application of service design to consider social, existential, psychological, and physical well-being. We particularly explore how healthcare services can benefit from further consumer engagement and collaborative patient–provider relationships, two key factors essential for redesigning the industry.

When good news is bad news: the negative impact of positive customer feedback on front-line employee well-being

Purpose – Front-line employee (FLE) well-being is an under-researched field. Contrasting the prevailing view that Positive Customer Feedback (PCF) can only have ‘positive’ impacts, this study aims to answer the counterintuitive question: Could the apparently positive construct ‘Positive Customer Feedback’ have a negative impact on the well-being of front-line employees? Consequently, working within the Transformative Service Research (TSR) framework, we investigate whether PCF can negatively affect the eudaimonic and hedonic well-being dimensions of FLEs, thus decreasing their overall psychological well-being level. Design/methodology/approach – A multidisciplinary literature review was conducted, particularly in the social psychology, human resources and organizational behavior fields, to examine the potential negative impacts of PCF. Subsequently, an exploratory qualitative study consisting of seven focus groups with 45 FLEs and 22 in-depth interviews with managers working across various service industr...

The interplay of customer experience and commitment

Purpose This research aims to better understand customer experience, as it relates to customer commitment and provides a framework for future research into the intersection of these emerging streams of research. Design/methodology/approach This research contributes to theoretical and practical perspectives on customer experience and its measurement by integrating extant literature with customer commitment and customer satisfaction literature. Findings The breadth of the domains that encompass customer experience – cognitive, emotional, physical, sensorial and social – makes simplistic metrics impossible for gauging the entirety of customers’ experiences. These findings provide strong support of the need for new research into customer experience and customer commitment. Practical implications Given the complexity of customer experience, managers are unlikely to track and manage all relevant elements of the concept. This research provides a framework identifying empirically the most salient attributes of customer experience with particular emphasis on those elements that enhance commitment. This offers insight into service design to correspond with specific commitment and experience dimensions. Originality/value This research is the first to examine the customer experience as it relates to customer commitment – a key factor in customer loyalty, positive word of mouth and other desired outcomes for managers and marketers. This paper provides a framework for future research into these emerging topics.

Showcasing the diversity of service research: Theories, methods, and success of service articles

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to make two main contributions: first, showcase the diversity of service research in terms of the variety of used theories and methods, and second, explain (post-publication) success of articles operationalized as interest in an article (downloads), usage (citations), and awards (best paper nomination). From there, three sub-contributions are derived: stimulate a dialogue about existing norms and practices in the service field, enable and encourage openness amongst service scholars, and motivate scholars to join the field. Design/methodology/approach A mixed method approach is used in combining quantitative and qualitative research methods while analyzing 158 Journal of Service Management (JOSM) articles on several criteria such as their theory, methodology, and main descriptive elements (e.g. number of authors or references) and then using automated text analysis (e.g. investigating the readability of articles, etc.). Findings The results show that the JOSM publishes a large variety of articles with regard to theories, methods of data collection, and types of data analysis. For example, JOSM has published a mixture of qualitative and quantitative articles and papers containing firm-level and customer-level data. Further, the results show that even though conceptual articles create the same amount of interest (downloads), they are used more (citations). Research limitations/implications This paper presents many descriptive results which do not allow for making inferences toward the entire service research discipline. Further, it is only based on one service research journal (JOSM) through a five-year span of publication. Practical implications The results have a number of implications for the discipline that are presented and discussed. Amongst them are that: the discipline should be more open toward conceptual articles, service research shows an imbalance toward theory testing, there is more potential to work with transactional data, and writing style should be more accessible (i.e. readable). Originality/value This paper is the first to conduct an in-depth analysis of service research articles to stimulate dialogue about common publishing practices in the JOSM and to increase the openness of the field.

Consumer perceptions of Interactive Service Robots: A Value-Dominant Logic perspective

We propose a “Value-Dominant Logic” approach to complement HRI research by integrating two well-known user-centric methodologies from the field of marketing. From the results of laddering interviews accompanied by a visual projective technique we show that consumer value perceptions of robots in a retail service environment are of a paradoxical nature where behavioral and social norms are expected of the robot, yet not for the user. Our consumer oriented value-based approach can contribute to the field of HRI by providing a complementary means of user-centered design/ methodology/requirements gathering and additional multidisciplinary collaborations.

The global refugee crisis: how can transformative service researchers help?

ABSTRACT This conceptual paper argues that Transformative Service Researchers (TSR) can work on solving the global refugee crisis. For this purpose, we explore the breadth and depth of the global refugee crisis through the lens of TSR. We advocate the need to consider “relieving suffering” as an overlooked TSR outcome by encouraging deeper research that seeks to provide for basic human needs such as education, healthcare, and freedom of speech. As such, instead of solely focusing on “improving well-being”, there is a profound need to include the idea of “relieving suffering” into the definition and subsequent research within TSR. Transdisciplinary research and service design research are proposed as cornerstones for understanding and solving important service system problems in the global refugee crisis. We issue our call to action for researchers to engage with the global refugee crisis. Subsequently, we propose several avenues to help improve the well-being of global refugees. The paper ends with a discussion of the key opportunities and challenges that must be addressed to move this research forward. We advocate collaborating to reduce the suffering of all refugees trapped in the global refugee crisis and moving service research much closer to solving many more major real-world problems.

Special section: advancing customer experience and big data impact via academic–practitioner collaboration

Purpose This paper aims to outline the purpose, planning, development and delivery of the “1st Academic-Practitioner Research with Impact workshop: Customer Experience Management (CEM) and Big Data” held at Alliance Manchester Business School on 18th and 19th January 2016, at which four subsequent papers were initially developed. Design/methodology/approach The paper sets out a summary of the importance and significance of the four papers developed at the workshop and how the co-creative dialogue between managerial practitioners, presenting key problems and issues that they face, and carefully selected teams of academics was facilitated. Findings To develop richer and more impactful understanding of current problems challenging customer-focused managers, there is a need for more dialogue and engagement between academics and practitioners. Practical implications The paper serves as a guideline for developing future workshops that aim at strengthening the links between academia and the business world. Originality/value This paper highlights the value of academic–practitioner workshops for focusing academic research on areas of importance for practitioners to generate impact. The innovative format of the workshop and the resulting impactful papers should serve as a call and motivation for future academic–practitioner workshop development.

The Impact of Subjective Well-Being on Salesperson Relational and Economic Performances: An Abstract

The aim of this research is to study the much overlooked but critical issue of salespeople Subjective Well-Being (SWB) and its impact on performance. In particular, this study focuses on the impact of SWB on the salesperson cognitive and emotional state, their relationship quality with the customers, and their subsequent economic performance.

Turn Away from the Dark Side: Exploring Positive Customer Feedback (An Abstract)

This paper extends the understanding of positive customer feedback. Technological advances suggest future trends in customer feedback management will encompass ever advanced methods of data capture and analysis. Thus, feedback is increasingly likely to contain both negative and positive sentiment, as opposed to the predominantly isolated negative content which researchers and practitioners have historically focused on. By comparing and contrasting frontline employees’ and customer’s perspectives, we develop a deeper understanding of the main elements and characteristics of positive customer feedback, its various impacts, and the perceived importance of this phenomenon for both actors. Exploratory research was conducted using a novel integrated methodological approach combining two well-established qualitative techniques: structured laddering interviews and two significant components of the Zaltman metaphor elicitation technique (ZMET) (Zaltman 1997) (unstructured in-depth questions and the visual projective technique). This dual approach enabled the identification and discernment of deeper meanings that customers and FLEs associate with their particular perceptions of positive customer feedback. Forty participants (20 customers, 20 employees) were interviewed using snowball sampling (Groth et al. 2009). Customer participants were customers of various service industries including retail, hospitality, and tourism, ensuring that we gathered FLE perceptions of a range of spontaneously received feedback, communicated in different scenarios and forms. Employee participant inclusion criterion was that they had a working experience as FLEs in a service industry. Understanding of positive customer feedback is extended beyond the current literature (i.e., gratitude, compliments) via the identification of nine characteristics and a number of associated impacts on both customers and frontline employees. Both actors share similar understanding of positive customer feedback; however, the importance of the various elements and subsequent impacts varies between the two. The study contributes to a holistic understanding of customer feedback by countering the dominant focus on the “dark side” and proposes a complimentary view of the positive, with implications for management of positive service encounters. The positive consequences identified suggest that managers should engineer processes and develop an exchange culture designed to increase opportunities for customers to give employees more, positive, feedback. We contend that with changes in technology and society, now is the time to rebalance this negative approach with an increased focus on positive customer feedback.