Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss how service, as an interdisciplinary area of research, can increase its potential for transdisciplinary contributions from the perspective of what signifies intra-, multi-, inter-, and transdisciplinary research. Design/methodology/approach – The essay first discusses common perspectives on the service concept before presenting a review on what signifies intra-, multi-, inter-, and transdisciplinary research. The emerging theoretical framework is followed by a discussion on the challenges and opportunities for service research in making interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary theoretical contributions. Findings – The research provides a typological framework for understanding intra-, multi-, inter-, and transdisciplinary service research and, implications related to how service research contributions can become increasingly inter- and transdisciplinary. Originality/value – The paper contributes to widening the scope of service research by focussing on how the domain can overcome hurdles and increase its potential for making theoretical contributions that are applicable across and beyond established research disciplines.

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Although brands are acknowledged as significant assets in a firm's value creation and differentiation process, branding literature often describes opposing perspectives and contradictory demands. This article develops a framework of three strategic brand management archetypes that provide new insights into the complexity and often paradoxical ambiguity of branding. By combining an empirical qualitative study with extant brand management and relational exchange theory, the authors suggests that firms create, reinforce, switch, or allow certain brand management archetypes to coexist to optimize specific effects and manage paradoxes. From a managerial perspective, the article suggests that understanding strategic brand management and related paradoxes is fundamental for organizations to achieve desired effects with their value creation.

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to discuss the use of the theory of attractive quality and the Kano methodology in an experience context in order to understand how different experienced attributes contribute to delight and satisfaction among customers.Design/methodology/approachThe study applied theoretical and quantitative approaches in order to examine the theory of attractive quality and the Kano methodology. A total of 270 respondents responded to the survey instrument, which was based on qualitative interviews.FindingsThe research showed that existing questions and answering alternatives included in the Kano methodology must be adapted to the nature of experiences. The paper contributes in the form of a new evaluation table, having shown that existing tables were invalid in relation to the importance rating and the Must‐Be>One‐dimensional>Attractive>Indifferent evaluation rule. Finally, the paper also shows how hedonic attributes create delight and utilitarian attributes create satisfaction, which contributes to a holistic offering.Practical implicationsManagers should address the fact that simply including an attribute is not sufficient; they must also consider its nature and how it performs and attach to the offering when studying experiences to understand how it contributes to either delight or satisfaction.Originality/valueTo date, few studies have addressed or discussed the consequences of applying the theory of attractive quality and the Kano model – including its rules for classification – to experience‐based offerings. The present article does this and also offers a theoretical extension of the theory of attractive quality and service marketing in terms of how customers holistically consider value and how Kano survey results should be analysed.

Purpose -The aim of this paper is to understand the differences across various quality dimensions and how these contribute to experienced quality and satisfaction among users. Design/methodology/approach -The study applies the Kano model of attractive quality to a destination (in this case a snowpark). The fact that the Kano model was used means that a quantitative approach was applied. In total 270 respondents responded to the survey instrument, which in turn was based on qualitative interviews. Findings -The research shows the great importance of a destination that offers conditions that support specific goals or desired activities in order to achieve customer satisfaction. It also finds that the physical service environment has a major influence on customer satisfaction. Finally, the physical conditions seem to affect the destination's image to a greater degree than the interactions. Practical implications -In order to create the most attractive offering, managers should focus primarily on the physical service environment. Originality/value -The Kano model is widely discussed and well known. There are, however, very few applications for which the Kano model has been used, especially with regard to hedonistic services, the motivation for this study. The theoretical contribution of this paper is an extension of Brady and Cronin's model of what creates service quality. In this model, the location or place is added as an important construct for explaining the experience.