This article examines the contemporary and evolving social ritual of vaping (also known as the use and consumption of e-cigarettes). This novel research finds a typology of users in a heterogeneous youth market and shows how the introduction of this new practice challenges existing ritual boundaries. Previous research has focused on the de-marketing of tobacco and smoking cessation. Here, virtuous, dynamic, vulnerable, and invisible vapers are identified with each demonstrating differing levels of emotional engagement and characteristics of vaping behaviors. Utilizing Collins' theory of interaction rituals as a lens, this qualitative study explores the sociability of vaping practices to gain a deeper understanding of the enduring appeal of vaping and the subsequent consequences for youth "smoking" behaviors. While some vapers advocate the health benefits of this relatively new practice, the use of e-cigarettes is also used as a form of resistance as well as mechanism for misbehavior.
Purpose
This study aims to propose that providers should tailor recovery responses to consumers’ emotional states to improve evaluations and behavioral intentions.
Design/methodology/approach
A multi-study approach comprising field and lab data was used. The field study, conducted on the Boston public transport network during a weather crisis, sought to determine how a provider should deliver their recovery response to match the consumer’s affective state. In the lab studies, the importance of tailoring a recovery message to the consumer’s state is experimentally demonstrated while controlling for factors such as consumer brand involvement.
Findings
This study finds that an emotion-focused recovery emphasizing empathy should be given to those in an avoidance affective state (i.e. focused on the avoidance of negative outcomes) such as worry. A problem-focused recovery, in which the focus is on the process that led to the failure and the steps that will be taken to correct it, should be provided to those in an approach state (i.e. concerned with advancement and accomplishment) such as anger. This study also finds this effect is more salient under low involvement conditions.
Research limitations/implications
Future research should examine how nonverbal behavior during recovery can be tailored to a consumer’s state.
Practical implications
Service providers are encouraged to tailor recovery messages to consumers’ affective states.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to examine matching recovery messages to affective states, an important contribution as service failures can elicit a wide variety of affective states that influence how consumers react to recovery messages.
A novel nine-item assessment tool has been developed. The Patients' Evaluation of Non-Technical Skills (PENTS) tool allows valid and reliable measurement of surgeons' non-technical skills from the patient perspective.
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