Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential roles for service robots (i.e. socially assistive robots) in value networks of elderly care. Taking an elderly person’s perspective, it defines robot roles according to their value co-creating/destroying potential for the elderly user (i.e. focal actor), while acknowledging consequences for a network of users around the elderly (i.e. network actors). Design/methodology/approach This qualitative, interpretative study employs in-depth phenomenographic interviews, supported by generative cards activities (i.e. Contextual Value Network Mapping), to elicit an elderly person’s tacit knowledge and anticipate the effects of introducing an automated actor on institutionalized value co-creation practices. Findings The proposed typology identifies six roles of socially assistive robots in an elderly person’s value network (enabler, intruder, ally, replacement, extended self, and deactivator) and links them to three health-supporting functions by robots: safeguarding, social contact, and cognitive support. Research limitations/implications Elderly people have notable expectations about the inclusion of a socially assistive robot as a new actor in their value networks. The identified robot roles inform service scholars and managers about both the value co-destruction potential that needs to be avoided through careful designs and the value co-creation potential that should be leveraged. Originality/value Using network-conscious phenomenographic interviews before the introduction of a novel value proposition sheds new light on the shifting value co-creation interplay among value network actors (i.e. elderly people, formal and informal caregivers). The value co-creation/destruction potential of socially assistive robots and their corresponding roles in care-based value networks offer insights for the design of meaningful robotic technology and its introduction into the existing service networks.

Purpose The technological revolution in the service sector is radically changing the ways in which and with whom consumers co-create value. This conceptual paper considers social robots in elderly care services and outlines ways in which their human-like affect and cognition influence users’ social perceptions and anticipations of robots’ value co-creation or co-destruction potential. A future research agenda offers relevant, conceptually robust directions for stimulating the advancement of knowledge and understanding in this nascent field. Design/methodology/approach Drawing from service, robotics and social cognition research, this paper develops a conceptual understanding of the value co-creation/destruction potential of social robots in services. Findings Three theoretical propositions construct an iterative framework of users’ evaluations of social robots in services. First, social robots offer users value propositions leveraging affective and cognitive resources. Second, users’ personal values become salient through interactions with social robots’ affective and cognitive resources. Third, users evaluate social robots’ value co-creation/destruction potential according to social cognition dimensions. Originality/value Social robots in services are an emerging topic in service research and hold promising implications for organizations and users. This relevant, conceptually robust framework advances scholarly understanding of their opportunities and pitfalls for realizing value. This study also identifies guidelines for service managers for designing and introducing social robots into complex service environments.

PurposeThis paper explores how service design can contribute to the evolution of health service systems, moving them toward people-centered, integrated and technology-enabled care; the paper develops a research agenda to leverage service design research for healthcare transformation.Design/methodology/approachThis conceptual study starts by analyzing healthcare challenges in terms of demographic trends and economic constraints, along with the problems of lack of people-centricity, dispersion of care and slowness in incorporating emerging technologies. Then, it examines the theoretical underpinnings of service design to develop a framework for exploring how a human-centered, transformative and service systems approach can contribute to addressing healthcare challenges, with illustrative cases of service design research in healthcare being given.FindingsThe proposed framework explores how a human-centered service design approach can leverage the potential of technology and advance healthcare systems toward people-centered care; how a transformative service design approach can go beyond explanatory research of healthcare phenomena to develop innovative solutions for healthcare change and wellbeing; and how a service systems perspective can address the complexity of healthcare systems, hence moving toward integrated care.Originality/valueThis paper systematizes and develops a framework for how service design can contribute to healthcare transformation. It identifies key healthcare application areas for future service design research and pathways for advancing service design in healthcare by using new interdisciplinary bridges, methodological developments and theoretical foundations.

PurposeBesides the direct physical health consequences, through social isolation COVID-19 affects a considerably larger share of consumers with deleterious effects for their psychological well-being. Two vulnerable consumer groups are particularly affected: older adults and children. The purpose of the underlying paper is to take a transformative research perspective on how social robots can be deployed for advancing the well-being of these vulnerable consumers and to spur robotic transformative service research (RTSR).Design/methodology/approachThis paper follows a conceptual approach that integrates findings from various domains: service research, social robotics, social psychology and medicine.FindingsTwo key findings advanced in this paper are (1) a typology of robotic transformative service (i.e. entertainer, social enabler, mentor and friend) as a function of consumers' state of social isolation, well-being focus and robot capabilities and (2) a future research agenda for RTSR.Practical implicationsThis paper guides service consumers and providers and robot developers in identifying and developing the most appropriate social robot type for advancing the well-being of vulnerable consumers in social isolation.Originality/valueThis study is the first to integrate social robotics and transformative service research by developing a typology of social robots as a guiding framework for assessing the status quo of transformative robotic service on the basis of which it advances a future research agenda for RTSR. It further complements the underdeveloped body of service research with a focus on eudaimonic consumer well-being.

This empirical study compares elderly people's social perception of human versus robotic coaches in the context of an active and healthy aging program. In evaluating hedonic and utilitarian value perceptions of exergames (i.e., video games integrating physical activity), we consider elderly people's judgments of the warmth and competence (i.e., social cognition) of their assigned coach (human vs. robot). The field experiments involve 58 elderly participants in the real-life context. Leveraging a mixed-method approach that combines quantitative and qualitative data, we show that (1) socially assistive robots activate feelings of (automated) social presence (2) human coaches score higher on perceived warmth and competence relative to robotic coaches, and (3) social cognition affects elderly people's experience (i.e., emotional and cognitive reactions and behavioral intentions) with respect to exergames. These findings can inform future developments and design of social robots and systems for their smoother inclusion into elderly people's social networks. In particular, we recommend that socially assistive robots take complementary roles (e.g., motivational coach) and assist human caregivers in improving elderly people's physical and psychosocial well-being.

Preventing falls is extremely important today as people live long sedentary lives. Fall prevention platforms can help, by stimulating seniors to perform exercises that improve balance and muscular strength. However, existing platforms for fall prevention mostly target individual users exercising at home. This paper describes the design and evaluation of a multi-player fall prevention game platform, FallSensing Games, to be used in senior care centers. The game design was inspired by the Otago Exercise Programme and the evaluation focused on biomechanical parameters, game experience, and technology acceptance. Results showed that the game was easy to follow, that seniors performed exercises correctly, and that the game integrated well with the activities of the senior care centers. Lessons learned from this project may inspire the development of similar platforms, and, in this way, support group exercise practices at senior care centers.

Social robots are increasingly being deployed in a wide variety of consumer-facing services, where they co-create value with and for the benefit of the consumers they interact with (Lu et al., 2020;Wirtz et al., 2018). Robots welcome customers to restaurants and hotels, entertain children, read cooking recipes at home, give additional information about products in stores, or assist the elderly with walking to support their health (Henschel et al., 2021;KPMG, 2016). What all these robots delivering services to consumers have in common is that they represent an "information technology in a physical embodiment, providing customized services by performing physical as well as nonphysical tasks with a high degree of autonomy" (Jörling et al., 2019, p. 405). This integration of robots into the marketplace reshapes service interactions and also challenges some fundamental principles of consumer-firm interactions (Kaartemo & Helkkula, 2018;Subramony et al., 2018). While service robots come with different levels of intelligence (Huang & Rust, 2018) and in various manifestations (Wirtz et al., 2018), embodied robots engaging in social interactions with consumers are expected to ignite what could be the most dramatic transformation of the consumer service landscape in the age of ser-

Consumer-to-consumer (C2C) online reviews are important sources of information that help consumers decide which products and services to buy. Although C2C reviews in video format (e.g., on YouTube) have become increasingly popular, research remains focused primarily on textual reviews. This article emphasizes the importance of C2C video reviews in influencing consumer outcomes through parasocial interaction, a special—albeit one-sided—connection with reviewers. Interactivity and self-disclosure are suggested as online communication techniques reviewers can use to foster parasocial interaction with their viewers in a single encounter. Parasocial interaction is further established as a psychological mechanism that underlines the impacts of interactivity and self-disclosure on source credibility, leading to improved consumer purchase intentions. The authors also propose that strong parasocial interaction with reviewers exerts a particularly powerful influence on the purchase decisions of consumers who experience low levels of decision confidence, while arguing for the importance of C2C video reviews in guiding the decisions of various consumer groups. Research recommendations reveal how managers can encourage consumers to create and share video reviews on different platforms and offer guidance on the ways companies can foster parasocial interaction through firm-related marketing communications.