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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review what we know – and don't know – about Generation Y's use of social media and to assess the implications for individuals, firms and society.Design/methodology/approachThe paper distinguishes Generation Y from other cohorts in terms of systematic differences in values, preferences and behavior that are stable over time (as opposed to maturational or other differences). It describes their social media use and highlights evidence of intra‐generational variance arising from environmental factors (including economic, cultural, technological and political/legal factors) and individual factors. Individual factors include stable factors (including socio‐economic status, age and lifecycle stage) and dynamic, endogenous factors (including goals, emotions, and social norms).The paper discusses how Generation Y's use of social media influences individuals, firms and society. It develops managerial implications and a research agenda.FindingsPrior research on the social media use of Generation Y raises more questions than it answers. It: focuses primarily on the USA and/or (at most) one other country, ignoring other regions with large and fast‐growing Generation Y populations where social‐media use and its determinants may differ significantly; tends to study students whose behaviors may change over their life cycle stages; relies on self‐reports by different age groups to infer Generation Y's social media use; and does not examine the drivers and outcomes of social‐media use. This paper's conceptual framework yields a detailed set of research questions.Originality/valueThis paper provides a conceptual framework for considering the antecedents and consequences of Generation Y's social media usage. It identifies unanswered questions about Generation Y's use of social media, as well as practical insights for managers.

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to study factors affecting consumers' liking and commenting behavior on Facebook brand pages, and to analyze the mediating role of mode of interaction on relationships between personality traits and liking/commenting behavior. Design/methodology/approach -Data were collected using an online national survey from 269 respondents, ages between 18 and 32. The hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. Findings -Results support nine of ten hypotheses with significant relationships between analyzed constructs. It was found that two different modes of interaction acted as mediators between three personality traits and liking/commenting behavior on Facebook. Research limitations/implications -This study only included liking and commenting behavior on Facebook. Future studies could extend the conceptual model by including sharing behavior and other personality traits that were not included in this conceptual model. Practical implications -The findings have several implications for brand managers with respect to their social media strategies and give them guidance in achieving better customer engagement on Facebook. This research is an important step in understanding the factors affecting consumers' Facebook behavior and useful for practitioners intending to use Facebook as part of their marketing strategy. Originality/value -The study provides a comprehensive framework to understand consumer engagement on Facebook by including specific types of Facebook behavior, three personality traits and two modes of interaction that consumers have in social media.

We propose that the literature on customer engagement has emphasized the benefits of customer engagement to the firm and to a large extent ignored the customers' perspective. By drawing upon co-creation and other literature, this paper attempts to alleviate this gap by proposing a strategic framework that aligns both the customer and firm perspectives in successfully creating engagement that generates value for both the customer and the bottom line. Design/methodology/approach: A strategic framework is proposed that includes the necessary firm resources, data, process, timeline and goals for engagement, and captures customers' motives, situational factors, and preferred engagement styles. Findings: We argue that sustainability of data-driven customer engagement require a dynamic and iterative value generation process involving 1) customers recognizing the value of engagement behaviours and 2) firm's ability to capture and passing value back to customers. Originality/value: This paper proposes a dynamic strategic value creation framework that comprehensively captures both the customer and firm perspectives to data-driven customer engagement.

PurposeThe ongoing pandemic caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) virus has severely influenced lives and livelihoods. As service organizations either face hibernation or continuity of their business operations, the impact of social distancing measures raises major concerns for the well-being of service employees. In this paper, the authors develop a conceptual framework to examine how different social distancing practices impact an organization's service continuity or service hibernation, which in turn affects different dimensions of their employee subjective well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachThe authors draw on macroeconomic data and industrial reports, linking them to theoretical concepts to develop a conceptual framework and a research agenda to serve as a starting point to fully understand the impact of this pandemic on employee well-being.FindingsThis article develops an overarching framework and research agenda to investigate the impact of social distancing practices on employee well-being.Originality/valueThe authors propose two opposing business concepts – service continuity and service hibernation – as possible responses to social distancing measures. By bridging different theoretical domains, the authors suggeste that there is a need to holistically examine macro-, meso- and micro-level factors to fully understand the impact of social distancing–related measures on employee well-being.

Applying a configuration-theoretic approach to study multiple channels, the authors hypothesize that multiple-channel systems make their greatest contributions to firm performance when their structures are properly aligned with their firms' business-level strategies and with environmental conditions. A conceptual model incorporating these variables is supported in an empirical study of responses from executives at 291 electronic component manufacturers. The results confirm the existence of two theoretically ideal configurations. As hypothesized, channels in these ideal configurations make greater contributions to their firms' performance than do channels in alternative configurations. Moreover, a profile deviation analysis shows that a channel system's contribution to its firm's performance is greatest when that channel system's structural profile is closest to the profiles of top-contributing channel systems operating under similar strategic and environmental conditions. The authors present specific guidelines to help managers design distribution systems for different combinations of environment (e.g., with high and low dynamism, munificence, and diversity) and strategy (cost leadership and differentiation).

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to offer a discussion, definition and comprehensive conceptualization of the smart service experience, i.e. the way guests and customers in hospitality and tourism experience and value the use of personalized and pro-active services that the intelligent use of data and technology enable. Design/methodology/approach Based on prior research on service experience, smart services and the differences between regular and smart services, this paper develops a conceptual framework in which the smart service experience is the central construct. Findings The characteristics of smart services (the intelligent, anticipatory, and adaptable use of data and technology) permit customers to experience services that previous conceptualizations of the service experience could not capture. The smart service experience provides empowerment, a seamless experience, enjoyment, privacy and security, and accurate service delivery. The paper also discusses challenges that service firms face in employing smart services, and proposes a future research agenda. Practical implications Both academics and practitioners expect smart services to revolutionize many industries such as tourism and hospitality. Therefore, research is needed to help understand the way customers experience smart services, what values they derive from them and the way service firms can employ them sensibly to enhance customers’ experiences. Originality/value This paper synthesizes insights from the literature on customer experience, smart services and co-creation into a conceptualization of the smart service experience, and distinguishes it from previous conceptualizations of regular services.

Purpose This paper aims to synthesize the widespread economic impact of the outbreak of COVID-19 and presents a new concept, service mega-disruptions (SMDs), which refers to fast moving market disturbances at a massive scale caused by a pandemic. The purpose of this paper is to offer a framework to recognize the impact of SMDs on service ecosystems and a call to action for service researchers in light of the COVID-19 outbreak. Design/methodology/approach This paper presents an overview of massive market disturbances that is observed across multiple service sectors based on current news reports. It then develops themes for timely and actionable research for service scholars. Findings The outbreak of COVID-19 demonstrates that both service industries and the service research community face a new reality, something that we are not well-prepared to handle. A new framework is needed to understand the impact of such virus outbreaks, and current service marketing concepts need to be re-investigated from a new perspective. Originality/value This paper contributes to the literature and service research community by addressing the phenomenon of SMDs by curating a framework and collection of research themes to understand what we observe and what we need to learn to do better in the future.