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.
Prior customer participation research has mostly focused on its positive effects and largely neglected potential negative outcomes. However, customer participation might be stressful and such customer participation stress (CPS) may have negative consequences on customers’ perceptions and behavior during the service process. This research extends previous research by investigating the stressors within the actual customer participation process as well as its negative effects. Based on a critical incident study, the authors develop a comprehensive model of CPS by adjusting the job demands-resources (JD-R) model to the customer participation context. The authors test the model with data from German retail banks’ customers (N=522). The results confirm that customers experience CPS. The adapted JDR model explains this stress, show that participation demands increase and participation resources reduce CPS. In contrast with prior research, we did not find that social support buffers but even enhances the negative effects of participation demands on CPS. Findings moreover reveal that CPS impairs customer participation. Managers can use these findings to improve their customer participation strategies according to CPS and its drivers.
Customer coproduction is highly relevant for service firms and has attracted significant academic attention. Whereas prior research has addressed several drivers of customer coproduction behavior, such as motivation, ability, or knowledge, it has hardly addressed the role of customer control beliefs or their drivers. This research proposes that specific beliefs about the service locus of control (SLOC) influence coproduction behaviors and that SLOC beliefs themselves depend on customers' prior comparable reinforcement experiences and the socialization activities of the service provider. The test of the proposed model includes 2,679 customers of a service firm that provides health-related strength training, a context that relies heavily on coproduction. The results show that SLOC beliefs, especially customers' internal SLOC, drive coproduction. Service providers can influence internal SLOC with organizational socialization activities, particularly when the customer possesses prior experience with the service provider. Prior comparable reinforcement experiences are less relevant drivers though, which emphasizes the importance of proactive, repeated socialization activities by service providers.
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