Consumer transformation through volunteer service experiences

Abstract

A growing number of consumers are seeking to make a difference through experiences involving interaction and collaboration with organizations that offer charitable service opportunities. These experiences are noteworthy in not only their catalyzing influence on the organization and the beneficiary customer, but also the personal transformation in the volunteer. The authors introduce a phenomenon called transformative charity experiences (TCEs), a triadic framework highlighting an avenue of personal consumer well-being through the transformative effect of service interactions with key stakeholders. Building upon conceptual models proposed in Transformative Services Research and insights from their own embedded charity experiences, the authors introduce how service co-creation from three entities (charity, volunteer, and community) can lead to a transformative effect for the volunteer. An exploratory field study in an international setting provides insights into how the proposed framework accounts for TCEs. Implications and future directions for charitable services research are presented.

Volunteer Tourism as a Transformative Experience: A Mixed Methods Empirical Study

“…In the present study, we conceptualize the notion of immersiveness as the degree to which volunteer tourists perceive they need to put in significant effort, or are induced to substantial pain and suffering during their trip. It is reasonable to assume that immersion in a volunteer tourism experience facilitates transformation in two ways, especially during the liminal phase: firstly, by pushing the volunteer tourists beyond their comfort levels; and secondly by enabling them to consider how they view themselves and the world around them (Mulder et al 2015). As in other forms of experiential tourism (Noy 2004), the more immersive their experience is, the more changed they will feel when it is over, that is, in the post-liminal phase.…”

Volunteer and keep volunteering: a look through TSR

“…Thus, TSR focuses on investigate and understand the role of services and the relationship of consumers to services in promoting consumer well-being (Rosenbaum et al, 2011). Besides, TSR also considers work as consumption, meaning that this perspective may assess how individuals who provide services can improve their welfare in the process (Mulder et al, 2015). Also, TSR considers general and broad well-being, as in communities and ecosystems, involving the impact that the forms of providing services may have locally and globally.…”

“…In these NGOs we find the figure of the volunteer, who is both a service provider and a consumer. In this context, volunteers act as co-creators of value, largely involved in transformative service activities (Mulder et al, 2015).…”

“…Factors such as materialism, subjective well-being and physical health all related to volunteering performed by older people (Wei, Donthu, & Bernhardt, 2012;Younnis, McLellan, & Mazer, 2001), social recognition (Bachman et al, 2016;Fisher & Ackerman, 1998), ways of self-promotion (Hackl, Halla, & Pruckner, 2005) and reduced feelings of guilt (Jeong & Koo, 2015). Mulder et al (2015) propose that investing in the volunteers' immersion in the activity is a usually wellsucceeded action to engage them with the service. The authors justify that this action takes the individual out of his/her comfort zone, leading them to reflect on the condition of other individuals who depend on the voluntary service and motivate him/her to carry out this activity.…”

“…While TSR studies usually emphasize on individuals considered vulnerable, they neglect those that are critical to the sustainability of services that serve these people: the volunteers. Further studies such as those of Mulder, Rapp, Hamby, and Weaver (2015), using the TSR approach, are needed to understand one of the most important elements for the maintenance of services that contribute to the vulnerable public: volunteers.…”