Rethinking the actor in service research: toward a processual view of identity dynamics

Abstract

Purpose -Only a few concepts in the service literature are as pervasive yet as undertheorized as is the concept of the actor. With a growing interest toward value creation as a systemic and institutionally guided phenomenon, there is a particular need for a more robust conceptualization of humans as actors that adopts a processual, as opposed to a static, view. The purpose of this paper is to build such processual conceptualization to advance service-dominant (S-D) logic, in particular, and service research, in general. Design/methodology/approach -The paper is conceptual and extends S-D logic's institutionally constituted account of the actor by drawing from identity theory and social constructionism. Findings -The paper develops a processual conceptualization of the human actor that explicates four social processes explaining the dynamics between two identity concepts-social and personal identity-and institutional arrangements. The resulting framework reveals how humans are simultaneously constituted by institutions and able to perform their roles in varying, even institution-changing, ways. Research limitations/implications -By introducing new insights from identity theory and social constructionism, this paper reconciles the dualism in S-D logic's current description of actors, as well as posits the understanding of identity dynamics and the processual nature of actors as central in many service-related phenomena. Originality/value -This paper is among the few that explicitly theorize about the nature of human actors in S-D logic and the service literature.

Three Decades of Customer Value Research: Paradigmatic Roots and Future Research Avenues

“…Indeed, social constructionists contend that phenomena—such as customer value—are “contingent upon human practices, being constructed in and out of interaction between human beings and their world, and developed and transmitted within an essentially social context” (Crotty 1998, p. 42). Through social interactions, individuals internalize institutionalized norms, values, and assumptions that endow their interpretations of phenomena with meaning (Koskela-Huotari and Siltaloppi 2020). To endow their interpretations of customer value with meaning, researchers can—in accordance with the social constructionist paradigm—go back and forth between empirical data and the customer value literature, which reflects an abductive logic.…”

“Can I go or should I stay?” A theoretical framework of social lock-in during unsatisfactory service encounters

“…Thus, individuals tend to avoid behavior that they believe others (even mere strangers) may disapprove of even if they do not expect them to comment on it directly. Consequently, while limiting the need for cognition, social norms also constrain individual behavior (Koskela-Huotari and Siltaloppi, 2020; Vargo and Lusch, 2016). That is, they cause individuals not to feel completely free regarding how they behave due to the risk of opprobrium.…”

“…It has previously been pointed out that social norms constrain service customers, that is, they cause customers not to feel completely free regarding how they behave (Koskela-Huotari and Siltaloppi, 2020; Vargo and Lusch, 2016). With this in mind, service researchers have begun studying how social norms can be activated to prevent specific customer misbehaviors such as littering or being unfriendly towards employees (Albrecht et al , 2017; Schaefers et al , 2016).…”

“…First, it proposes and tests a framework of social lock-in (Fliess and Volkers, 2020; Rayburn et al , 2020; Wongkitrungrueng et al , 2019) that helps to explain why and in which contexts customers stay on in an unsatisfactory service encounter. Second, by pointing out the constraining power of social norms (Koskela-Huotari and Siltaloppi, 2020; Vargo and Lusch, 2016) in the context of such encounters, it contributes to research aimed at understanding the relationship between the social context and service customers' behavior in general (Argo, 2020; Rosenbaum and Massiah, 2011; Tombs and McColl-Kennedy, 2003). Third, this study combines factors from multiple disciplines (service research, ecological psychology, economic psychology, and social psychology) to explain the decision to stay on or leave early.…”

Service Design for Resilience: A Multi-Contextual Modeling Perspective

“…In the "new normal" future [104], for example, after the COVID-19 pandemic, we need to gather, contextualize, and highlight people's experience and tacit knowledge in a systematic and structured way, in order to purposefully address the new context of living requirements. At the same time, the role of the Actors in the society must be reconsidered [105], such as:…”