Gamification and its role in service recovery

A large body of research on service recovery has focused on the effectiveness of conventional tools such as compensation. Despite recent technological advancements, the recovery literature has not kept pace with these developments. One example is gamification which has gained popularity in the marketing domain over the past years (Larivière et al., 2017). Therefore, this paper will examine the effectiveness of gamification in a service recovery context

One-Humped Camels (Camelus dromedaries) Hard Ticks Infestation in Qeshm Island, Iran

The economic importance of tick infestation on camels are important as they are important meat and milk producer animals in the less vegetation area of Iran and their health and production are greatly affected by the high tick infestation. In this investigation, tick infestations on camels (Camelus dromedarius) were determined in Qeshm Island, Iran. A total number of 912 adult ticks (472 males and 440 females) were collected and identified. Hyalomma dromedarii was the predominant tick specie and accounted for 61.9% of the adult ticks. Other hard ticks were H. anatolicum excavatum (22 %), H. asiaticum asiaticum (14.2 %), H. marginatum (1.9 %), H. impeltatum (0.4 %) and Ripicephalus bursa (0.4 %). In conclusion, The provision of tick control programs in the Qeshm Island would seem a prerequisite for improving camel meat and milk production

Bad intentions:Customers’ negative reactions to intentional failures and mitigating conditions

Intentional service failures (e.g., overbooking or overcharging) have received little scholarly attention, despite their regular occurrence and immense costs. Using a multi-method approach combining experimental and field data from online reviews, it was found that intentional (vs. unintentional) failures lead to greater negative word of mouth (nWOM) and patronage reduction. This research extends these findings by demonstrating that intentional failures are less harmful when the failure is reversible (vs. irreversible) and occurs at an employee (vs. firm) level. Further, while either psychological (e.g., apology) or monetary compensation is effective in mitigating the consequences of intentional failures at an employee level, a combined service recovery (psychological and monetary) is the best solution when the failure is at a firm level. Drawing on attribution theory, the paper unveils the key role of trust (as opposed to justice) as the mechanism to explain the effects of intentionality on customers\u2019 nWOM and patronage reduction

The Impact of Termination Severity on Customers’ Emotional, Attitudinal, and Behavioral Reactions

Purpose: This paper empirically examines the direct and indirect effects of perceived termination severity on customers' behavioral reactions via betrayal and justice. It also examines the moderating effects of attitude toward complaining (ATC). Design/methodology/approach: This paper employs a quantitative method approach using a scenario-based experiment in a banking setting. Findings: The results show that a more severe termination approach results in higher customer negative reactions. Betrayal is shown to be a key driver of customers' behavioral reactions, and ATC moderates these effects. Research limitations/implications: Future studies should examine the effects of different termination strategies in markedly different cultures and should also examine other boundary conditions such as prior warning, relationship quality and service importance in influencing customers' negative behavioral responses. Originality/value: This paper contributes to the service termination literature by shedding light on the impact of termination severity on customers' reactions. It also unveils the mechanism that explains customers' reactions to service termination. Further, it reveals that ATC moderates customers' public (but not private) complaining behaviors

Customers' attitudinal, emotional and behavioural responses to firm-initiated service termination

There are an increasing number of reports on termination of customer relationships initiated by major banks in the press. Yet, our understanding of the negative consequences of firm-initiated service termination is still very limited. This study looks at two distinct termination strategies (firm-oriented and customer oriented) to compare how customers perceive and react to these termination strategies. In particular, we examine how perceived severity of the two strategies affects customers' distributive justice, anger, customers' complaint behaviour and revenge intentions. We also explore the mediating role of distributive justice and anger as well as the moderating role of attitude towards complaining. We use an experiment in a retail banking context. 746 adult consumers were recruited from a US online panel with quota for age and gender. Our results show that a firm-oriented approach is perceived as more severe and less fair compared with a customer-oriented approach. A firm-oriented approach also leads to higher level of anger, complaint behaviour and revenge intentions. We also find support for the mediating role of anger and distributive justice on the severity behavioural responses' links and also the moderating role of attitude towards complaining on the effects of anger on revenge and third-party complaint behaviours. This study contributes to the service termination literature by providing a comprehensive model of disengaged customers’ attitudinal, emotional and behavioural reactions to firm-initiated service termination

Transformative impact of platform-mediated trust in the base of the pyramid segment

Background Trust mediated by the platform is the most integral condition of participation in platform-based sharing services (PBSS) (Möhlmann and Geissinger, 2018; Hawlitschek et al., 2016), and is even referred to as the currency of the sharing economy (Ufford, 2015; Botsman and Rogers, 2010), specifically in the Base of the Pyramid (BoP) segment that is historically challenged with high crime rate and poor judicial system (Bharadwaj, 2014; Khan, 2006). The literature on the sharing economy has focused largely on examining the consequences of trust in relation to firm profitability through customer retention and satisfaction (Halilovic and Ur Rehman, 2020; Luo et al., 2021; Santoso and Nelloh, 2017). However, research to date, is devoid of studies that shift the focus of traditional service research within the sharing economy to transformative service research (TSR), emphasizing particularly on the well-being outcomes of platform-mediated trust in communities that are challenged with multiple transaction constraints in their daily lives. Research Aim Given the gaps in research, this study adopts Social Exchange Theory (SET) to comprehensively investigate the role of platform-mediated trust in facilitating sharing based social exchange, and the transformative outcomes of these social exchanges in the BoP segment, specifically from a service provider’s viewpoint. Research Design An electronic survey consisting of 277 responses from the bike ride-sharing service providers belonging to the BoP segment of Pakistan was conducted to test the proposed model through a structural equation modelling technique. Findings The results offered a validated model depicting that platform-mediated trust acts as a key contributor towards the flourishing of service providers, where they experience emotional, psychological, and social dimensions of well-being. The results also depicted that such an outcome is sequentially mediated by the service provider’s positive attitude towards collaborative consumption (CC) and their job satisfaction with PBSS. In particular, the mechanism-based model depicted that trust positively influences the attitude of service providers towards CC. Successively, this positive attitude inculcates positive emotions during the sharing experiences, thereby increasing the service provider’s satisfaction levels with their job. Eventually, this job satisfaction spills over to various aspects of their life, consequently impacting their emotional, psychological, and social dimensions of well-being, hence leading the service providers to flourish. Contributions This study identifies the transformative impact of platform-mediated trust in the BoP segment, a topic of both theoretical and practical importance, nonetheless, remaining under-researched (Ostrom et al., 2021; Ostrom et al., 2015). The findings add to the emerging literature of TSR by advancing the theoretical understanding on the nature of transformation brought upon by PBSS, depicting that PBSS has the capability to offer both hedonic and eudaimonic well-being outcomes. Moreover, the findings also add to the BoP research stream, providing a solution to transform the lives of the poor (Fisk et al., 2016; Ostrom et al 2021), by suggesting PBSS as a beneficial service model for the flourishing of service providers that addresses the challenges caused by a high crime rate and the poor judicial system in the BoP segment, which hinders their entrepreneurial ability. Managerially, the findings inform the marketing managers and policy makers of PBSS to rigorously exhibit trustworthiness and establish methods to boost transaction-based and experience-based contentment to foster interpersonal and institutional trust, which eventually develops their employees’ positive attitudes, ensures on-going satisfaction, and ultimately uplifts their livelihood

Service interactions in platform-based sharing services and social transformation of the base of the pyramid segment

Advancements in technology have facilitated in the development of online service environments, enabling the service actors to interact eagerly both with firms and service peers (Ostrom et al., 2015. p.1). With the emergence of the platform model of services, the digitally enabled service interactions have revolutionized the act of collaborative consumption (CC) into commercial services, facilitating social exchanges in ways that has uplifted the service organizations as well as the macro-environment they operate in (Huarng and Yu, 2019; Mair and Reishauer, 2017; Tsou et al., 2019; Watanabe et al., 2017). For years, the major emphasis of services research has been firm centric, engrossing biasedly on the managerial implications and centring on the organizational outcomes of service interactions (Rosenbaum, 2015). This prejudice was achieved at the expense of exploring the individual and collective well-being stemming from service experiences and interactions (Anderson and Ostrom, 2015; Anderson et al., 2013; Ostrom et al., 2021; Rosenbaum et al., 2011), specifically, from the viewpoint of service providers (Buhalis et al., 2019; Zhang, Bufquin and Lu, 2019), which is an underrepresented perspective, owing to the increased inclination of the discipline towards firm profitability i.e., repurchase intentions and customer satisfaction etc. Moreover, when exploring the transformative outcomes of service interactions, previous research has ignored the largest yet underrated segment i.e., Base of the Pyramid (BoP), where not only is this segment considered to be a promising target group, but platform-based service interactions also intend to address a multitude of challenges faced by citizens of this segment (Fisk et al., 2016; Ostrom et al., 2015; Prahalad, 2002)

Transformative sharing services at the base of the pyramid segment

This research aims to explore the phenomena of transformative sharing services (TSS) at the base of the pyramid segment (BoP). To attain this, a model was developed which examined the process of involvement in TSS engendering the flourishing (well-being) of service providers in the BoP segment. Grounded in the review of literature, in a single model, this study empirically investigates: (1) the effect of trust in TSS on the flourishing of service providers; (2) the effect of trust in TSS on the flourishing of service providers through attitude towards TSS and job satisfaction in succession; and (3) the effect of Big Five personality traits on the flourishing of service providers. As a consequence, adopting a pragmatic philosophical underpinning, a sequential mixed methods approach was employed. Owing to the paucity of research within the context of transformative services in the BoP segment, an initial exploratory qualitative element, consisting of 20 in-depth interviews, was conducted in order to refine the proposed theoretical framework of the study. Later followed by a quantitative research phase consisting of electronic survey research, a total of 272 questionnaires, approached via convenience and snowball sampling, were processed for analysis

Customers' reactions to different organizational tactics in a service termination context

Purpose: This study aims to examine the effects of organizational tactics (e.g. explanation and monetary compensation) on customers’ reactions to service termination. The mediating role of anger and the moderating role of termination strategy on the effectiveness of organizational tactics are examined to enhance the understanding of customers’ reactions to service termination. Design/methodology/approach: Three experimental studies are conducted with different contexts (telecom and banking) and samples (students and consumers). Findings: Study 1 results show that explanation and high monetary compensation reduce negative word-of-mouth and enhance corporate image and anger mediates these effects. Study 2a results show that high monetary compensation becomes ineffective when firms use a soft termination approach. Study 2b results show that an explanation is equally effective in soft and hard termination approaches. Importantly, unlike high monetary compensation, the explanation can fully eliminate the negative consequences of service termination. Practical implications: Managers can mitigate negative customers’ reactions to service termination by offering a truthful explanation. Further, they should provide high monetary compensation only if they do not help dismissed customers find an alternative provider. Originality/value: This paper contributes to the service termination literature by shedding more light on the effectiveness of different organizational tactics following different termination strategies. The findings challenge existing wisdom on the overrated role of monetary compensation showing that in service termination, the explanation is the most effective remedy. Further, unlike justice, anger better explains customers’ reactions to service termination

Proactive handling of flight overbooking:How to reduce negative eWOM and the costs of bumping customers

This research examines the extent to which proactivity in handling flight overbooking reduces negative electronic word-of-mouth (NeWOM) and the required costs of compensation, thus increasing firm profitability. It answers recent calls to use a multimethod approach (i.e., we include archival data, qualitative interviews, seven experiments, and a Monte Carlo simulation for a total of ten studies), and to adapt recovery to specific contexts (i.e., airlines) and heterogeneous customers (i.e., voluntary/involuntary bumping or offloading). The preliminary studies indicate that overbooking and offloading are pervasive and that a proactive approach is both feasible and desirable. The experiments show that, compared to the default reactive approach (informing passengers at the gate), a proactive approach (informing them before they leave for the airport) substantially reduces NeWOM and the sought compensation. Further, a very reactive approach (informing them in the plane) significantly increases NeWOM and the sought compensation, especially when offloading occurs involuntarily. We also unveil the mechanism explaining the effects of proactivity on NeWOM, through the serial mediation of justice and betrayal. Finally, the results of a Monte Carlo simulation show that offering reduced compensation through a proactive approach allows more aggressive overbooking, higher capacity utilization and increased net revenue of up to 1.3%