Subordinated service environments: how branding can create unintentional service exclusion

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore unintended effects of branding in a healthcare environment. Children’s hospitals often treat both women and children. The current research examines the implications of sub-branding women’s services and its potential impact on how patients and providers perceive these services.

Design/methodology/approach

A multi-actor qualitative method is used, incorporating in-depth interviews, focus groups and observations. This approach allowed for a comprehensive understanding of how hospital administrators, physicians, staff and patients perceive service exclusion when women’s services are located within a children’s hospital.

Findings

The findings suggest that sub-branding can have negative effects on both patients and providers. The data show that this can lead to service exclusion due to perceptions of confusion and a lack of belonging. As a result, sub-branding women’s services in a children’s hospital may unintentionally create a subordinated service environment for adult patients and their providers, which has important implications for policy and other service settings.

Originality/value

The authors introduce the concept of a subordinated service environment and explore how patients and providers perceive sub-branded women’s services in children’s hospitals. The study contributes to service theory by showing how and why branding efforts can unintentionally lead to service exclusion.

Citation

Anderson, K.C., Popovich, D., Frias, K.M. and Trussell, M. (2024), "Subordinated service environments: how branding can create unintentional service exclusion", Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 38 No. 8, pp. 1074-1088. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSM-01-2024-0022