This issue of the journal consists of six papers that were presented at the 5th American Marketing Association SERVSIG International Research Conference, held in Liverpool, UK on 5-7 June 2008. There were 130 delegates at the conference from 28 countries. A total of 109 papers were presented, and 42 full papers were submitted. The six papers that were reviewed and selected for this issue, therefore, have been through a very competitive process.

The first two papers present research on new service development (NSD). Droege, Hildebrand and Forcada, winners of the Christopher Lovelock Prize (sponsored by Emerald) for the best conference paper, provide a detailed review of the key literature on NSD, and an extremely useful set of suggested directions for future research pathways. One of their highlighted areas for further research was inter-company studies that examine and compare NSD and new product development, which coincidentally is addressed specifically in the paper by Kindström and Kowalkowski. In their paper, Kindström and Kowalkowski present, and critically examine a four-stage NSD process that may be adapted to manufacturing organizations, based on detailed case studies of ten companies.

Demonstrating the diversity of service research, the third paper, by Rosenbaum, explores the restorative effects of servicescapes, and puts forward a very thought-provoking case for how commercial servicescapes, in the form of “third places”, may provide similar benefits, in terms of remedying some of the symptoms associated with directed attention fatigue, to those of natural environments. The potentially, extremely important, social role of some servicescapes is emphasized.

The fourth paper, by Roos, Friman and Edvardsson, explores the association between customer emotions and switching behaviour in the telecommunications industry. Through an analysis of switching stories, gathered through a longitudinal study involving interviews with telecoms customers, it was found that the dynamics of customer relationships are subtly linked to customer emotions that are not associated solely with the current service provider. The paper highlights the potential benefits to be gained from increasing the understanding of dynamic customer relationships.

The fifth paper, by Punjaisri, Evanschitzky and Wilson, explores employees’ perspectives on the internal branding process, in the context of hotel services. It offers insights into the growing research on service branding, and the role of service employees. The research examines specific hypotheses relating to the impact of internal branding on employees’ brand identification, brand commitment, brand loyalty and brand performance in delivering the brand promise. The research findings have managerial implications in respect of the employment of internal communication and training to influence employees’ brand-supporting attitudes and behaviours.

The final paper, by Laing, Newholm and Hogg, provides a lens through which to examine service encounters that consumers have with professional service providers, given the availability and easy accessibility of internet driven information. On the basis of interviews conducted with professional service providers and focus groups of consumers of professional services, they contend that the internet-created informational spaces present particular challenges for both consumers and providers in what is a more complex form of service encounter in the contemporary knowledge economy.

It was not an easy task to choose six papers from the papers that were submitted to the conference, and we believe that many more of the 42 papers were publishable. We offer our sincere thanks to the members of the conference committee, for their invaluable reviews and other contributions towards the production of what we believe is a journal issue consisting of invigorating papers that represent the diversity, depth and intellectual stimulation of the conference sessions.

Guest EditorsSteve Baron, Anthony Patterson, Steve Oakes and Kim Harris

Best papers from the AMA SERVSIG International Research Conference 2008

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