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Service failures usually occur in front of third-party customers. Third-party customers react emotionally and behaviorally to service failure and recovery efforts aimed at focal customers. However, there is a gap in the literature on how third-party customers react to a service failures incident and a recovery over another customer, depending on how socially close or distant they are from. This study investigates the effect of third-party customers' emotions on consumer forgiveness, negative word-of-mouth (WoM) and repatronage intentions in the service recovery process by comparing close and distant third-party customers.

This study utilizes a 2 (social distance to the focal customer: close, distant) × 2 (service recovery: yes, no) between-subjects design. The authors used a scenario-based experiment to test the proposed hypotheses. A total of 576 respondents were involved in the study.

The results from the authors' scenario-based experimental study show that positive and negative emotions felt by distant third-party customers are higher than those of close third-party customers. In addition, the effect of positive emotions on customer forgiveness is more substantial for distant third-party customers. Third, moderated-mediation analysis indicates that social distance has a moderator effect only on the relationship between positive emotions and customer forgiveness.

This study contributes to the service literature by comparing socially close and socially distant third-party customers' reactions to service failure and recovery attempts.

Data-driven marketing is replacing conventional marketing strategies. The modern marketing strategy is based on insights derived from customer behavior information gathered from their facial expressions and neuro-signals. This study explores the potential for face recognition and neuro-marketing in modern-day marketing.

The study conducts an in-depth examination of the extant literature on neuro-marketing and facial recognition marketing. The articles for review are downloaded from the Scopus database, and PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) is then used to screen and choose the relevant papers. The systematic literature review method is applied to conduct the study.

An extensive review of the literature reveals that the domains of neuro-marketing and face recognition marketing remain understudied. The authors’ review of selected papers delivers five neuro-marketing and facial recognition marketing themes that are essential to modern marketing concepts.

Neuro-marketing and facial recognition marketing are artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled marketing techniques that assist in gaining cognitive insights into human behavior. The findings would be of use to managers in designing marketing strategies to enhance their marketing approach and boost conversion rates.

The uniqueness of this study lies in that it provides an updated review on neuro-marketing and face recognition marketing.

Customer experience is increasingly recognized as a source of competitive advantage. Customer experience refers to customers' responses and reactions to cues within touchpoints along customer journeys. Nowadays, customers often interact with online touchpoints – such as social media, websites, or e-commerce – in their customer journeys. Given that customer experience is multidimensional, this chapter addresses the following question: How can sensorial experiences be triggered in online touchpoints? Based on a review of the literature on customer experience and sensory marketing, four challenges in triggering sensorial experiences in online touchpoints are identified: (1) limited sensorial cues, (2) lack of thematic congruence between online and offline touchpoints, (3) sensory overload, and (4) lesser control over sensorial cues. Then, two routes through which organizations can trigger sensorial experiences in online touchpoints are proposed: (1) directly influencing sensations through sensory-enabling technologies, and (2) indirectly influencing sensorial perceptions through the use of sensory and nonsensory cues. The chapter closes with a presentation of a model that describes the process of triggering sensorial experiences in online touchpoints as well as a checklist of relevant questions for practitioners who wish to do so.

The purpose of this study is to analyse the brand communication on social media (SM) made by two- and three-starred restaurants and the customer reaction in terms of engagement effects during a crisis. The research highlights the connections between brand communication and engagement dynamics on Instagram by looking for differences in the strategies of two and three-starred restaurants and by highlighting the changes in the background engagement drivers.

Using data collected from 5,666 Instagram posts by 34 Italian Michelin-starred restaurants, the authors analysed the crisis-driven changes in online communication and customer engagement comparing three phases of the COVID-19 pandemic by applying a linear regression model with fixed effects.

Michelin-starred restaurants changed their strategies of brand communication to overcome the effects of the crisis. The findings highlight the importance of SM as a tool to stay in touch with consumers and the pivotal role of customers in engagement, especially during a pandemic.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is among the first studies to investigate the changes in brand communication and the effects on customer engagement during a pandemic, with a focus on Instagram. It contributes to understanding the role of platform and the main drivers of engagement on Instagram, as well as suggesting how managers can improve brand value using SM.

This research investigates the role of customer forgiveness as the result of online service recovery transparency in predicting customer engagement. It also examines the moderating roles of timeliness and personalization in this proposed model.

An online survey study using retrospective experience sampling and a scenario-based experimental study were conducted to test the proposed hypotheses.

Customer forgiveness positively influences customer engagement and plays a mediating role in the relationship between service recovery transparency and customer engagement. Additionally, timeliness and personalization moderate the positive influence of service recovery transparency on customer forgiveness. The positive influence of service recovery transparency on customer forgiveness is more apparent when levels of timeliness and personalization decrease.

To retain focal customers' engagement after a service failure, firms must obtain their forgiveness. One of the firm's online complaint handling strategies to increase the forgiveness level of focal customers is to provide a high level of service recovery transparency (i.e. responding to their complaints in a public channel), especially when the firm is unable to respond to online complaints quickly or provide highly personalized responses.

This research provides new insights into the underlying mechanism of customer engagement by applying the concept of customer forgiveness. It also contributes to the social influence theory by applying the essence of the theory to explain how other customers' virtual presence during the online complaint handling influences the forgiveness of focal customers in order to gain their engagement. Additionally, it provides insight into the conditions under which the role of service recovery transparency can be very effective in dealing with online complaints.

Service research offering a view of both the dark and bright sides of smart technology remains scarce. This paper embraces a critical perspective and examines the conflicting outcomes of smart services on the customer experience (CX), with a specific focus on chatbots.

This study uses empirical research methods to examine a single case study where an online retail service provider implemented a chatbot for customer service. Using discourse analysis, we analysed 7,167 conversations between customers and the chatbot over a two-year period.

The analysis identifies seven general themes related to the effects of the chatbot on CX: interaction quality, information gathering, procedure literacy, task achievement, digital trust, shopping stress and shopping journey. We illuminate both positive (i.e. having a pleasant interaction, providing information, knowing procedures, improving tasks, increasing trust, reducing stress and completing the journey) and negative outcomes (i.e. having an unpleasant interaction, increasing confusion, ignoring procedures, worsening tasks, reducing trust, increasing stress and abandoning the journey).

The paper develops a comprehensive framework to offer a clearer view of chatbots as smart services in customer care. It delves into the conflicting effects of chatbots on CX by examining them through relational, cognitive, affective and behavioural dimensions.

This study explores the relationship among relationship-selling, celebrity attachment and customer engagement.

Hypotheses were tested, using structural equation modeling on survey responses of 321 participants.

This study determines the connection between relationship-selling factors and customer engagement using the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) theory. Results demonstrate that interactional intensity, mutual disclosure and cooperative intention exert considerable positive effects on celebrity attachment, which, in turn, significantly impacts customer engagement.

The research findings add to the existing body of knowledge through more information on the degree to which relationship-selling factors affect celebrity attachment, and eventually, customer engagement. The study also aims to prompt researchers and organizations to consider effective communication strategies to increase online customer engagement.

The increased utilization of artificial intelligence-enabled applications (AI-ETs) across the customer journey has transformed customer experience (CX), introducing entirely new forms of the concept. This paper aims to explore existing academic research on the AI-enabled customer experience (AICX), identifying gaps in literature and opportunities for future research in this domain.

A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted in March 2022. Using 16 different keyword combinations, literature search was carried across five databases, where 98 articles were included and analysed. Descriptive analysis that made use of the Theory, Characteristics, Context, Methods (TCCM) framework was followed by content analysis.

This study provides an overview of available literature on the AICX, develops a typology for classifying the identified AI-ETs, identifies gaps in literature and puts forward opportunities for future research under five key emerging themes: definition and dynamics; implementation; outcomes and measurement; consumer perspectives; and contextual lenses.

This study establishes a fresh perspective on the interplay between AI and CX, introducing the AICX as a novel form of the experience construct. It also presents the AI-ETs as an integrated and holistic unit capturing the full range of AI technologies. Remarkably, it represents a pioneering review exclusively concentrating on the customer-facing dimension of AI applications.

随着人工智能应用程序 (AI-ET)在旅途中的使用不断增加, 消费者体验 (CX)得以转变, 引入了全新的概念形式。 本文旨在探索有关人工智能客户体验（AICX）的现有学术研究, 从中找出文献中的空白以及该领域未来研究的机会。

本系统性文献综述（SLR）于2022 年 3 月开工。基于16 个不同的关键词组合, 本综述统共收录并分析了来自 5 个数据库98 篇文献, 采用理论-特征-背景-方法 (TCCM) 框架先后进行描述性分析和内容分析。

该研究概述了 AICX 的现有文献, 开发了对已识别的 AI-ET 进行分类的类型学, 确定了现有文献中的空白, 并在 5 个关键新兴主题下提出了未来研究的机会：1. 定义和动态, 2 . 实施, 3. 结果和衡量, 4. 消费者视角, 5. 情境视角。

本研究建立了全新的视角看待 AI 和 CX 之间的相互作用, 引入了 AICX 这种新颖的体验构造形式, 还将 AI-ET 展示为一个集成了全方位人工智能技术的整体单元。 值得一提的是, 本文代表了一项专门关注人工智能应用面向客户维度的开创性综述。

La creciente utilización de aplicaciones habilitadas por inteligencia artificial (AI-ET) a lo largo del recorrido del cliente han transformado la experiencia del cliente (CX), introduciendo formas totalmente nuevas del concepto. Este artículo pretende explorar la investigación académica existente sobre la experiencia del cliente a través de la IA (AICX), identificando las lagunas en la literatura y las oportunidades para futuras investigaciones en este ámbito.

En marzo de 2022 se llevó a cabo una revisión bibliográfica sistemática (SLR). Utilizando 16 combinaciones diferentes de palabras clave, se realizó una búsqueda bibliográfica en 5 bases de datos en las que se incluyeron y analizaron 98 artículos. El análisis descriptivo que hizo uso del marco Teoría, Características, Contexto, Métodos (TCCM) fue seguido del análisis de contenido.

El estudio ofrece una visión general de la bibliografía disponible sobre la AICX, desarrolla una tipología para clasificar las AICX detectadas, identifica lagunas en la literatura y plantea oportunidades para futuras investigaciones bajo cinco temas emergentes claves: 1. Definición y dinámica, 2. Implementación, 3. Resultados y medición, 4. Perspectivas del consumidor, 5. Lentes contextuales.

El estudio establece una nueva perspectiva sobre la interacción entre la IA y la CX, introduciendo la AICX como una forma novedosa del constructo experiencia. También presenta las AICX como una unidad integrada y holística que capta toda la gama de tecnologías de la IA. Notablemente, representa una revisión pionera que se concentra exclusivamente en la dimensión orientada al cliente de las aplicaciones de la IA.

The optimal level of customer participation is an important factor in service design. However, researchers know little about the impact of customer participation for their willingness to pay and hence organizations’ financial outcomes. This paper examines the impact of customer participation in a pay-what-you-want (PWYW) pricing system, allowing customers to pay any price they want for a product or service.

This paper reports the results of three experiments, in which the authors manipulated the level of customer participation (Study 1: Low versus high, Study 2: Medium versus high, Study 3: Low versus medium versus high) and measured customers' PWYW payments (Studies 1–3), customer satisfaction (Studies 1–3), perceived equity (Study 3) and perceived enjoyment (Study 3). Studies 1 and 3 were scenario-based experiments, while study 2 was a field experiment. Study 3 was preregistered.

The results support a direct effect of customer participation in service production on customer PWYW payments, yet only when comparing low to high levels of customer participation. High levels of customer participation lead to a decrease in perceived equity and an increase in perceived enjoyment, which in turn spilled over to customer PWYW payments through customer satisfaction.

This research provides causal evidence at the individual level of analysis for the relationship between customer participation in service production and financial results. The paper also provides insights into its underlying mechanisms.

This study examines whether different strategy archetypes deploy specific performance metrics to support their strategic goals and priorities. If so, does alignment of strategy and metrics positively impact organisational performance?

The conceptual framework and hypotheses are couched in Contingency Theory. The role of business strategy as a moderating variable is tested using MANOVA, followed by post hoc pairwise comparisons. The results are based on cross-sectional survey data from 372 manufacturing and service organisations in Italy.

The overall contingency effect of business strategy in selecting and deploying performance metrics and their effect on organisational performance is supported. However, the group-wise post hoc analyses show support only for Prospectors but not for Defenders and Analysers.

This research lends further support in favour of the Contingency Theory from a new geographic context (Italy) that there are no universally best performance metrics that drive organisational performance. However, more research is needed to understand why the theory only holds for certain strategic archetypes and not across all archetypes.

Managers can direct resources and effort towards designing and deploying the “right” type of performance metrics suitable for their strategic orientation and thus optimise organisational performance.

This is a rare study that tests the moderating role of business strategy using all four strategic archetypes of the Miles and Snow typology. It deploys both financial and non-financial measures and uses a very large sample of both manufacturing and service organisations from a relatively unexplored region of the world. The study provides additional evidence in favour of the Contingency Theory whilst advocating for more research to refine our understanding of why the contingency perspective is not so important for firms that are not the first-in.