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The domain of digital service not only includes digital service products made available for purchase but also the provision of digital customer service, such as customers seeking support on brands' social media channels. This type of digital customer service introduces new challenges not found in offline service recovery situations. This research highlights one such occurrence by investigating customer-to-customer (C2C) interactions during digital service recovery. In particular, dysfunctional dialog, such as online incivility (e.g. rude and insulting comments), directed at a complainant by a fellow customer is investigated.

Survey data from an online panel are utilized to test the hypothesized relationships between dysfunctional customer behavior (i.e. online incivility), C2C interactional justice, customer perceived service climate and three forms of experiential value using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).

The results show that customer perceptions of the firm's service climate are negatively affected by online incivility but only when such incivility produces C2C injustice. This outcome is notable due to the strong relationship found between customer perceived service climate and the following three forms of online experiential value: sociability, hedonic and pragmatic value. Thus, a weakened service climate subsequently leads to weakened experiential value for complainants.

The theoretical implications of two nascent constructs, C2C interactional justice and customer perceived service climate, are further developed with reference to digital customer service situations. In particular, given that prior research has focused on customer perceptions of service climate in core consumption situations of enjoyable face-to-face service experiences, it has only considered optimal or extremely positive service climate assessments in non-digital contexts. This study expands the understanding of the customer perceived service climate construct by examining the implications of a sub-optimal service climate in a digital customer service situation of an unenjoyable service experience. The limitations include a small sample size, the use of hypothetical scenarios and a failure situation limited to a single industry.

Managers who oversee social media channels or online communities must be prepared to act upon C2C online incivility. Deeming such communications as innocent online chatter not worthy of company intervention is a mistake, as the results of this study show that such inaction may lead to negative customer perceptions of the digital service environment and harm the customer experience.

This work develops a greater understanding of the importance of C2C interactional justice and customer perceived service climate in online customer service situations that prior research has yet to establish. In particular, previous studies have not investigated the negative effects of a situation that produces sub-optimal customer perceptions of a service climate.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of service authenticity, customer participation (CP) and customer-perceived service climate on customers' service evaluation within the context of smartphone repair services in South Korea. A conceptual model, including customer-perceived service climate, service authenticity, CP, service value and service satisfaction, was proposed and tested.

The authors test the research model using a structural equation modeling approach (Amos) based on a mobile survey of 430 South Korean consumers. The authors design the research based on causal relationships and collect the data using the convenience sampling method.

The authors found that the independent variables (customer-perceived service climate, service authenticity and CP) have a positive effect on service value as well as service satisfaction. Further, service value has a mediating effect on the relationships between the independent variables and service satisfaction.

This is the first study to examine the effects of smartphone repair service on customers' evaluation. As the number of smartphone users increases, the results obtained from this study will provide important managerial implications for service managers.

Prior studies have mainly attributed customer incivility to dispositional characteristics, whereas little attention has been paid to exploring service employees' role in triggering or reducing customer incivility. The purpose of the present study is to propose and test a model in which service employees' emotional labor strategies affect customer incivility via influencing customers' self-esteem threat, as well as examine the moderating role of customer's perception of service climate.

Based on a matched sample consisting of 317 employee-customer dyads in China, multiple regression analysis and indirect effect tests were employed to test our model.

The study shows that employee surface acting is positively related to customer incivility, whereas deep acting is negatively associated with customer incivility. Moreover, customer self-esteem threat mediates the relationship between both types of emotional labor and customer incivility. Customer perception of service climate moderates the relationship between deep acting and customer self-esteem threat.

The current research broadens the antecedents of customer incivility from the employee perspective and sheds more light on the role of customer self-esteem in the interactions between employees and customers. It also demonstrates a complementary relationship between service climate and individual employees' emotional labor strategies, thereby expanding the existing understanding of the management of employees' emotional labor.

Drawing on person–environment fit theory, this study aims to investigate how the relationships between service task types (i.e. utilitarian and hedonic service tasks) and perceived authenticity (i.e. service and brand authenticity) differ under different conditions of service providers (human employee vs service robot). This study further examines whether customers’ stereotypes toward service robots (competence vs warmth) moderate the relationship between service types and perceived authenticity.

Using a 2 × 2 between-subjects experimental design, Study 1 examines a casual restaurant, whereas Study 2 assesses a theme park restaurant. Analysis of covariance and PROCESS are used to analyze the data.

Both studies reveal that human service providers in hedonic services positively affect service and brand authenticity more than robotic employees. Additionally, the robot competence stereotype moderates the relationship between hedonic services, service and brand authenticity, whereas the robot warmth stereotype moderates the relationship between hedonic services and brand authenticity in Study 2.

Restaurant managers need to understand which functions and types of service outlets are best suited for service robots in different service contexts. Robot–environment fit should be considered when developers design and managers select robots for their restaurants.

This study blazes a new theoretical trail of service robot research to systematically propose customer experiences with different service types by drawing upon person–environment fit theory and examining the moderating role of customers’ stereotypes toward service robots.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of employee job satisfaction and affective commitment as perceived by customers on customer perceived value, more specifically its benefits dimensions.

A total of 652 panellists from a large Canadian polling firm self-administer a web-based questionnaire. To measure customer perceived value, a formative index is used which contributes to topical literature through a unique methodology. Hypotheses are tested using a structural equation model.

An analysis of the direct, indirect and total effects confirms the unique positive impact of employee job satisfaction and affective commitment, as perceived by customers, on the emotional, social, relationship and epistemic benefits, as well as on the formative index of customer perceived value.

Customer perceptions of employee attitudes (job satisfaction and affective commitment) represent a unique opportunity for banks to differentiate their value proposition in a hypercompetitive market.

This study is the first to consider customer perceptions of employee job satisfaction and affective commitment in relation to a formative index of customer perceived value and its related benefits dimensions.

This study aims to develop a comprehensive, theoretically grounded framework of customer-to-customer interaction (CCI) management, by revisiting three older services marketing models: the servuction model, the services marketing triangle and the services marketing pyramid.

Noting the lack of theoretical frameworks of CCI management, this study adopts a problematization approach to identify foundational services marketing models, question their underlying assumptions, develop an alternative conceptual framework and evaluate its adequacy for CCI management, on the basis of a systematic literature review and content analyses.

By revisiting the assumptions underlying three relevant models in the light of the present-day, technology-infused service environment, this study proposes a four-triangle CCI management framework encompassing four specific modes of CCI management: managerial decisions by the firm; frontline employees; the design of the physical environment; and technology. Furthermore, this study emphasizes the triadic relationships involving the focal customer, other customers and the four modes of CCI management. Building on these findings, this study concludes with an extensive research agenda.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study represents the first scholarly effort in services marketing literature to provide a comprehensive, theoretically grounded framework of CCI management. With its basis in foundational models, the new framework is well-suited to address future challenges to service marketplaces too.

To enhance their competitive advantage, firms are increasingly regarding customer-perceived value as a vital factor in advancing the level of service performance. This paper aims to explore how supermarket retailers select and implement market orientation (MO) and service innovation strategies to enhance customer-perceived value based on their investment.

A review of the related literature indicated that studies have rarely explored the meanings and outcomes of MO and service innovation. Therefore, this paper examined the roles of MO and service innovation, evaluating how these factors affected relationship quality and customer-perceived value in a supermarket context. Customer advocacy and customer participation were evaluated as the mediating variables, and six hypotheses were formulated. The data were collected by conducting a questionnaire survey of the customers from five of the largest Taiwanese supermarket retailers. A structural equation model was used to test the hypotheses based on the respondent sample data.

The results indicated that customer participation and relationship quality are positively related to customer-perceived value. Customer advocacy is positively related to customer participation and relationship quality. MO and service innovation are positively related to customer advocacy.

The high explanatory power of the results of the deduced model in this research help explain the MO and service innovation of supermarket retailers toward customers. However, the collection of data related to other retailers requires consumers in other countries to test the robustness of this theoretical model. The results of analyses conducted on other industries and in other countries may differ.

This paper investigated how the MO and service innovation capabilities of supermarket retailers contributed to their customer advocacy to achieve superior customer participation, customer relationship quality and customer-perceived value.

This paper investigates the effect of MO and service innovation on relationship quality and perceived value, and regards customer advocacy and customer participation as mediators.

Recent service studies suggest focusing on the service triad consisting of technology-customer-frontline employee (FLE). This study empirically investigates the role of service robots in this service triad, with the aim to understand the augmentation or substitution role of service robots in driving utilitarian and hedonic value and ultimately customer repatronage.

In study 1, field data are collected from customers (n = 108) who interacted with a service robot and FLE in a fast casual dining restaurant. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is used to test hypotheses about the impact of service robots' anthropomorphism, social presence, value perceptions and augmentation opportunities in the service triad. In study 2, empirical data from a scenario-based experimental design (n = 361) complement the field study by further scrutinizing the interplay between the service robot and FLEs within the service triad.

The study provides three important contributions. First, the authors provide empirical evidence for the interplay between different actors in the “customer-FLE-technology” service triad resulting in customer repatronage. Second, the empirical findings advance the service management literature by unraveling the relationship between anthropomorphism and social presence and their effect on perceived value in the service triad. And third, the study identifies utilitarian value of service robots as a driver of customer repatronage in fast casual dining restaurants.

The results help service managers, service robot engineers and designers, and policy makers to better understand the implications of anthropomorphism, and how the utilitarian value of service robots can offer the potential for augmentation or substitution roles in the service triad.

Building on existing conceptual and laboratory studies on service robots, this is one of the first field studies on the service triad consisting of service robots – customers – frontline employees. The empirical study on service triads provides evidence for the potential of FLEs to augment service robots that exhibit lower levels of functional performance to achieve customer repatronage. FLEs can do this by demonstrating a high willingness to help and having excellent interactions with customers. This finding advocates the joint service delivery by FLE – service robot teams in situations where service robot technology is not fully optimized.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the linkage between self‐managing team (SMT) member perceptions of collective efficacy and customer‐perceived service quality, and the most cost‐efficient way to reliably assess collective efficacy and customer‐perceived service quality, using generalizability theory (G‐theory).

Longitudinal design; employee and customer survey data from 52 teams of a major financial services institution were collected at two points in time.

First of all, results of OLS regression analysis show a positive effect of collective efficacy on customer‐perceived service quality. In addition, taking a G‐theory approach, the results indicate that collective efficacy possesses a higher psychometric quality than customer‐perceived service quality and that the costs of reliably comparing SMTs on collective efficacy are considerably lower compared to customer‐perceived service quality. Finally, for both constructs, the results reveal subtle but relevant differences in psychometric quality and costs of data collection across different types of service (routine versus non‐routine) settings.

To begin with, as a linkage construct, collective efficacy provides managers a mechanism for team intervention by means of task‐focused team building, role‐play exercises, and using feedback to increase service employee confidence. Secondly, when deciding to use survey data as one means to compare performance of organizational units, managers should first determine to what extent the distinct measurement design facets (e.g. items, persons, and occasions) account for variance in measures and sample correspondingly to save money on data collection. In doing so, they should explicitly take into account the type of service context and type of respondent.

This study identifies collective efficacy and customer‐perceived service quality as a set of service SMT performance measures that meaningfully connects employee and customer perceptions at the group level. Secondly, a G‐theory approach was used to assess the psychometric quality of these two measures and how data collection costs can be minimized to achieve a desired level of generalizability.

The purpose of this paper is to capture the richness of customer perceived value by determining its benefit and cost dimensions in a complex service setting. Perceived value is argued as equivalent to value-in-use; that is value that emerges for or is created by the customer.

A series of in-depth interviews was conducted with a diverse group of clients of financial planning services as well as with financial planners in Australia.

Six benefit and four cost dimensions of complex service are identified, namely expertise, education, motivation, support, relationship and convenience benefits, as well as monetary, time and effort, emotional and lifestyle costs. The results also indicate proposed outcomes of these dimensions, along with relevant moderators, leading to a broad conceptual framework for future empirical validation.

This study contributes to the sparse conceptual development of value perceptions, or value-in-use, in a complex service context. In particular, the authors identify the benefit and cost dimensions, specifically addressing aspects of value that are linked to the long-term relationship between provider and customer. The authors also develop a conceptual model of value, including both outcomes and situational moderators of the various value dimensions. Finally, the conceptualization of perceived value is discussed with respect to the value co-creation literature.