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A small group of pioneering founders led the creation and early evolution of the service research field. Decades later, this article shares timeless service wisdom from ten of those pioneering founders.

Bowen and Fisk specified three criteria by which to identify a pioneering founder. In total, 11 founders met the criteria (Bateson, Berry, Bitner, Brown, Chase, Edvardsson, Grönroos, Gummesson, Parasuraman, Schneider and Zeithaml) and were invited to join Bowen and Fisk – founders that also met the criteria as coauthors. Ten founders then answered a set of questions regarding their careers as service scholars and the state of the field.

Insightful reflections were provided by each of the ten pioneering founders. In addition, based on their synthesis of the reflections, Bowen and Fisk developed nine wisdom themes for service researchers to consider and to possibly act upon.

The service research field is in its fifth decade. This article offers a unique way to learn directly from the pioneering founders about the still-relevant history of the field, the founders' lives and contributions as service scholars and the founders' hopes and concerns for the service research field.

This research aims to focus on the impact of the metaverse on services marketing. After reviewing the past, current and anticipated future of the metaverse, the authors offer multiple research opportunities in accordance with theories germane to the services literature.

The current research uses a conceptual approach focused on key service theories and their relevance in the metaverse.

The metaverse presents a new paradigm of the customer experience, thus providing an opportunity for service researchers to advance this developing field. Further, the potential shortcomings of existing theory are explored, both within and external to services, to discover important areas for service scholars to examine. This results in research opportunities and questions for scholars to pursue as the metaverse continues to develop and shape consumer experiences.

Technological advancements have enabled the service sector to grow and thrive in the metaverse. It is evident that despite the metaverse’s growth, there remains a tremendous amount left to examine. Existing theories need to be reexamined and modified, or alternative theories reviewed to inform service research on the metaverse. Thus, the present research seeks to provide insight into opportunities for theory development by service researchers and identifies important areas of future scholarly work on the metaverse.

The aim of this commentary is to encourage service researchers to reflect on the state of the field as it pertains to the academia–industry intersection. The author puts forth a call to action to continue the work of the field’s founders in developing the foundations of the field and to carry the models and frameworks of the field deeper into industry practice.

Personal reflections and in-depth interviews.

The services discipline is based on foundational theories, models and frameworks developed, in part, as a response to needs expressed by industry. The development of these frameworks has not progressed to the level and format needed by industry, and the field is increasingly operating in silos. Resultantly, the services marketing domain has not developed its foundations to the level of depth needed to answer the call for “assistance” made by Shostack (1977).

The author encourages researchers to build a next set of paradigmatic foundations that broaden the field as a truly interdisciplinary endeavor and deepen its impact in industry. To accomplish these goals, it will be necessary to question original theoretical frameworks and show situations in which they require modification.

This work suggests that researchers may be overemphasizing the silo aspects of the field and underestimating the lack of completeness of the service science field.