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The purpose of this paper is to explore the determinants of the need for reassurance, while emphasizing the role of perceived traceability.

Data were collected through individual interviews, and analyzed by thematic analysis.

Results showed that the traceability of modern foods is low perceived by the consumers. This indirectly influences the need for reassurance toward the modern foods by reducing the confidence in these products and strengthening the feeling about the risk associated to their consumption.

The major limits of this paper concern the development of the research model through the means of an exploratory study. This can affect the possibility to generalize results since the described hypotheses are not quantitatively validated. Another limit is concerned by the non-investigation of moderating factors, which can be the object of future researches.

This paper is one of the few efforts integrating the need for reassurance in a theoretical model of consumer behavior, and explaining its origins. This justifies the use of a qualitative methodology.

This paper reports the findings of the latest, quantitative phase of a continuing study that explores the impact of the internet on bank‐customer relationships. The specific aim is to shed light on customers' own views about when, how and in which circumstances personal contact with bank staff remains appropriate despite developments in online banking.

Building on key elements of the theoretical framework developed in earlier phases of the study and taking methodological leads in the academic literature, a questionnaire was constructed and delivered to 5,000 customers of one UK bank. The usable response rate was just less than ten per cent, delivering almost 500 sets of respondent data, which were analysed by multiple regression.

Motivating and inhibiting influences on interaction with bank staff are identified. Data analysis shows that the more complex the service product offerings, the more customers require reassurance about internet security and the impersonal and intangible nature of online transactions. At the highest level of complexity, they feel the need for “coaching” in the procedures of online banking by bank staff, face‐to‐face and perhaps even in the home.

While Stage I consisted of a small number of depth interviews with specialist managers in four countries, Stage II analysed a large number of questionnaire returns from customers of one bank in one country. There is obvious scope to enlarge both study settings and thereby improve the generalisability of findings and conclusions.

The implications for marketing planning and strategy development in the banking environment are discussed, including the possibility that a viable strategic option could be reduce the emphasis on online transactions in the particular case of higher net‐worth customers.

Adds to the body of knowledge about the rapidly developing phenomenon of remote banking transactions, especially the purchasing of financial services, facilitated by customer adoption of online banking (or “internet banking” or “e‐banking”).

Explains how marketers can reach 15 to 18 year olds by developing deeper understanding of this age group, especially their views on the consumer environment; the article is based on RDSi’s Youth2 research. Acknowledges that many marketers are insecure about this market because of its cynicism and constant need for new products. Summarises themes that emerge from youngsters’ descriptions of their world: life is portrayed as fast, exciting but challenging; the importance of profits can make life seem superficial, uniform and uncreative; America remains the dominant influence but Mediterranean styles are also valued; behavioural standards are much less set than in the past. Concludes that marketers have opportunities: to localise their appeal, provide reassurance, and move from appealing to selfishness to appeal more based on relationships ‐ but creative marketing is what counts most.

This secondary data analysis explores the unmet needs of adolescents experiencing maternal cancer in Ireland. Research has shown that one of the challenges adolescents deal with at the time of maternal cancer is having unmet needs that can impact negatively on their experience and their ability to cope through this difficult challenge.

Fifteen adolescents completed qualitative interviews as part of a larger study that explored the experience of adolescent adjustment to maternal cancer. The transcripts of these original interviews were analysed using a secondary content analysis underpinned by the categories included in the Offspring Cancer Needs Instrument (Patterson et al., 2013).

The findings of this study suggest a necessity to individually explore the unmet needs of adolescents as these were not uniform even within a small sample of 15 adolescents. Unmet needs change and evolve over time as does maternal illness. Adolescents themselves identified the need for more education in the general public and in clinical practitioners on how to respond appropriately to their needs. It is crucial that adolescent's needs and emotions are validated at the time as part of the support provided for them.

This study provides important recommendations for practice and policy on how to provide tailored supports for adolescent who experience cancer in their families as currently there is a lack of effective and evidence-based targeted supports for this specific age group.

Purchasing behaviour across traditional retail and internet routes to market is becoming increasingly integrated. The positive and negative consequences of such behaviour for multi‐channel businesses have not been thoroughly examined – while an offline retail presence may reassure customers purchasing from an online channel, poor service online may negatively influence customer usage of an offline channel. This paper aims to address this issue.

A questionnaire survey of the online customers of four companies is employed and structural equation modelling used to investigate influences of demographic and behavioural variables (purchase involvement, loyalty, experience with the internet, company and product‐type) on positive and negative cross‐channel behaviour (CCB).

Strong evidence for both positive and negative customer CCB is found. Females, higher purchase involvement, higher loyalty and those with more experience of the company were more likely to display positive CCB; higher education, experience with the product type and online channel negatively influenced positive CCB. Increased age, education, occupation/class and purchase involvement lead to more negative CCB; product and company experience lead to reduced levels of negative CCB.

As a first step towards understanding of customer CCB the research generates many insights; however, more research is required to explore in more depth each of the constructs discussed and measured.

Understanding how different customer groups display different tendencies for CCB can help companies shape fulfilment and delivery strategies across different channels to market.

The study makes contributions to customer cross‐channel customer behaviour, developing implications for future research as well as management practice.

This paper aims to identify the opportunities in the service marketplace that have arisen because of the changes brought about by the global pandemic (COVID-19).

A conceptual methodological approach is used to analyze trends in the history of service research and discuss how articles presented in this issue help scholars and practitioners with planning for opportunities and confronting challenges in the new (post COVID-19) service marketplace.

This special issue puts forth six viewpoints and seven research articles that outline opportunities in the new service marketplace from regional and global perspectives. Further, the research articles presented in this issue identify four opportunities for managers to consider when designing services in the new service marketplace; these are labeled as reassurance and fear reduction, rethinking physical space and supply chains for multichannel service delivery, the rise of local and community importance and resilience building to combat customer discourtesy.

Managers can understand how the pandemic has profoundly and permanently impacted consumers’ perceptions and expectations for service delivery and processes.

This work presents scholars with a historical overview of trends in service research. The challenges posed by the pandemic represent the beginning of a new era in service research thought and practice as many previously held theories and understandings of consumers’ marketplace behaviors have permanently changed because of behavioral changes that transpired during governmental mandated lockdowns.

This paper aims to explore the role of observable product characteristics and label wording in consumers' valuations for credence goods, products for which key characteristics may not be fully evaluated even after purchase. The objective is to draw conclusions with relevance to pricing policy.

Hedonic price equations are estimated for a dietary supplement called black cohosh, taken by women for relief from menopausal symptoms.

Consumers respond in expected ways to label words that directly indicate product characteristics: for example, paying more for a product labeled as suitable for vegetarians. But surprising results occur for some nonspecific label words (e.g. “guaranteed” is associated with lower prices), suggesting that consumers view these words as indirect signals with respect to unobservable qualities. Additionally, consumers pay more for packages containing more units (e.g. tablets) even when the time supply of product is held constant; this outcome is consistent with the notion that sheer quantity reassures consumers about value and could indicate a reaction to uncertainty in the overall value proposition.

The study relies on list prices in place of transacted prices, so consumers' true valuations may not be reflected with complete accuracy. The study should be repeated in the future using scanner data on actual product transactions.

The indirect signals transmitted by label words and other observable attributes play a key role in consumers' valuations for credence goods, and so are highly relevant to pricing strategy.

Previous studies have considered willingness‐to‐pay for label‐indicated credence qualities, but have not looked at the role of indirect signals/indicators.

This paper aims to focus on a number of unexpected disclosures by major Australian banks, to highlight the subjectivity of financial reports and their failure to present an accurate portrayal of the underlying realities, and to propose that corporate governance disclosures are required to provide reassurance that financial reports are trustworthy.

Mouck's institutional framework of financial regulation portrays financial reporting as a “game” played within a set of rules. It provides insights about the subjectivity of financial reports which are illustrated with archival evidence from banks' reports and activities.

The banks' financial reports were shown, in the light of later revelations, to portray an unrealistic view of their operations. Disclosures about corporate governance practices play a strong legitimising role, enhancing perceptions that financial reports correspond with organisational realities.

This study considers a narrow population of companies within one industry. By extending the focus, greater evidence could be provided that accounting standards and financial reporting requirements have lost their connection with business practices.

In spite of financial reporting reforms, financial reports are becoming less reflective of companies' activities and performance. This questions the usefulness of accounting standards, and the effectiveness of regulatory systems. Future reforms to accounting standards need to address these issues.

The paper demonstrates the contention that the financial reports of several Australian banks fail to match the realities that lie beneath is really a broader challenge to the usefulness and credibility of Australia's system of financial reporting and regulation.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the workflows and norms of scientific researchers in their use of source and output repositories and to design functional links between them that will enhance the value of research data.

The paper reports on the key findings from a survey of seven scientific disciplines, with analysis of data from an online questionnaire and a series of structured interviews, conducted with a representative cohort of researchers.

The paper finds that significant support was expressed for the provision of bi‐directional links between source and output repositories, tempered by a limited knowledge of repositories among the survey constituency and the need for reassurance on measures for the protection of data ownership. Diversity in the application of good data management practice is marked both between and within each of the disciplines surveyed, with solutions adopted characterised by a culture of self‐sufficiency and the use of repositories driven by practical research requirements. Common areas for improvement have been recognised across the disciplines, notably in the processes described for the assignment of metadata, and opportunities for expert assistance in data management were identified.

Having identified the specificity of requirements and levels of understanding within individual disciplines, further research would benefit the design and alignment of repository and information services.

Observations of researcher attitudes and behaviours provide clues to future service provision, and to the principal functions of data repositories. Evidence for the potential realignment of institutional information services is also provided.

This paper presents a candid description of the challenges facing data managers, curators and information service providers.