Transformative service research and service dominant logic: Quo Vaditis? (original) (raw)

Conceptualisation and Aspirations of Transformative Service Research

jrconsumers.com

This article conceptualises transformative service research and encourages service researchers to engage in research activities that promote human well-being. The authors advance a new research agenda that, unlike traditional service research, treats outcomes related to consumer well-being, including quality of life issues, as important, managerially relevant, and worthy of study. Both (i) services/service systems that already possess transformational qualities through their inherent design and are intended to enhance wellbeing (but in actuality may not do so) and (ii) other services/service systems that do not focus on transformational qualities but could enhance or unintentionally hurt well-being are worthy of additional research and study. Although transformative service research may be challenging, we argue that both consumers and the organizations that serve them may benefit from research that examines how services can and do improve or reduce the welfare of individuals, communities, nations, and the global ecosystem.

Transformative Service Research: An Agenda for the Future

Journal of Business Reseach

This article conceptualizes and presents a research agenda for the emerging area of transformative service research, which lies at the intersection of service research and transformative consumer research and focuses on well-being outcomes related to service and services. A conceptual framework provides a big-picture view of how the interaction between service entities (e.g., individual service employees, service processes or offerings, organizations) and consumer entities (e.g., individuals, collectives such as families or communities, the ecosystem) influences the well-being outcomes of both. Research questions derived from the framework in the context of financial services, health care, and social services help catalyze new research in the transformative service research domain.

Transformative service research: a conceptual framework based on consumer's perspective

International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 2021

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the consumer's perspective regarding the relationship between services and well-being, contributing to the knowledge base in transformative service research (TSR). More specifically the aim was to understand consumers' perceptions of the relationship between services and well-being and their views about how companies can contribute (directly and/or indirectly) to achieve the well-being.Design/methodology/approachTo reach the research aim, the study adopts an explorative inductive design, carried out through a qualitative approach and grounded in 30 in-depth interviews with consumers.FindingsService sustainability represents the fundamental characteristic that determines the service ability to be transformative, requiring the implementation of the triple bottom line dimensions: social, environmental and economic. It emerged that, in the consumer's mind, the service categories that present a stronger relationship between service and we...

Transformative Service: Leveraging Future Progresses through an Inclusive Approach

2016

This paper adds to the research agenda for the emerging area of transformative service research (TSR), by discussing the contemporary contribution of TSR, infuse a ́Life course perspective ́ on TSR, and present an inclusive co-transformative service framework. With this framework and a focus on well-being outcomes, processes and initiatives, this paper also identifies new research paths for further theory development. Based on the redefined TSR concept, it is suggested that more research efforts are allocated to explore how to initiate, and stage for co-created transformative service processes on individual, organizational and society level, and to identify resources needed to bring uplifting changes and improvements in the wellbeing of active consumers, engaged organizations and society at large.

Intentionality and Transformative Services: Well-being Co-creation and Spill-over Effects

Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 2020

In recent years, the service discipline has seen the emergence of a number of novel conceptual approaches, one in particular, called Transformative Service Research (TSR) focuses on wellbeing improvement and relieving suffering through service. However, service related wellbeing efforts can have both intended but also unintended consequences when aiming at co-creating value with individuals, communities or society at large. Nevertheless, academic debate lacks clarity regarding the effects of the directedness of service exchange and the outcome of transformative service in regard to but also beyond the focal actors involved. Directedness of service co-creation is closely related to the construct of intentionality. This conceptual paper aims to untangle this pivotal construct to comprehend actors’ co-creative intended wellbeing efforts to alleviate suffering for other actors but also pays attention to potential unintended side effects. The paper synthesizes literature from philosophy and psychology relating to the construct of intentionality and applies it to wellbeing co-creation and co-destruction. Illustrative scenarios are used to support the line of arguments. The paper demonstrates how applying the literature on intentionality to transformative service contexts can assist in bringing greater transparency to the discussion of the directedness of service and related potential spill-over effects. When designing transformative services to improve wellbeing, service providers are urged to develop an awareness regarding their services and potential side effects. Likewise, policymakers responsible for devising, revising and (re-)implementing healthcare and social policies should consider such potential spill-over effects when formulating public policy guidelines. Equally, service scholars should integrate the construct of intentionality in any discussion of service-to-service exchange. This paper is amongst the first to draw on the concept of intentionality and introduces it to service research in the context of wellbeing co-creation.

Toward a conceptual foundation for service science: Contributions from service-dominant logic

Advancing service science requires a service-centered conceptual foundation. Toward this goal, we suggest that an emerging logic of value creation and exchange called service-dominant logic is a more robust framework for service science than the traditional goods-dominant logic. The primary tenets of service-dominant logic are: (1) the conceptualization of service as a process, rather than a unit of output; (2) a focus on dynamic resources, such as knowledge and skills, rather than static resources, such as natural resources; and (3) an understanding of value as a collaborative process between providers and customers, rather than what producers create and subsequently deliver to customers. These tenets are explored and a foundational lexicon for service science is suggested.