Service marketing and public management studies have progressively recognised value as a key research priority (Ostrom et al., 2015). This concept has received increased attention in the context of healthcare, with a focus on value creation practices, styles and the interaction between customers and service providers (McColl-Kennedy et al., 2012; Hardyman, 2014). Given the accelerated development of the digitalised healthcare, it is important to understand the value emerging from the customers’ experience with wearable technology, particularly in the context of chronic illnesses, such as Type 1 Diabetes (T1D). This project focusses on the lived experience of wearable diabetes technology (WDT) such as insulin pumps and blood glucose monitors for adolescents with T1D and caregivers. It seeks to clarify the role of WDT for value creation and how these digital resources become integrated within the customer’s life. This study draws from theories including Service Dominant Logic, Service Logic and Public Service Logic (Vargo and Lusch, 2004; Grönroos, 2008; Osborne, 2017). It aims to make an empirical contribution, by adopting a phenomenological approach into the dynamic, subjective, and socially constructed nature of customer experience. This inductive strategy unravels the phenomenon of WDT within the intricate lifeworld of the participants (Helkkula et al., 2012).

In addition, this project strives to promote the voice of adolescents in research and commenced with an Advisory Phase with 12 adolescents and caregivers (Kirby, 2014). They shared valuable insights regarding topic relevance and research materials to inform the main study. For example, adolescents suggested the use of diaries as an additional data collection tool. The Advisory Phase also identified the scope for a better understanding of the heterogenous experience of WDT with regards to aspects such as driving, access to WDT and the day to day experience with the technology in different contexts and at different times. The main study included 24 semi-structured online interviews and 6 diaries collected from adolescents with T1D and caregivers. The study adopts van Manen’s (1990) phenomenological approach for the data analysis. It maintains a strong focus on the phenomenon of WDT and employs existential concepts such as temporality, sociality, spatiality and embodiment in order to illuminate the participants’ situated realities (van Manen, 2016). Initial findings suggest that value emerges organically from their lived experience with WDT and is contingent on people, time, and places. For instance, an emerging theme identifies school as a space imbued with rules and regulations that often restrict adolescents from performing treatment activities using their technology.

This research has implications for service stakeholders, policy, and practice. Without a clear understanding of the integration of WDT within the customer’s sphere of value creation from the multifaceted, individual lived experience, service providers may bypass opportunities to personalise service offerings and improve the lives of those affected. Research on this topic can also contribute to enhancing understanding of adolescents’ value creation in the context of Type 1 Diabetes.
References available upon request.

Rethinking Consumer Acculturation, Privilege and Oppression in transformative service research

Phenomenon, Research Questions, Contribution
Few countries are ethnically homogeneous, and mass migration has rapidly contributed to the development of multi-cultural societies in many Western States (Demangeot et a., 2015). A plethora of studies have examined acculturation and built on John Berry’s initial acculturation framework– (Davis et al., 2017; Kizgin et al., 2018). However, how consumers ‘re-acculturate’ (i.e. the grounds to engage and attach new or extended identity positions to their own cultural heritage) are still poorly understood.

The paper aims to better understand the interplay between acculturation and re-acculturation agents and how consumers oscillate between different identity positions and also how concepts of privilege and oppression manifest within their re-acculturation journey. Veresiu and Giesler (2018) identify four consumer socialization strategies; namely ‘envisioning’, ‘exemplifying’, ‘equipping’ and ‘embodying’.
The paper contributes to current transformative service research debates on designing inclusive services. We build on Veresiu and Giesler’s (2018) work via the emergence of fifth strategy; that of ‘emancipation’.

Theoretical Foundations
We anchor our work within acculturation theory and concepts of privilege and oppression. Privilege is any advantage that is unearned, exclusive and bestowed upon an individual (Johnson, 2006). A problem with privilege is that like acculturation theory, it loads a sense of bias and the pendulum of ‘unearned privileges’ goes against the minority, who subsequently feel oppressed. At the nexus of discussions surrounding equal access to services is the premise that it should be available and accessible to everyone.

Methodology
Semi-structured interviews were carried out with twenty-five inpatient participants from a large Medical center (based in New York) which provides patient care services to a multi-ethnic (predominantly immigrants). The MedSurg (medical/surgical) unit was selected as this unit cares for patients undergoing major surgical procedures and patients hospitalized for illnesses, diseases and injuries. An adaptation of the seven point Touchpoint Trajectory Technique (TTT), developed by Sudbury-Riley et al. (2020) (a methodology for mapping out the consumer journey which has previously applied within palliative and end-of-life care environments) was used.

Findings, discussion & conclusion
The medical center is not just a site for receiving care but also one for identity negotiation that does not follow a linear progression of acculturation as some previous studies have denoted (Davis et al., 2017; Kizgin et al., 2018). Rather, concepts of privilege and oppression have shown to influence the iterative nature of acculturation and re-acculturation. This paper therefore contributes to the existing acculturation debate on providing more inclusive services which is firmly championed by transformative service research. We also extend Veresiu and Giesler’s (2018) identification of four consumer socialization strategies by recognizing a fifth strategy; emancipation. Emancipation subsumes positive service experiences where consumers feel a sense of liberation and are devoid of contemporary worries. Examples included experiencing local ethnic cuisine, similar ethnic doctors to the participants, being viewed as a patient and not as ‘the other’ and having amenities to support collectivist cultural closeness (e.g. having friends and family in the same room).

CUSTOMER (DIS)SIMILARITY EXPLORED

Introduction to research problem

The customer-to-customer interaction (CCI) literature now addresses a broad range of topics (Heinonen et al. 2018). One significant literature strand examines the influence of customer (dis)similarity on the CCI experience. The current paper examines this literature and questions its apparent strong emphasis on the desirability of C2C similarity. It argues that customer dissimilarity may promote human well-being and thus contributes conceptual to our understanding of Transformative Service Research (TSR).

Proposed theoretical framework/concepts

Existing research that has set out to investigate customer (dis)similarity seems to confirm the desirability of customer similarity and the negative aspects of dissimilarity. Moreover, often such research recommends a managerial strategy of separating customers who are dissimilar. There are two problems with this. First, customer separation, whether physical or sequential, is often not possible. Second, customer separation is not necessarily desirable or even ethical, and is at variance with the appreciation of diversity. The rise of the TSR perspective on services emphasises the value of service inclusivity (Fisk et al. 2018) and customer separation approaches to dissimilarity seem incongruous with this.

The purpose of this study is:

To explore how the various dimensions of customer (dis)similarity are enumerated in the extant literature.

To evaluate the ways that customer (dis)similarity can influence a customer’s service experience.

Methodology

The study employs an integrative literature review approach to identify themes relating to customer (dis)similarity. An extensive literature search is being conducted. This includes (1) searching key terms (e.g., ‘customer-to-customer interaction’ + ‘similarity’) in Google Scholar; (2) reviewing article titles and abstracts in key journals; (3) ‘pearling’; and (4) accessing expert knowledge. The literature search was particularly informed by Snyder (2019) and Torraco (2016).

Findings

An initial classification of types of customer dissimilarity influencing CCI is provided. Service contexts that reduce the relevance of customer similarity are identified. Moreover, customer dissimilarity is shown to be a potential source of value in certain contexts. Taken together the findings challenge the customer similarity paradigm and shows the benefit of a TSR-informed view of (dis)similarity.

Discussion and implications

This paper responds to the need to better understand how customer (dis)similarity can influence CCI in physical service settings. This study provides four contributions. First, it advances the body of knowledge on customer (dis)similarity by organising this literature into clear themes. Second, it reveals a significant amount of literature that, whilst not identifying itself as being on CCI, concerns C2C (dis)similarity in service settings. Third, it proposes a more balanced view of the influence of customer (dis)similarity on the service experience. Fourth, this study contributes to the conceptual development of TSR by challenging a paradigm that seems at odds with the human well-being associated with the value of inclusivity. Furthermore, it highlights organisations that seek to add value by embracing dissimilar and often excluded or underserved customer groups. It also potentially contributes to our understanding of employee well-being (Alkire et al. 2020), given that employee stress can accompany triadic NCCI conflict resolution (Nicholls & Gad Mohsen 2019).

References removed

In the social sciences, there has been a substantial amount of research on generosity. A stream of research has been focused on questions such as: who is generous and how much, which may be useful for fundraisers and policymakers (Srnka, Grohs and Eckler, 2003). Yet, others concentrated on the generosity virtue at the individual level, mainly exploring why individuals are generous (Tsiotsou, 2004) and what the implications for non-profits are. In order to address the latter issue, several researchers used economic theories (Vesterlund, 2006), marketing approaches (Sargeant and Woodliffe, 2007, Tsiotsou, 2006), and social psychology perspectives (Sharp and Randhawa, 2014). However, there is a great deal of variation among researchers in terms of the topics they pursue, the theoretical views they adopt, the context of studies, and their disciplinary approaches. Despite the growing interest in generosity, academic research has made no systematic attempt to map and structure existing research recently. A thorough overview of this fragmented and multi-disciplinary area of research is required to enrich scholarly understanding of the concept (Bekkers and Wiepking, 2007; Collett and Morrissey, 2007). Given this void of knowledge and increasing research interest in the topic, the study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the literature as well as critically examine and synthesize prior studies in order to strengthen the foundation of knowledge on generosity. This paper engages in a systematic process of identifying, analyzing, and synthesizing discrete streams in the literature to establish the theoretical underpinnings of generosity. To accomplish the purpose of the study, we employed a number of steps. First, we applied the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol that assisted us in identifying 113 relevant articles. Then, we used bibliometric analysis to examine how generosity is conceptualized and its aspects. To this end, we identify key conceptualizations of generosity and categorize them based on the discipline and the level of analysis. Then, we synthesize the research findings to gain an understanding of the various aspects of the concept and identify research gaps. We conclude by providing future research recommendations.

References
Dwidienawati, D., & Abdinagoro, S. B. (2018). Generosity’s antecedents and outcomes-A proposed relationship between Generosity and Intention in Indonesia’s BPJS Kesehatan. Journal of Business and Retail Management Research, 12(2).‏
Lynn, M. (2015) ‘Explanations of service gratuities and tipping: Evidence from individual differences in tipping motivations and tendencies’, Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics. 55, pp. 65–71. doi: 10.1016/j.socec.2015.01.002.
Sargeant, A., & Woodliffe, L. (2007). Gift giving: An interdisciplinary review. International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, 12(4), 275-307.‏ ‏
Tsiotsou, R. (2006). Investigating differences between female and male athletic donors: A comparative study. International Journal of Nonprofit & Voluntary Sector Marketing, 11(3), pp.209-223.
Vesterlund, L., & Sonnevi, G. (2006). 24. Why Do People Give?. In The nonprofit sector (pp. 568-588). Yale University Press..‏
Zhang, K., Cai, F., & Shi, Z. (2021). Do Promotions Make Consumers More Generous? The Impact of Price Promotions on Consumers' Donation Behavior. Journal of Marketing, 85(3).‏