Holger Roschk

Journal of Service Research 28(3) p. 469-487 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/10946705241307681

This research offers insights into the efficacy of gamification in a failure-recovery context, that is, providing recovery through a gamified experience. Using one field study and three online experiments across different contexts (i.e., retail, restaurant, gym, and hotel), we show that a gamified recovery (i.e., compensation offered through a spin-the-wheel game) can have a positive effect on recovery satisfaction. This effect is mediated by the perceived enjoyment of the game and is moderated by customer choice, failure severity, compensation level, and time pressure. Specifically, we find that gamification has a positive recovery effect when customers are offered a choice, when the failure is mild, when customers receive full compensation or overcompensation (i.e., when they experience a sense of winning), and when they do not face time pressure. However, gamification can backfire and have a negative effect when a failure is severe, when customers receive only partial compensation (i.e., when they experience a sense of loss), and when they face time pressure. Finally, a single-paper meta-analysis provides aggregated evidence of these effects. For managers, our findings provide initial evidence of the usefulness of this recovery strategy and explain how it should be implemented.

Journal of Marketing 90(2) p. 1-26 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/00222429251344139

This meta-analysis examines when three types of automated agents (AAs)—robots, chatbots, and algorithms—are equivalent to human agents (HAs) in marketing roles. An analysis of 943 effect sizes from 327 studies provides novel insights. First, customers may be skeptical of AAs; however, they value their performance and eventually choose or buy from them as if they were interacting with HAs. Second, each of the three AA types has a unique set of contingencies that affect its human equivalence; previously identified contingencies do not generalize and can even have opposing effects across AA types. This study also identifies novel contingencies, such as the multifaceted concept of artificial intelligence required to fulfill a task. Third, some contingencies make AAs more humanlike, while others make their machine characteristics salient. These findings enrich the concept of automated social presence (ASP), suggesting that AAs are hybrid beings with a social presence (i.e., the feeling of interacting with a humanlike entity) and an automated presence (i.e., the feeling of interacting with a machine entity). The authors provide recommendations on when AAs can replace HAs in marketing roles to release capacity and alleviate labor shortages. They also suggest a future research agenda.

Emac Conference 2024

Emac Conference 2024

13th AMA SERVSIG Conference

Frontiers in Service Conference 2023

18th International Research Symposium On Service Excellence in Management (QUIS18)

Frontiers in Service Conference 2023

International Marketing Review 40(5) p. 1112-1133 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/imr-12-2021-0368

Purpose Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, one dark social-media phenomenon in particular has experienced a significant rise: consumer-to-consumer (C2C) conflicts, i.e. consumers who verbally attack each other in response to COVID-19 service failures. The aim of this paper is to uncover the sources of such conflicts and to gain an insight into the corresponding conflict moderation strategies that international brands adopt. Design/methodology/approach The methodology consists of non-participatory netnographic observations of 13 national, international, and global online brand communities (OBCs) on Facebook. The authors use purposeful sampling to collect relevant data on conflict sources and brand moderation strategies during COVID-19 service failures and a hybrid approach to thematic analysis to derive distinct themes from these data. Findings The paper identifies five C2C conflict sources: brand attack, brand dissatisfaction, brand skepticism, brand contention and brand defense; these are then classified as having either an individualistic (self-oriented) or collectivistic (other-oriented) orientation. The authors also uncover several moderation strategies: non-engaging, automated, bolstering, asserting (direct, indirect) and informing (factual, empathetic, apologetic), which are broadly categorized into two levels based on their passive vs active approach and authoritative vs cooperative orientation. The paper further highlights that brands adapt their moderation strategies to specific sources of C2C conflicts, thereby producing a range of OBC outcomes. Practical implications The study's empirically informed framework comprising sources of undesirable conflicts and brand moderation strategies offers a practical tool that can aid marketing managers in nurturing civil C2C engagement and interactive behaviors in their OBCs. By adopting our framework, brand and marketing practitioners can tailor their communication strategies toward different sources of C2C conflict and minimize their adverse consequences, thus, fostering an overall constructive OBC engagement. Originality/value The authors offer a novel framework to international marketing research, consisting of C2C conflict sources and corresponding moderation strategies that take place in response to service failures during the COVID-19 pandemic. These insights, in turn, inform international marketers about new ways of transforming the dark side of OBCs into a source of competitive advantage based on real-world brand practice.

Journal of Service Research 26(4) p. 613-635 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/10946705231163884

The social nature of customer experiences creates complex and potentially detrimental dynamics in failure situations, such as when other customers side with the complainer or the firm. The present research is the first to analyze such coalitions and their consequences. We conceptualize a triad composed of a complainer, a service employee, and one or multiple others as a third actor. A field study of consumer complaints on social media shows that coalitions occur in 32% of cases, negatively shifting the affective tone of an online conversation from approximately neutral to negative. Both third actor–complainer and third actor–service employee coalitions independently deteriorate the affective tone, their individual effects are not additive, and the third actor–complainer coalition exerts the larger impact of both coalitions. Two experiments reveal that complainers feel betrayed by the third actor when this actor sides with the service employee (vs. the complainer), which strengthens complainers’ satisfaction with taking steps as a recovery effort by the firm and weakens satisfaction with an offered apology. This research provides managerial insights into the practical significance of coalition effects, how coalitions impair firm response effectiveness, and under which conditions different responses sustain their effectiveness. It also presents several avenues for future research.

12th AMA SERVSIG Conference 2022

Journal of Travel Research 61(8) p. 1808-1827 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/00472875211044221

Intentional service failures (e.g., overbooking or overcharging) have received little scholarly attention, despite their regular occurrence and immense costs. Using a multi-method approach combining experimental and field data from online reviews, it was found that intentional (vs. unintentional) failures lead to greater negative word of mouth (nWOM) and patronage reduction. This research extends these findings by demonstrating that intentional failures are less harmful when the failure is reversible (vs. irreversible) and occurs at an employee (vs. firm) level. Further, while either psychological (e.g., apology) or monetary compensation is effective in mitigating the consequences of intentional failures at an employee level, a combined service recovery (psychological and monetary) is the best solution when the failure is at a firm level. Drawing on attribution theory, the article unveils the key role of trust (as opposed to justice) as the mechanism to explain the effects of intentionality on customers’ nWOM and patronage reduction.

ANZMAC Conference 2021: Something Different Doi: https://hdl.handle.net/11343/297492

ANZMAC Conference 2021: Something Different Doi: https://hdl.handle.net/11343/297492

Künstliche Intelligenz im Dienstleistungsmanagement : Forum Dienstleistungsmanagement p. 213-232 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-34326-2_8

The Information Society 38(1) p. 1-12 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/01972243.2021.1981507

In this article we offer the first survey-based study on the motivations that spur consumers to bully others about the brands they support on social media, a phenomenon we term “Consumer Brand-Cyberbullying” (CBC). Analyzing data from 1,203 participants of online brand communities, we find that consumers who seek to be popular and attractive are more likely to engage in CBC, while those who seek to affiliate with close others and help the community are less likely to do so. Consumers who identify with and are loyal to a particular brand are more likely to engage in CBC. Taken together, our study moves us toward a systematic analysis of the relationship between brands and cyberbullying on social media.

Journal of Travel Research 61(4) p. 903-920 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/00472875211004768

As intangible experiences are crucial for approach tendencies toward a destination, this research proposes the CI-MI-R framework linking cognitive image (CI) to response (R) via mental imagery (MI). Cosmopolitanism, escapism, and cognitive thinking style are examined as moderators in the relationship between cognitive image and mental imagery. Two studies from USA and Germany confirmed the role of mental imagery as a mediator between cognitive image and tourist response. The three segmentation-based moderators decrease the strength of the link between cognitive image and mental imagery, suggesting that targeting tourists, who are low (high) in cosmopolitanism, escapism, and cognitive thinking style, with cognitive images will be more (less) effective in increasing their mental imagery of the destination and subsequently approach responses.

Frontiers in Service Conference 2020

Automatisierung und Personalisierung von Dienstleistungen p. 473-496 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-30168-2_19

The COVID19 pandemic further emphasizes the need for automation in education by leveraging online learning digital innovations. Strategic, tactical and operational consideration must become part of the educational fabric, institutional culture, and online technologies innovations. This alignment between strategy and operations cannot be done without automation since many knowledge assets must be managed just-in-time. In this chapter, we elaborate on ‘automation in education’ by first defining its meaning (as treated herein), then we demonstrate its transformative power, followed by a discussion on its purpose, which ultimately is knowledge processing and management. Design and pedagogical considerations are then proposed and elaborated.

Journal of Marketing 84(1) p. 125-145 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0022242919881137

To prevail in the fierce competition of in-store experiences, some firms have focused on providing pleasant ambient scents. However, equivocal results on scent effects make generalizations and managerial guidance uncertain. While efforts to consolidate research findings have been conducted, a comprehensive quantitative integration is notably lacking. In this meta-analysis, the authors integrate 671 available effects from ambient scent experiments and show that exposure to pleasant ambient scents on average produces a substantial increase in the level of customer responses (3%–15%). The effects of ambient scent depend on situational contingencies and are, for example, positively related to congruency, unidimensional aroma structure, ascribed familiarity of a scent, service exchange, proportion of female participants in the sample, and imagined (vs. fictitious) offering. Thus, the authors estimate expenditures would increase by 3% and 23% for an average and a most favorable condition, respectively. The authors also examine effect patterns, identifying, for example, ambient scent as more cognitive than affective and nonlinear effects of perceived concentration. Using the insights, they develop a research agenda and provide clear strategic guidance to leverage ambient scent effects.

Frontiers in Service Conference 2019

Kooperative Dienstleistungen : Spannungsfelder zwischen Service Cooperation und Service Coopetition p. 113-129 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-26389-8_6

Little research attention has been devoted to bottom of the pyramid consumers. This is surprising as services marketing may contribute to a society’s development. One approach aimed at improving the life situation of the impoverished is urban agriculture. Set in Malaysia, this study seeks to explore what discriminates urban agriculture participants from non-participants, revealing a strong association of the relationship between food security and urban agriculture as driver for participation.

International Journal of Arts Management (IJAM) 22(1) p. 4-24

This study explores the effect of background music on the perception and memory of an art exhibition in two experiments involving art evaluation, memory and behavioural intentions. The first (N = 234), a laboratory experiment conducted in a virtual art gallery, shows that background music helps people remember artworks but negatively influences evaluation of them in terms of arousal, valence and liking. The second (N = 238), a field experiment conducted in seven art galleries, shows that the gallery experience facilitates behavioural intentions through the mediation of positive emotions and memory; background music again acts as an ambivalent stimulus, as it amplifies the link between memory and behavioural intentions while attenuating the link between pleasant arousal (i.e., the emotional evaluation component) and behavioural intentions. This study contributes to the literature by investigating an under-researched subject (experiencing art). It shows that, contrary to the results reported in the literature, music may have adverse effects. It also expands the stimulus-organism-response model by introducing memory into atmospheric research on music. Art galleries can benefit from the favourable effects of music, but the music needs to match the style of the artwork so that its stimulus does not overlap that of the art.

Schulverwaltung Spezial 7(1) p. 16-18

The 15th International Research Conference in Service Management

2018 Global Marketing Conference

Frontiers in Service Conference 2018

Frontiers in Service Conference 2017

QUIS 15 - University of Porto

QUIS 15 - University of Porto

Journal of International Marketing 25(1) p. 72-90 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1509/jim.16.0022

Eastern versus Western culture pricing practices differ with respect to price endings; however, Eastern cultures are increasingly influenced by Western multinational corporations. At the same time, increasing antiglobalization sentiment suggests the use of localization strategies in these markets. The authors investigate whether pricing practices still differ in this new environment, examine the role of superstition, and ask whether Western brands can benefit from localizing pricing practices. They explore the use of lucky number price endings and consumer responses to such pricing strategies in Singapore, an Eastern culture that is strongly exposed to Western multinational influence. Using a content analysis of newspaper advertisements and two experiments, the authors find that superstitious pricing practices continue, especially with high-priced items and brands of Eastern (vs. Western) origin. In the experimental studies, they find that superstitious pricing has a positive effect on price attractiveness and that foreign brands that localize their prices benefit from a more positive brand attitude.

Journal of Service Research 20(4) p. 393-408 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/1094670517716333

This research examines how to recompense customers, from a social resource theory perspective, which portrays financial compensation as the act of offering the resource “money” to customers during a service recovery attempt. This resource can differ in its particularism (is the money offered in a more or less personal way?) and concreteness (is the money offered in a more or less tangible way?), which are shown in two experiments to affect recovery outcomes. Specifically, personal compensation accompanied by a handwritten note from the service person (vs. impersonal: a typewritten note from the firm) fosters recovery satisfaction, mediated by justice perceptions, and reciprocal customer behavior (tipping, cross-buying), mediated by an obligation to reciprocate. Tangible compensation in the form of a banknote or banknote-like coupon (vs. intangible: a credit entry) also fosters reciprocal customer behavior via the obligation to reciprocate. In both studies, relationship strength amplifies the indirect effect of compensation’s particularism on recovery satisfaction. As a theoretical contribution, we show that the way the monetary resource is presented matters for service recovery. As a major managerial takeaway, this research presents personal (vs. impersonal) compensation as an impactful property of compensation: It increases recovery outcomes without additional monetary costs. Further, managers learn that handing over the money in a personal and tangible way can be a way to increase monetary returns to the firm in the form of tipping and cross-buying.

Marketing letters 29(1) p. 61-72 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-017-9445-2

Payment modes (e.g., cash vs. credit card) vary in the transparency of the outflow of money. Smartcards (multifunctional cards), which bundle payment with non-payment functions (e.g., loyalty programs, identification, and other information functions), have become an increasingly popular payment mode. This shift toward multifunctionality in payment modes is assumed to reduce payment transparency and consequently to decrease consumers’ recall accuracy of past expenditures. We employ a field study to examine recall accuracy for recent purchases with cash, a single-function card, and a multifunctional card. We find that recall accuracy is lower when using a single- or a multifunction card than cash. We also find that it is not the multifunctionality of the card that results in a higher recall error but the individual usage patterns: A higher usage frequency of the non-payment functions results in a higher recall error.

Journal of Retailing 93(2) p. 228-240 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2016.10.001

Atmospheric in-store stimuli have been the subject of considerable empirical investigation for over 30 years. This research presents a meta-analysis of 66 studies and 135 effects (N = 15,621) calibrating the atmospheric effects of music, scent, and color on shopping outcomes. At an aggregate level, the results reveal that environments in which music or scent are present yield higher pleasure, satisfaction, and behavioral intention ratings when compared with environments in which such conditions are absent. Warm colors produce higher levels of arousal than cool colors, while cool colors produce higher levels of satisfaction than warm colors. The estimated average strength of these relationships ranged from small to medium. Effect sizes exhibited significant between-study variance, which can be partly explained by the moderators investigated. For instance, larger effect sizes were observed for the relationship between scent and pleasure in those samples with a higher (vs. lower) proportion of females. Data also indicated a tendency toward stronger music and scent effects in service settings as compared to retail settings. The results of this analysis, based on data aggregated across the research stream, offer retailers a guide to enhance customers’ shopping experience through judicious use of in-store atmospheric stimuli.

Marketing 38(3) p. 150-162 Doi: https://doi.org/10.15358/0344-1369-2016-3-150

Many empirical studies in cross-cultural marketing show that consumer choice and behaviour are driven by cultural values. As a result, the international marketing literature focuses on the appropriate degree of adaptation to foreign markets. Heretofore, it was believed that adjustments—if necessary—conformed to local cultural values. In the present paper, we claim that consumer behaviour can also systematically contradict—rather than conform to—local cultural values. We propose that counter-cultural consumer behaviour is a context-specific phenomenon that occurs in an environment that justifies or even triggers nonconformity. Here, we suggest an experiential consumption context that provides hedonic benefits for a limited period, thus possibly offering a temporary refuge from the monotonous routines of everyday life, in which the general human need for social acceptance fosters conformity. As a prototype of an experiential global service brand, we chose Starbucks as an object for our study. An observation of 3,710 customers of the American coffee house in ten countries supports consumption patterns that oppose the values comprised in two cultural dimensions of the Hofstede concept. Specifically, we find in this context that consumers from individualistic cultures such as the Netherlands and the UK (i. e., cultures with an emphasis on independence), compared with their counterparts from collectivistic cultures such as China and Brazil (i. e., cultures with an emphasis on mutual dependence), engage more in joint consumption (i. e., are accompanied more often or converse more with companions). Furthermore, consumers from restrained cultures such as Russia, China, and India (i. e., cultures with an emphasis on strict social norms), compared with their counterparts from indulgent cultures such as the UK, Brazil, and Chile (i. e., cultures with an emphasis on enjoying life and having fun), engage more in extensive consumption (i. e., longer stay). These findings provide evidence of a phenomenon that stands in sharp contrast to the majority of cross-cultural marketing studies and enriches the standardization vs. adaptation debate with a novel, seemingly counter-intuitive option to account for cultural differences. As a takeaway for practitioners, we suggest that global experiential service firms such as Starbucks could leverage these findings and add counter-cultural elements to their format that would allow consumers to escape from culture-bound routines. For example, Starbucks could consider an adaptation of its store design; it could offer tables for more persons in individualistic countries such as the Netherlands and the UK, but individual booths that provide intimacy in collectivistic societies such as China and Brazil. Starbucks can further facilitate length of stay (i. e., consumption extensiveness) in restrained cultures such as Russia, China, and India by offering comfortable armchairs but install bar tables in indulgent cultures such as the UK, Brazil, and Chile, in which stays are short and seating comfort is less important.

Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 20(2) p. 154-164 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2012.11.002

This research examines how age moderates the impact of justice perception (i.e., distributive, procedural, and interactional justice) on post-complaint satisfaction. By tracking the three justice dimensions' effect sizes across different ages, we identify four developmental stages of adulthood, which are separated by five-year transition periods. The stages are young (18–27 years of age), early (33–43), middle (49–57), and late adulthood (≥63). The moderation results show that the impact of distributive justice on satisfaction peaks in middle adulthood and the effect of procedural justice in early adulthood. Finally, the effect of interactional justice dips in early adulthood. Managerial and theoretical implications are discussed.

Marketing letters 24(3) p. 293-309 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-012-9218-x

Extant service recovery research treats apology as a dichotomy, in that it is either present or absent, but how it is conveyed is neglected. Based upon social psychological research, this study argues that an apology comprises three different components: empathy, intensity, and timing, which make each apology unique. It is shown that how well an apology is delivered across failure types (outcome vs. process) drives service recovery satisfaction, not its mere presence. Empathy, intensity, and timing separately impact satisfaction. The more empathic and intense the apology is given, the more satisfied respondents are. A late apology decreases satisfaction ratings. Effect sizes indicate that empathy has the strongest impact on service recovery satisfaction followed by intensity and timing. The effect of empathy is stronger for process failures than for outcome failures. Interestingly, the apology’s overall effect size is comparable to that of compensation in case of a process failure.

Marketing letters 22 p. 31-47 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-010-9101-6

This paper examines the incremental effect of overcompensation as compared to simple compensation on post-complaint satisfaction. In overcompensation, consumers are entitled to a refund that is more than the purchase price, whereas in simple compensation, the refund given is equivalent to if not less than the purchase price. A meta-analysis of 17 experimental studies shows that overcompensation has a substantially lower incremental effect on post-complaint satisfaction than simple compensation. However, when distinguishing between transaction-specific satisfaction and cumulative satisfaction, the smaller effect size of overcompensation mainly holds true for transaction-specific satisfaction. For cumulative satisfaction, the effect size of overcompensation is only marginally smaller. While counter-intuitive, these results appear to have a basis in three established theoretical frameworks, namely the Weber–Fechner law, prospect theory, and the different phenomenologies of the two satisfaction constructs. Implications are discussed for marketing research as well as for complaint management. Areas for future research are also explored.

Journal of Service Research 14(1) p. 24-43 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/1094670510387914

Service recovery is a crucial success factor for organizations. Thus, many studies have addressed the issue of post-complaint behavior. Conducting a meta-analysis, the authors test the following path model: ‘‘organizational responses (compensation, favorable employee behavior, and organizational procedures) → justice perceptions (distributive, interactional, and procedural justice) → post-complaint satisfaction (transaction-specific and cumulative satisfaction) → customer behavioral intentions (loyalty and positive word of mouth [WOM]).’’ The results confirm this model as well as the mediating role of justice perceptions and post-complaint satisfaction. Surprisingly, the results also show that the common contention of distributive justice as the salient driver of service recovery is only true for transaction-specific satisfaction, which in turn reinforces positive WOM. Cumulative satisfaction, however, which is the primary antecedent of customer loyalty, even slightly more depends on interactional justice than on distributive justice. Further, the results show that the relationships between justice perceptions and satisfaction constructs depend on several moderators such as target group, industry, and complaint type. A major managerial implication is the fact that organizations should pay particular attention to distributive justice when complainants are students and to interactional justice when failure is nonmonetary or occurs in service industries. The authors discuss theoretical implications and provide suggestions for future research.