Defective co-creation: Developing a typology of consumer dysfunction in professional services

Purpose This study aims to explore the scope of consumers’ defective co-creation behaviour in professional service encounters. One of the founding premises of service-dominant logic (Vargo and Lusch, 2004, 2008) is that consumers co-create the value they derive from service encounters. In practice, however, dysfunctional consumer behaviour can obstruct value co-creation. Extant research has not yet investigated consumers’ defective co-creation behaviour in highly relational services, such as professional services, that are heavily reliant on co-creation. Design/methodology/approach To investigate defective co-creation in professional services, 164 critical incidents were collected from 38 health-care and financial service providers using the critical incident technique within semi-structured, in-depth interviews. Thematic coding was used to identify emergent themes and patterns of consumer behaviour. Findings Thematic coding resulted in a comprehensive typology of consumers’ defective co-creation behaviour that both confirms the prevalence of previously identified dysfunctional behaviours (e.g. verbal abuse and physical aggression) and identifies two new forms of consumer misbehaviour: underparticipation and overparticipation. Further, these behaviours can vary, escalate and co-occur during service encounters. Originality/value Both underparticipation and overparticipation are newly identified forms of defective co-creation that need to be examined within the broader framework of service-dominant logic (SDL).

Friends or foes: Group influence effects on moderate drinking behaviors

Drunkenness and the addictive consumption of alcohol remains a key social and public health concern. Advancing beyond traditional individualized prevention approaches, this research explores the role of social influences in determining individual and group influence in moderate-drinking decision-making and participatory actions. A social influence model of intentional moderate drinking actions is conceptualized and validated. Results show group norm as the single social influence predictor of intentions and desire to drink moderately, as opposed to well-known social influence factors (e.g., subjective norm, social identity and drinking contextual effects). Significantly, the peer-group is identified as a key influencer supporting moderate drinking practices, and i-intentions to drink moderately predict group-related we-intentions, which suggests that moderate drinking is a shared goal. These findings advance alcohol prevention research drawing attention to the power of group dynamics to support positive changes in youth drinking behaviors.

Commercial friendships between gay sales associates and straight female customers in luxury settings: A proposed theoretical framework

This study investigates friendships between gay sales associates and heterosexual female customers in luxury retail settings. By employing grounded theory methodology, the study integrates theories and findings from diverse literature streams into an original conceptual framework to illustrate the resources gay sales associates and straight female customers receive from and provide to each other during retail exchanges. The study explains why gay male–straight female friendships are uniquely suited for luxury consumption settings. Female customers characterize their friendships with gay sales associates as providing honesty, security, trust, and comfort, which stems from the absence of sexual interest and a lack of inter-female competition. Gay sales associates receive acceptance for who they are and for their displays of unconventional masculinity in retail settings. They also obtain a temporary rite from their female customers, a so-called mandate of privacy, which permits both parties to ignore the bounds of modesty and accept a degree of intimacy. Such intimacy facilitates transactions that require both personalization and customer–employee closeness, such as the selling of high-end apparel, accessories, and jewelry.

Building resilient communities: Creating effective multi-channel communication during disaster response and recovery

Our aim is to examine evidence-based strategies to motivate appropriate action and increase informed decision-making during the response and recovery phases of disasters. We combine expertise in communication, consumer psychology and marketing, disaster and emergency management, and law. This poster presents findings from a social media work package, and preliminary findings from the focus group work package on emergency warning message comprehension.

Fresh thinking in services marketing: Contemporary, cutting-edge and creative thoughts

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to highlight and promote fresh thinking in services marketing research. Design/methodology/approach The topic of the special issue was deliberately chosen to encourage fresh ideas and concepts that will move the discipline forward. The accepted papers have been categorised for ease and convenience of reading by scholars and practitioners, with a short commentary on each category. Findings There is a wealth of forward-thinking by service(s) marketing researchers that bodes well for the future of the sub-discipline. Research limitations/implications The special issue does not address fresh thinking in all areas of services marketing research. Other potential areas for fresh thinking are identified. Originality/value New thinking in a scholarly field is necessary to propel the discipline forward.

Donor research in Australia: Challenges and promise

Donors are the key to the core business of Blood Collection Agencies (BCAs). However, historically, they have not been a focus of research undertaken by these organizations. This model is now changing, with significant donor research groups established in a number of countries, including Australia. Donor research in the Australian Red Cross Blood Service (Blood Service) is concentrated in the Donor and Community Research (DCR) team. Cognizant of the complex and ever-changing landscape with regard to optimal donor management, the DCR team collaborates with academics located at universities around Australia to coordinate a broad program of research that addresses both short- and-long term challenges to the blood supply. This type of collaboration is not, however, without challenges. Two major collaborative programs of the Blood Service's research, focusing on i) the recruitment and retention of plasmapheresis donors and ii) the role of the emotion pride in donor motivation and return, are showcased to elucidate how the challenges of conducting collaborative BCA research can be met. In so doing, these and the other research programs described herein demonstrate how the Blood Service supports and contributes to research that not only revises operational procedures but also contributes to advances in basic science.

The thrill of victory: Women and sport shopping

This study explores a new shopper type, ‘Sport Shoppers’, who are unique in their actions, attitudes and behaviors. We present evidence that these shoppers exhibit behavior similar to that of competitive athletes in that they view bargain shopping as an achievement domain. Data were collected through open-ended surveys, in-depth interviews and closet inventories. Thematic analysis of transcripts was undertaken based on three achievement goal categories; task-oriented, ego-oriented and social approval-oriented. Achievement goal theory is employed to offer an explanation of the Sport Shoppers’ behaviors and motivations. We argue the Sport Shopper is an economically viable and important shopper for fashion retailers to target.

'How much love are you going to give this brand?' Lifestyle journalists on commercial influences in their work

The news increasingly provides help, advice, guidance, and information about the management of self and everyday life, in addition to its traditional role in political communication. Yet such forms of journalism are still regularly denigrated in scholarly discussions, as they often deviate from normative ideals. This is particularly true in lifestyle journalism, where few studies have examined the impact of commercial influences. Through in-depth interviews with 89 Australian and German lifestyle journalists, this paper explores the ways in which journalists experience how the lifestyle industries try to shape their daily work, and how these journalists deal with these influences. We find that lifestyle journalists are in a constant struggle over the control of editorial content, and their responses to increasing commercial pressures vary between resistance and resignation. This has implications for our understanding of journalism as a whole in that it broadens it beyond traditional conceptualizations associated with political journalism.

Differences between Black and White South Africans in product failure attributions, anger and complaint behaviour

The purpose of this research is to extend an understanding of how Black and White South African consumers' causal attributions for major household appliance performance failures impact on their anger and subsequent complaint behaviour. A survey was administered to Black and White South African consumers who were dissatisfied with the performance of a major household appliance item. Respondents resided in a major metropolitan area. The findings showed that, compared to Whites, the Black South Africans felt a low but significantly higher external locus of causality and lower control, and experienced a higher level of anger regarding product failure. The level of anger determined the decision to take complaint action, but racial group determined the type of action taken. Blacks complained more actively to retailers and engaged more in private complaint action than Whites. These findings may show that Black South Africans are developing a more individualistic orientation as consumers. Therefore, researchers should consider the effect of cultural swapping when researching consumer behaviour in multi-cultural countries. Implications for retailers in terms of complaint handling are indicated.

Destination image: identifying baseline perceptions of Brazil, Argentina and Chile in the nascent Australian long haul travel market

While the popularity of destination image research has increased exponentially in the literature, there has been relatively little published about perceptions held by international consumers of destinations in South America. The purpose of this paper is to report the findings of a research project that aimed to identify the baseline market perceptions of Brazil, Argentina and Chile amongst Australian residents, at the time of the emergence of this long haul market. Of interest was the extent to which Australians differentiate the three distinct countries versus perceiving the continent as a gestalt. These baseline perceptions enable the effectiveness of future marketing communications in Australia by the three national tourism offices to be monitored over time. Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) is used as a practical analytical tool to guide decision makers. In terms of operationalising destination image, a key research finding was the very high ratio or participants using the ‘Don’t know’ (DK) option for each destination performance scale item. This finding has practical implications for the destination marketers, as well as for researchers engaged in destination image research in long haul and/or emerging markets.

Where do consumers draw the line? Factors informing perceptions and justifications of deviant consumer behaviour

Deviant consumer behaviour in the marketplace is an ongoing problem causing harm to the organisation, employees, and other consumers. To address this problem, this study explores consumer perceptions of right and wrong using the novel concept of a deviance threshold – the mental line in the sand dictating right and wrong. Using consumer-based interviews with a card-sort activity, findings supported and extended dimensions proposed to explain why some behaviours are perceived as more serious or unethical than others. Moreover, why specific neutralisation techniques are used and how they affect categorisations of behaviours within an individual’s deviance threshold is explained. This study offers alternative strategies tailored to challenging consumer justifications to curb deviance. Implications support abandoning the universal approach to deterrence.

Loyalty (Brand Loyalty)

Loyalty is a desired marketing outcome for products ranging from fast-moving consumer goods, services, durables, and ideas products such as political parties and social behaviors. Evidence has shown that a base of loyal customers is advantageous for an organization as it reduces the marketing cost of doing business and improves profitability. The approaches to loyalty have varied over the decades with various schools of thoughts toward definitions, conceptualizations, and measurement. The need for understanding the nature of the product and consumer's behavior to determine the appropriate approach to loyalty is emphasized in this article. In this article, we outline the historical development of brand loyalty, the major approaches to the construct (attitudinal and behavioral) and new approaches that deconstruct attitudinal loyalty into its subcomponent parts.

Helping doctoral students teach: Transitioning to early career academia through cognitive apprenticeship

Doctoral training is strongly focused on honing research skills at the expense of developing teaching competency. As a result, emerging academics are unprepared for the pedagogical requirements of their early-career academic roles. Employing an action research approach, this study investigates the effectiveness of a competency-based teaching development intervention that aims to improve the teaching self-efficacy of doctoral candidates. To conduct this research, we apply the theoretical framework of Cognitive Apprenticeship Theory, a theory of social learning that requires learners to participate in a community of inquiry. Participants report significantly higher levels of teaching self-efficacy and a stronger sense of connectedness to the wider academic community.

Internet marketing capabilities and international market growth

The Internet has been shown to facilitate elements of internationalisation such as information accumulation and network opportunities. However, there is limited understanding of how the Internet combined with marketing capabilities drives international market growth. This study, based on a sample of 224 Australian firms, develops and tests, using structural equation modelling (SEM), a conceptual model of Internet marketing capabilities and international market growth. Results indicate that firms deploying Internet marketing capabilities will benefit due to the reduction of information uncertainty and increased capacity to develop international network capabilities. Moreover, Internet marketing capabilities indirectly lead to international market growth when the firm has a high level of international strategic orientation and international network capabilities. Overall, Internet marketing capabilities enhance the firm's ability to generate other internal capabilities within the firm, which in turn have a positive impact on the international market growth of the firm.