Customer safety is a fundamental need, so for customer-centric omnichannel retailers operating in competitive and technologically intensive markets, a critical question arises: do customers’ perceptions of a safe customer experience determine their sense of well-being, as well as the retailers’ performance? To offer insights into these questions, the current research relies on mixed methods across five studies in six phases to develop a multidimensional scale for safe customer experiences (SafeCX). The formative SafeCX scale, which can be adopted as either a full 48-item or a condensed 12-item version, contains 12 critical safety dimensions that constitute essential considerations for managers, as well as key concepts for researchers dedicated to customer safety considerations. Among these dimensions, several directly capture in-store technologies, such as payment systems, surveillance cameras, and technology-mediated order fulfillment processes. Other dimensions reflect online technologies, such as data protection, social media safety, and practices that bridge physical and digital channels, offering a comprehensive perspective on customer safety. Complementing SafeCX, we also develop a two-dimensional, 8-item customer well-being scale: individual well-being, reflecting effects on one’s own mental, emotional, social, and physical life; and community well-being, reflecting effects on family, friends, and the broader community. This scale enables researchers and retail managers to assess how safety perceptions translate into personal and societal value in omnichannel contexts. In turn, this research establishes that customers who indicate positive appraisals on the SafeCX scale also exhibit a higher share of wallet and stronger intentions to influence others, effects that are mediated by their well-being appraisal.

This research examines the dynamic effects of video advertising features on viewers’ attentional focus. We leverage state-of-the-art computer vision techniques to extract frame-level measures of visual complexity and scene cuts, and we combine these with eye-tracking data that capture attention via moment-to-moment attentional synchrony across viewers. Our findings indicate that short and visually simple scenes elicit higher levels of attentional synchrony. A time-series analysis of 2,520 individual viewing experiences across 42 public service announcements, reveals that visual complexity exerts a delayed, negative effect on attentional synchrony, whereas scene cuts (i.e., shorter scene durations) boost attention. Together, these results demonstrate that short and simple scenes help sustain attentional focus, which subsequently enhances narrative immersion, ad liking, and recognition. Our new analytical framework illustrates how computer vision, time-series modeling, and neuromarketing measures can be effectively integrated to advance video advertising research, while also offering actionable guidance for marketers to optimize viewer attention.

Customer engagement (CE) has attracted tremendous research interest over the last decade and has gained prominence in practice. Surprisingly, despite the attention, little research offers conclusive evidence on the conceptual scope of CE, its drivers, and outcomes. To this end, we first review CE research to offer a well-delineated understanding of CE, and then conduct a meta-analysis to provide a unified view of its key drivers and outcomes. We also explain how these main-effects vary due to important contextual and study related factors. We conceptualize CE from both psychological and behavioral perspectives and discuss a comprehensive theoretical framework that comprises seven key customer-related drivers, and eight important customer- and firm-related outcomes of CE, which were tested using 1369 specific effect sizes from 349 research papers (using 385 independent studies), with a cumulative sample size of 173,363 respondents. We discuss theoretical and managerial implications of our findings and suggest pathways for future research.

This study uses the dynamic capabilities view (DCV) as the theoretical framework to explore how servitization, service innovation, and technology platforms can reduce carbon emissions in Africa’s agri-food industry. The agri-food sector, which plays a significant role in global carbon emissions, is under pressure to make sustainable changes. This study investigates servitization, which integrates services with traditional products to enhance environmental sustainability. The study shows how dynamic capabilities help adjust to environmental and technological changes for sustainability. Employing a natural experiment methodology, we analyzed data on African agri-food firms from 2020 to 2022, comparing those that have implemented servitization strategies against those that have not. The findings reveal that servitization, mainly supported by service innovation and technology platforms, significantly contributes to lowering carbon emissions, leading toward sustainable agricultural practices. The findings broaden the DCV to include environmental sustainability in the agri-food sector, offering practical tips on leveraging servitization to decrease carbon footprints in emerging markets.

To understand the progression of retailing research, this article presents a topic modeling study of retailing- related research published in Journal of Business Research (JBR) over the past 50 years. We trace both where retailing has come from and where it is going. Building on 13 retailing-related research themes published in JBR, the authors identify five emerging themes growing in importance: Omnichannel retailing, Retail technologies (including point-of-sale (POS) systems, digital displays, robots and artificial intelligence (AI)), Experiential retailing, Online shopping behavior, and Social commerce. Seven themes, which remained stable in their importance over the last decades, are considered as core retailing topics: Retail atmospherics, Retail strategy & performance, Consumer perceptions, Sensory marketing, Retail store/brand image, Retail relationships & loyalty, and Organizational orientations. One theme, Shopping motives & patronage, is shown to have declined in JBR publications. Deeper dives into the five emerging topics showcase technology-infused retailing and help reveal avenues for continued research.

The time that consumers spend shopping represents a valuable resource. When consumers engage with multiple omnichannel retailers, they divide this limited resource among them, such that the retailers must compete for shares of consumers’ time. Previous explorations of the effects of time-related variables on consumer behavior rarely address the relative time that consumers devote to different channels associated with competing omnichannel retailers. To introduce this idea, the current research proposes an “omnichannel share of time” (OSoT) concept. With four mixed-method studies, the authors derive and validate an easy-to-administer, four-item measure of OSoT. A nomological network analysis also demonstrates its positive mediating role in the relationship between omnichannel customer experience and customer engagement. By proposing and validating OSoT, this article introduces a valuable tool that retail managers can leverage to evaluate the effectiveness of their customer experience strategies and drive value co-creation through greater customer engagement.

PurposeScience fiction analogies have been shown to be an effective vehicle for disseminating scientific knowledge and building a better understanding of scientific principles. Toward this end, this study aims to use the Star Trek universe as a lens in an effort to remove barriers to understanding the science of service research. Design/methodology/approachThis study synthesizes research on using science fiction narratives in sparking dialogue within and beyond scientific communities, draws parallels between the Star Trek universe and the service research domain and uses these insights to identify pertinent ways forward. FindingsIn the service research domain, science fiction analogies and dramaturgical metaphors can challenge researchers to reflect beyond the domain's traditional boundaries. In fact, the Star Trek universe lends itself as visionary backdrop to assess leadership principles, understand the evolution of scientific paradigms and inspire future service research. Originality/valueThis article contributes to the service research literature by introducing the notion of drawing on science fiction analogies to facilitate key dialogues in a scientific context and demonstrates how such analogies can be used to provide guidance in moving the service research discipline forward.

PurposeTo unravel the drivers of service consumers' parasocial relationships with artificial intelligence-enabled voice assistants (VAs), this study examines how VA frequency- and time-related paralinguistic features affect parasocial attraction of VAs. The authors zoom in on the interrelations between consumers' social perceptions by exploring how parasocial attraction drives perceived anthropomorphism and trust in VAs.Design/methodology/approachIn an online experiment, a VA displayed high or low voice intonation and high or low speech rate. Self-reported data of 580 Prolific participants regarding their perceptions of parasocial attraction, anthropomorphism and trust were collected and subjected to partial least squares path modeling.FindingsThe results show a moderating role of VA speech rate on the effect of voice intonation on parasocial attraction, such that voice intonation increases VA parasocial attraction when speech rate is high. In turn, parasocial attraction drives trust in a VA, both directly and indirectly via perceived anthropomorphism.Research limitations/implicationsThe study outcomes can help designers and service managers design and infuse VAs in service frontlines within smart service systems, in ways that promise to enhance customer experiences and make services more inclusive.Originality/valueBy addressing the interplay between VAs' frequency- and time-related paralinguistic features, this study offers new insights into the effects on consumers' parasocial relationships with VAs and subsequent social perceptions. Such insights can benefit continued research into smart service systems.

To clarify the effect of the omnichannel customer experience (OCX) on customer engagement, this article empirically analyzes how OCX affects direct and indirect customer engagement intentions. Using data from two surveys (Study 1n = 312; Study 2n = 822) of U.S. omnichannel retail customers, the empirical findings demonstrate that the positive relationship between OCX and a measure of direct customer engagement (i.e., repurchase intentions) depends on the stage of the customer-retailer relationship. Customers' novelty-seeking and time-consciousness traits strengthen the positive relationship of OCX with indirect measures of customer engagement (i.e., influence, feedback, and referral intentions). The findings caution against oversimplistic assumptions about how customer experiences create value in omnichannel retailing. To boost customers' repurchase intentions, omnichannel retailers should employ different OCX strategies in different relationship stages. In addition, they can benefit from targeting customers who exhibit high inherent novelty seeking and time consciousness.

By investigating emotional contagion in customer–employee interactions using the emotional facial action coding system, this study offers a means to separate primitive emotional contagion from its conscious counterpart. As an empirical validation of primitive emotional contagion and its impact on customer satisfaction, the multifaceted research approach, involving an experimental laboratory study and two field studies in hospitality and retail settings, reveals consistent findings. Additionally, the influence of emotional contagion on customer satisfaction is moderated by the esthetic appeal of the interior design. This work advances the theoretical understanding of the dynamics of primitive emotional contagion; it also offers practical insights regarding the importance of interior designs and busyness for enhancing service interactions.

The increasing popularity of blockchain technology (BCT) has spurred interest in its potential to rejuvenate the digital advertising ecosystem. Due to its transparency, decentralization, and immutability, BCT offers the potential for customer-oriented, secure, and open platforms that might improve interactions between consumers and businesses. This article investigates applications of BCT in digital advertising and develops an integrative framework to classify innovations at this intersection. With a systematic literature review and Delphi study, the authors examine ten relevant use cases and compile qualitative and quantitative data on the expected probability of realization, expected impact on the industry, desirability of occurrence, and market establishment duration. The results reveal organizational activity theory–informed areas of innovation and provide useful insights for managers, researchers, and policy makers. Managers should focus on contextual innovations such as rewarding web users for web interactions, rewarding content creators for their contributions, and ensuring user data security as the most relevant potential applications. Boundary innovations require a better understanding before deploying solutions aimed at increasing advertising supply chain transparency, mitigating fraud, and verifying content. For domain-based innovation areas, researchers must rethink their foundations. Finally, the authors propose a detailed research agenda.

AbstractResearch about innovation management explores how the future is created—who is creating it (organizations, collaborations, etc.), for what aims (customer satisfaction, market performance, etc.), and with what broader effects (social, environmental, etc.). With this extended essay, we explore the potential futures of innovation management research in three ways. First, we briefly review the history of past research agendas and priorities published in the Journal of Product Innovation Management (JPIM), highlighting three broad topic areas (technological, social/environmental, and organizational) that have emerged over time and their potential disruptive implications for innovation management research. Second, we describe the outcome of a gathering of leading scholars in innovation management tasked with the challenge of identifying critical research paths for our field. This collaboration resulted in five “deep dive” essays into areas ripe for innovation management research in the years ahead: liquid innovation, artificial intelligence in innovation, business model innovation, public value innovation, and responsible innovation. Third, we reflect on this expansive effort and offer a discussion of implications (tensions, challenges, and opportunities) for future innovation management scholarship.

Purpose In spite of offering clear benefits and increased availability, relatively few service research studies rely on eye-tracking. Therefore, this paper aims to assist service researchers in harnessing the vast capabilities of eye-tracking technologies and methods for their own inquiries. Design/methodology/approach In addition to systematically reviewing extant research in the service domain and the wider marketing field with respect to the fundamentals and practices of eye-tracking, this paper presents a concise, empirical eye-tracking demonstration. These contributions suggest future outlooks for how to incorporate eye-tracking more effectively in service research. Findings The systematic literature review informs a comprehensive framework for integrating eye-tracking in service research that comprises research question focus regarding higher-order psychological constructs of interest, appropriate study settings, sample composition, optimal eye-tracking equipment and operationalization considerations. Research limitations/implications By establishing a common ground and recommended uses of eye-tracking for service research, this study equips service scholars with the knowledge they need regarding eye-tracking fundamentals, common practices and future outlooks. A simple, empirical example further demonstrates some options for unlocking the unique capabilities of eye-tracking in service research and uncovering the complexities inherent to service experiences and other core service concepts. Originality/value This paper compiles and contextualizes insights from existing eye-tracking research, which it uses to draw important lessons for deploying eye-tracking in service domains.

Marketers today are increasingly using storytelling to engage their audiences. However, the design of narrative visuals is often inspired by a text-centric understanding of narratives. Despite the fast increase in visual content and the distinct processing it induces, extant research on visual narrativity remains fragmented, lacking a comprehensive framework to explain how a single still image can convey a narrative. Our literature review addresses this gap through the lens of narrative transportation theory. Based on a systematic review of 64 articles from marketing and adjacent disciplines, the authors propose that an image must narrate, act, and resonate (NAR) to stimulate narrative processing and transport viewers into its narrative. They also identify specific visual features that can facilitate this process and explore how characteristics of the storyteller, story receiver, and story settings can influence the strength of visual narrative transportation (VNT). Finally, the authors highlight affective, cognitive, and behavioral responses of transported viewers. This research extends narrative transportation theory to the visual domain, offering practical design principles that can be easily applied by marketing professionals. It also outlines an actionable research agenda for marketing scholars to further explore visual narrativity.

Background: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is hallmarked by autoreactive B cell responses against nuclear antigens. To date, it is poorly understood if and how these B cell responses contribute to disease. A subset of SSc patients harbors B cells targeting the nuclear enzyme topoisomerase 1 (TOP1). Anti-TOP1 autoantibodies (ATAs) associate with severe disease marked by progressive lung and skin fibrosis. Patients with lung fibrosis harbor TOP1-reactive B cells with an activated phenotype [1]. Here, we hypothesized that mechanisms underlying the activation of TOP1-reactive B cells could determine the development of disease and drive its progression. Importantly, DNA binding by TOP1 generates TOP1-DNA cleavage complexes (TOP1cc). TOP1cc formation could modulate the antigenicity of TOP1. Objectives: To study the effect of DNA binding by TOP1 (TOP1cc formation) on the recognition by ATAs and the activation of TOP1-reactive B cells. Methods: Monoclonal ATAs (ATA-mAbs, n=25) were generated from patient-derived TOP1-reactive B cells. The reactivity of these ATA-mAbs towards TOP1 and TOP1cc was analyzed by ELISA, western blotting, and mass photometry. Recognition of TOP1 and TOP1cc by polyclonal ATA-IgG/A/M and ATA-IgG subclasses was studied using plasma from ATA-positive SSc patients (n=30), ATA-negative SSc patients (n=6) and healthy donors (n=6). ATA-expressing RAMOS B cell lines were generated to study B cell activation (Syk phosphorylation) upon stimulation with TOP1 and TOP1cc. Results: Individual ATA-mAbs differentially recognized TOP1 and TOP1cc. Most but not all ATA-mAbs (20/25) displayed enhanced recognition of TOP1cc compared to TOP1 in ELISA, a finding which could be replicated by western blotting and mass photometry. Antibodies with enhanced TOP1cc recognition (termed anti-TOP1cc autoantibodies) could be observed in plasma of all ATA-positive SSc patients tested. Anti-TOP1cc autoantibodies were predominantly of the IgG1 and IgM isotypes, but rarely IgA. Anti-TOP1cc-IgG levels correlated with levels of ATA-IgG (rs=0.81, p<0.001) and lung (rs=0.67, p<0.001) and skin fibrosis (rs=0.56, p=0.008). Anti-TOP1cc-expressing RAMOS B cells reacted more strongly to antigenic stimulation than anti-TOP1-expressing RAMOS B cells. This effect was dependent on the binding of TOP1 to DNA. Conclusion: The autoreactive B cell response targeting TOP1 in SSc patients demonstrates remarkable heterogeneity that has not been recognized so far. DNA binding enhances recognition of TOP1 by ATA, presumably by changing the conformation of TOP1. This differential recognition of TOP1 and TOP1cc may be clinically relevant as it determines the degree of ATA-expressing B cell activation, a feature linked to SSc disease manifestations and, possibly, disease progression. REFERENCES: [1] Wortel CM, Liem SI, van Leeuwen NM, Boonstra M, Fehres CM, Stöger L, Huizinga TW, Toes RE, De Vries-Bouwstra J, Scherer HU. Anti-topoisomerase, but not anti-centromere B cell responses in systemic sclerosis display active, Ig-secreting cells associated with lung fibrosis. RMD Open. 2023 Jul;9(3):e003148. doi: 10.1136/rmdopen-2023-003148. Acknowledgements: NIL. Disclosure of Interests: None declared.

PurposeThis research aims to investigate the role of consumer resistance (CR), display advertising context, appeal and type of exposure for the successful launch of a brand into a new market.Design/methodology/approachTo accomplish this goal, two experiments manipulated the digital context of advertising (congruent vs. incongruent), the advertising appeal (emotional vs. informative) and the type of exposure (incidental vs. forced) using an energy drink brand. In Study 1, data were collected from 80 participants using eye-tracking and an online questionnaire. In Study 2, a total of 138 participants visited a website with the targeted display ad and responded to an online questionnaire.FindingsOverall, the results of two studies show that the relationship between CR and display advertising effectiveness is moderated by the advertising context and advertising appeal in incidental exposure, whereas only the advertising context moderates this relationship in forced exposure when launching a brand into a new market. Moreover, the study illustrates the importance of collecting subjective and objective data in advancing the knowledge and understanding of interactive marketing communications such as display advertising.Originality/valueThe study is a novel attempt within the well-established realm of interactive marketing and, specifically, of digital advertising to examine the persuasive effects of display ad features such as the context, appeal and exposure on display ad effectiveness, considering consumers' predispositions such as resistance to change.

Customer experience (CX) and customer experience management (CXM) are key tenets of the presently dominant marketing research and management strategy paradigm. Despite CXM's prevalence, very little research explores its practices and links to company performance. This study tackles a rather elusive challenge for practice and research: how to connect customer experience (management practices) to company profitability. Based on a dataset of over 273 companies with dedicated CX strategies, we explore four different clusters of how companies manage their CX programs. Interestingly, each form of practice leads to a different performance outcome. Thus, our work lays the foundation for linking CXM practices to company performance, emphasizing which practices are more rewarding than others. The present study lays the groundwork for research to further elaborate on the cause-effect relationship between CX and performance and what the next and best CXM practices look like.

When Journal of Service Research (JSR) completed its fifth lustrum in 2022, it offered an ideal opportunity to celebrate the present, review the past, and look forward to the service research community's future. In reference to JSR's specific aims to be rigorous, multidisciplinary, managerially relevant, and impactful, the current mixed-method study examines its evolution, thereby offering guidance for further research in the service domain. A newly identified, underlying topical structure embeds 15 research themes; it also reveals increasing disciplinarity among JSR publications' theoretical roots, affirming the multidisciplinary focus the journal has achieved. Regarding academic impact, JSR accounts for around one-eighth (12.4%) of the service articles but nearly one-third of citations (30.0%) in the service domain. Similarly, in terms of practical impact, with a share of approximately 24.0% in the service articles that received media coverage, JSR publications are responsible for around 37.1% of the service domain's media mentions. To increase these impacts, service scholars can use the insights generated herein to identify and pursue trajectories that warrant additional exploration.

Despite significant investment by supplier firms in channel partner programs (CPPs), disengagement from training is common. Disengagement can diminish the return on investment (ROI) by inhibiting gains in sales ability and subsequently reducing reseller-channel partner relationship satisfaction. In an international field study with a Fortune 100 company, the authors examine the impact of sales role orientations on disengagement and subsequent outcomes, as well as the conditioning effect of market turbulence. The results indicate that both customer and selling orientations have significant, countervailing impacts on disengagement, and that reseller role ambidexterity reduces disengagement. Additionally, although market turbulence did not modify the impact of selling orientation on disengagement, it does moderate the customer orientation-disengagement relationship. Finally, disengagement does negatively influence both changes in perceived sales ability and subsequent satisfaction with the channel partner relationship. Findings from this unique, longitudinal field study have important implications for both scholar and practitioners, including participant selection and supplier CPP strategies.