Purpose The marketing literature on service conversation in dyadic services has elaborated two ap... more Purpose The marketing literature on service conversation in dyadic services has elaborated two approaches. An advisory approach involves providers giving customers expert advice on how to advance difficult projects. By contrast, a relational approach involves providers exchanging social support with customers to develop commercial friendships. Inspired by the transformative turn in service research, this study aims to develop a third approach, one that helps customers to cultivate their own agency, potential and well-being. Design/methodology/approach The emergent model of service conversation is based on in-depth interviews with providers and clients of mental health services, including psychological counseling, psychotherapy and personal coaching. Findings A transformative approach to service conversation involves the iterative application of a complementary pair of conversational practices: seeding microtransformations by asking questions to inspire new ways of thinking, feeling ...
ABSTRACT Consumers frequently engage in self-gifting purchases (gifts for one’s self) and they do... more ABSTRACT Consumers frequently engage in self-gifting purchases (gifts for one’s self) and they do so mostly to reward themselves for a success achieved or to cheer themselves up after a failure. Thus, both ‘reward’ and ‘compensation’ motives might underlie consumers’ self-gift purchases. Although self-gifting has been increasingly popular in the marketing literature, not much work has investigated its consequences. In the current article, we seek to examine how these motives to purchase self-gifts might influence the consumer–brand relationship. Across two studies, using both manipulated and measured variables, we show that consumers have more positive brand evaluations when motives are present than when they are absent, independent of whether the product is purchased because of a self-rewarding or a self-compensating motive. Furthermore, we show that this effect holds true only for individuals who do not feel very connected to the brand. Results are robust across very different product categories (lollipops and watches) and populations (student and ‘non-student’ sample). Thus, we suggest that marketers might target consumers with low self-brand connection more effectively by emphasizing specific motivations to purchase indulgent self-gifts when they design their ad campaigns and brand positioning strategies.
Purpose The marketing literature on service conversation in dyadic services has elaborated two ap... more Purpose The marketing literature on service conversation in dyadic services has elaborated two approaches. An advisory approach involves providers giving customers expert advice on how to advance difficult projects. By contrast, a relational approach involves providers exchanging social support with customers to develop commercial friendships. Inspired by the transformative turn in service research, this study aims to develop a third approach, one that helps customers to cultivate their own agency, potential and well-being. Design/methodology/approach The emergent model of service conversation is based on in-depth interviews with providers and clients of mental health services, including psychological counseling, psychotherapy and personal coaching. Findings A transformative approach to service conversation involves the iterative application of a complementary pair of conversational practices: seeding microtransformations by asking questions to inspire new ways of thinking, feeling ...
ABSTRACT Consumers frequently engage in self-gifting purchases (gifts for one’s self) and they do... more ABSTRACT Consumers frequently engage in self-gifting purchases (gifts for one’s self) and they do so mostly to reward themselves for a success achieved or to cheer themselves up after a failure. Thus, both ‘reward’ and ‘compensation’ motives might underlie consumers’ self-gift purchases. Although self-gifting has been increasingly popular in the marketing literature, not much work has investigated its consequences. In the current article, we seek to examine how these motives to purchase self-gifts might influence the consumer–brand relationship. Across two studies, using both manipulated and measured variables, we show that consumers have more positive brand evaluations when motives are present than when they are absent, independent of whether the product is purchased because of a self-rewarding or a self-compensating motive. Furthermore, we show that this effect holds true only for individuals who do not feel very connected to the brand. Results are robust across very different product categories (lollipops and watches) and populations (student and ‘non-student’ sample). Thus, we suggest that marketers might target consumers with low self-brand connection more effectively by emphasizing specific motivations to purchase indulgent self-gifts when they design their ad campaigns and brand positioning strategies.
Purpose: The marketing literature on service conversation in dyadic services has elaborated two a... more Purpose: The marketing literature on service conversation in dyadic services has elaborated two approaches. An advisory approach involves providers giving customers expert advice on how to advance difficult projects. By contrast, a relational approach involves providers exchanging social support with customers to develop commercial friendships. Inspired by the transformative turn in service research, this study aims to develop a third approach, one that helps customers to cultivate their own agency, potential and well-being.
Design/methodology/approach: The emergent model of service conversation is based on in-depth interviews with providers and clients of mental health services, including psychological counseling, psychotherapy and personal coaching.
Findings: A transformative approach to service conversation involves the iterative application of a complementary pair of conversational practices: seeding microtransformations by asking questions to inspire new ways of thinking, feeling and acting; and nurturing microtransformations via non-evaluative listening to affirm customers’ explorations of new possibilities. This pair of practices immediately elevates customers’ sense of psychological freedom, which, in turn, enables their process of self-transformation, one microtransformation at a time.
Practical implications: This study offers dyadic service providers a conceptual framework of advisory, relational and transformative approaches to service conversation for instrumental, communal and developmental service encounters, respectively. This framework can help dyadic service providers to conduct more collaborative, flexible and productive conversations with their customers.
Originality/value: Three approaches to service conversation – advisory, relational and transformative – are conceptually distinguished in terms of their overall aims, provider practices, customer experiences, customer outcomes, allocations of airtime, designations of expertise, application contexts, prototypical examples and blind spots.
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Papers by Marina Carnevale
Design/methodology/approach: The emergent model of service conversation is based on in-depth interviews with providers and clients of mental health services, including psychological counseling, psychotherapy and personal coaching.
Findings: A transformative approach to service conversation involves the iterative application of a complementary pair of conversational practices: seeding microtransformations by asking questions to inspire new ways of thinking, feeling and acting; and nurturing microtransformations via non-evaluative listening to affirm customers’ explorations of new possibilities. This pair of practices immediately elevates customers’ sense of psychological freedom, which, in turn, enables their process of self-transformation, one microtransformation at a time.
Practical implications: This study offers dyadic service providers a conceptual framework of advisory, relational and transformative approaches to service conversation for instrumental, communal and developmental service encounters, respectively. This framework can help dyadic service providers to conduct more collaborative, flexible and productive conversations with their customers.
Originality/value: Three approaches to service conversation – advisory, relational and transformative – are conceptually distinguished in terms of their overall aims, provider practices, customer experiences, customer outcomes, allocations of airtime, designations of expertise, application contexts, prototypical examples and blind spots.