Thorsten Gruber

Purpose – Adopting the transformative service research (TSR) perspective, the purpose of this paper
is to investigate the impact of positive customer feedback on the well-being of front-line employees,
companies, and society. Using a multidisciplinary approach, the overlooked area of “positive feedback”
is explored resulting in the development of the “Positive Feedback Model” (PFM). The study also
compares managers’ and employees’ perceptions of positive customer feedback.
Design/methodology/approach – Two exploratory qualitative studies were conducted: Study 1
consisted of 22 semi-structured interviews with managers working in the service industry and
Study 2 consisted of seven focus groups with front-line service employees. The extensive literature
review and the results of these two studies contributed to the development of the PFM.
Findings – Positive customer feedback is an overlooked area of service research which offers
potential for improving the well-being of the service entities. Front-line employees are the main
recipients and topics of positive customer feedback. The developed PFM describes various forms,
channels, and times of administration of positive customer feedback and its multitude of impacts on
the well-being of service entities.
Research limitations/implications – This study contributes to the literature on TSR and customer
feedback management. The developed model presents possible positive feedback categories, their
various outcomes and the outcomes for the concerned parties involved. By developing PFM and
encouraging a multidisciplinary approach combined with advanced research methodologies, the
researchers propose an agenda for further research insights within the TSR and customer feedback areas.
The comparison of the managers’ and employees’ perceptions of positive customer feedback presents
novel managerial implications and directions for future research.
Originality/value – This study is the first to explore customer feedback from a TSR perspective.
It examines the overlooked area of positive customer feedback. The well-being of service entities is
prioritized as services have been extensively criticized for ignoring human well-being.

Complexity surrounding the holistic nature of customer experience has made measuring customer perceptions of interactive
service experiences challenging. At the same time, advances in technology and changes in methods for collecting explicit customer
feedback are generating increasing volumes of unstructured textual data, making it difficult for managers to analyze and interpret
this information. Consequently, text mining, a method enabling automatic extraction of information from textual data, is gaining in
popularity. However, this method has performed below expectations in terms of depth of analysis of customer experience feedback
and accuracy. In this study, we advance linguistics-based text mining modeling to inform the process of developing an
improved framework. The proposed framework incorporates important elements of customer experience, service methodologies,
and theories such as cocreation processes, interactions, and context. This more holistic approach for analyzing feedback
facilitates a deeper analysis of customer feedback experiences, by encompassing three value creation elements: activities,
resources, and context (ARC). Empirical results show that the ARC framework facilitates the development of a text mining model
for analysis of customer textual feedback that enables companies to assess the impact of interactive service processes on customer
experiences. The proposed text mining model shows high accuracy levels and provides flexibility through training. As such,
it can evolve to account for changing contexts over time and be deployed across different (service) business domains; we term it
an ‘‘open learning’’ model. The ability to timely assess customer experience feedback represents a prerequisite for successful
cocreation processes in a service environment.

"Purpose – Despite efforts by researchers and managers to better link marketing activities with business financial outcomes, there is general agreement that by and large CMOs (and marketing in general) have lost strategic decision-making influence within organizations.  This research seeks to understand the causes of this decline and offer recommended solutions to counteract this trend.

Design/methodology/approach – In-depth interviews lasting between 40 and 55 minutes were conducted with twenty-five CEOs of service companies located in Western Europe, North America, and Australia.  In total, thirteen difference countries were represented.  Using Emerging Consensus Technique, we identified four main themes which cause the goals of CEOs and those of CMOs/marketing to diverge.

Findings – The primary cause of the decline of strategic influence of CMOs and marketing overall with CEOs is a function of four key issues: 1) the role of the CMO (e.g. task overload, focus on tactical issues, ‘outdated’ skill set), 2) lack of financial accountability (e.g. the inability to connect marketing efforts to financial returns), 3) digital and social media (e.g. a perceived obsession with new technology), and 4) lack of strategic vision and impact (e.g. lost sight of ‘core’ job, use of irrelevant metrics).

Practical implications –Our findings indicate that CMOs must address the four key issues uncovered for marketing to attain/regain a role in strategic decision-making.  A proposed roadmap for putting marketing back on the CEOs agenda is presented to guide CMOs.

Originality/value –This research provides marketers with a CEO eye view of their role within organizations.   
"

Purpose. Service managers and researchers are especially interested in Generation Y’s social media usage because it may be a harbinger of how people will behave in the future. The purpose of this paper is to review what we know – and don’t know – about Generation Y’s use of social media and to assess the implications for individuals, firms and society. The paper describes a conceptual framework for understanding Generation Y’s social media use, its antecedents and consequences. The paper concludes by outlining a research agenda to address unanswered questions about Generation Y’s use of social media.

Design/methodology/approach. The paper distinguishes Generation Y from other cohorts in terms of systematic differences in values, preferences and behavior that are stable over time (as opposed to maturational or other differences). It describes their social media use and highlights evidence of intra-generational variance arising from environmental factors (including economic, cultural, technological and political/legal factors) and individual factors. Individual factors include stable factors (including socio-economic status, age and lifecycle stage) and dynamic, endogenous factors (including goals, emotions, and social norms).The paper discusses how Generation Y’s use of social media influences individuals, firms and society. It develops managerial implications and a research agenda.

Findings. Prior research on the social media use of Generation Y raises more questions than it answers. It (a) focuses primarily on the United States and/or (at most) one other country, ignoring other regions with large and fast-growing Gen Y populations where social-media use and its determinants may differ significantly; (b) tends to study students whose behaviors may change over their life cycle stages; (c) relies on self-reports by different age groups to infer Gen Y’s social media use; and (d) does not examine the drivers and outcomes of social-media use. Our conceptual framework yields a detailed set of research questions.

Research limitations/implications. Gen Y is distinguished from other generational cohorts in its intense exposure to the Internet from a very young age. Further research is needed to identify enduring Gen Y traits and their influence on social media use. Also needed are studies investigating how Gen Y’s goals, emotions and norms influence – and are in turn influenced by – its social media use. Most studies consider Gen Y as a single homogeneous cohort; some compare and contrast Gen Y with other cohorts. However, there is significant heterogeneity within Gen Y’s social media use due to individual level factors identified by our framework.

Practical implications. Gen Y’s chief purpose for social media use is communication. We consider broad categories of social media usage (contributing, sharing, consuming or searching for content, participating, and playing). Social media offer opportunities to strengthen customer relationships by encouraging customers to engage with their brands and by fostering online brand or user communities, which can strengthen brand equity and increase customer lifetime value. Service industries traditionally rely on younger workers to fill their customer-facing positions. Hence, Gen Y’s use of social media also has implications for customer-employee interactions and for how firms hire, manage and motivate employees.

Social implications. There are beneficial consequences of Gen Y’s social media use. Platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, have been used effectively to disseminate healthcare information to communities, especially teens and young adults. There is evidence of negative long-term consequences for society arising from Gen Y’s social media use, such as a deterioration of civic engagement, a loss of privacy and public safety, and an increase in cyber crime. Gen Y’s use of social media may be leading to changes in social norms and behavior at the societal level in domains such as civic and political engagement, privacy and public safety.

Originality/value. One of the great challenges in generational research is that many studies are cross sectional and do not distinguish between the effects of age versus generational cohort. A limited number of studies have used longitudinal methods (that distinguish between these two effects). They confirm some generationally enduring traits. However, Gen Y’s characteristics are often discussed in overly broad, even sweeping, terms – ignoring intra-generational differences. This paper provides a conceptual framework for considering the antecedents and consequences of Gen Y’s social media usage. It identifies unanswered questions about Generation Y’s use of social media, as well as practical insights for managers.

The aim of this study is to expand understanding of satisfying service encounters. In particular, this research study will investigate both parties of the service encounter (customers and frontline employees). A dyadic approach will help to identify whether customer expectations differ from what contact employees believe customers desire from the service encounter. Insights will then lead to a greater understanding of the service encounter as revealed discrepancies in perceptions will not only increase employees’ and management awareness, but also provide implications for training and recruitment of employees. An exploratory research study using the well-established laddering interviewing technique was regarded as appropriate as it allows researchers to gain a deeper insight into the research subject. In total, in-depth laddering interviews with 40 respondents (20 customers and 20 frontline employees) were conducted.The findings of this study suggest that customers and employees identified several similar concepts as being important for a successful service encounter such as friendliness, competence, responsiveness, honesty, and communication skills.