4.12 Practice Styles and Service Systems

Journal of Service Management
Practice styles and service systems

Jennifer D. Chandler Steven Chen
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JOSM
27,5
Practice styles and
service systems
Jennifer D. Chandler
798 Department of Management, Mihaylo College of Business and Economics,
California State University, Fullerton, Fullerton, California, USA, and
Received 30 September 2015 Steven Chen
Revised 22 April 2016 Department of Marketing, Mihaylo College of Business and Economics,
6 August 2016
Accepted 10 August 2016 California State University, Fullerton, Fullerton, California, USA
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how practices influence service systems.
Design/methodology/approach – Data across three service contexts (crafts, healthcare and fitness)
were collected through depth interviews and netnographic analysis, and analyzed with a two-study
multi-method approach focusing first on the micro- (individual) level and then on the macro- (network)
level of service systems. Study 1 focused on a micro-level analysis using qualitative techniques
(Spiggle, 1994). Study 2 focused on a macro-level analysis using partial least squares regression.
Findings – The results illustrate how practices can change service systems. This occurs when a nuanced
practice (i.e. a practice style) orders and roots a service system in a specific form of value creation. The
findings reveal four practice styles: individual-extant, social-extant, individual-modified and social-modified
practice styles. These practice styles shift in response to event triggers and change service systems. These
event triggers are: service beneficiary enhancement, service beneficiary failure, service provider failure and
social change. Thus, the findings show that practices – when shifting in response to event triggers – change
service systems. This transpires in the understudied meta-layer of a service system.
Practical implications – The study identifies four practice styles that can serve as the basis for
segmentation and service design.
Originality/value – Service systems are dynamic and ever changing. This study explores how
service systems change by proposing a practice approach to service systems.
Keywords Service, Service innovation, Service systems, Networks, Service co-creation
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Service creates opportunities for market actors to enact different practices.
Traditionally, a fundamental practice of the firm has been to produce, while a
fundamental practice of humans has been to consume (Vargo and Lusch, 2016). In
service environments, firms typically enact service provision practices while humans
typically enact service beneficiary practices. However, in contemporary society, few
actors (whether firm or human) exclusively enact either of these practices. Rather, firms
and humans enact both types of practices (Edvardsson et al., 2011; Gummesson, 2006).
For instance, service innovations such as 3D printing empower humans to take on
production practices traditionally ascribed to firms (Diaz, 2014). By doing so, humans
enact practices that allow them to be service providers for other humans in ways that
resonate with do-it-yourself (DIY) services (Åkesson et al., 2014). In another example,
humans in brand communities teach one another about new products and services, a
Journal of Service Management practice typically attributed to firms (Piller et al., 2004; Schau et al., 2009). With respect
Vol. 27 No. 5, 2016
pp. 798-830
to healthcare systems, service innovations empower humans to gain knowledge about
© Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1757-5818
and advocate for their healthcare needs. In yesteryear, humans were typically passive
DOI 10.1108/JOSM-09-2015-0293 recipients of physician diagnoses (McColl-Kennedy et al., 2012).
The practices of firms have also evolved. Dubbed a “virtual, virtuous revolution,” Practice styles
the popular website Etsy pairs firms (as the beneficiaries) and humans (as the and service
providers) to buy and sell handmade, uniquely crafted items. Etsy’s founders
attribute their success to the trend that “many of the goods in our lives are so utterly
systems
disposable” coupled with Etsy’s ability to provide customized purchases that feel “less
consumerist” (Dalton, 2007, p. 1). Meanwhile, firms such as Starbucks and private gyms
continuously improve their service innovations by providing “third places” that have 799
become “homes away from home” for customers. Similarly, firms such as Build-A-Bear
Workshop, Bricomarche, or Okadaya orient their service encounters toward DIY
service experiences that help humans to produce products (rather than consume them).
Thus, practices are ever changing across service contexts (Cova and Dalli, 2009).
Yet the service literature does not provide a framework for investigating how these
changes influence service (Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2004; Vargo and Lusch, 2004,
2008). Furthermore, most conceptualizations of service do not account for the dynamic
nature of these changes (Barile et al., 2016).

For these reasons, the authors investigate how firms and humans remain connected
long after money is exchanged and long after value propositions are offered and
accepted (Payne et al., 2008). To do so, they investigate service as it transpires within
and across service systems, or “value-co-creation configurations of people, technology,
value propositions connecting internal and external service systems and shared
information” (Maglio and Spohrer, 2008, p. 18). More specifically, the authors
investigate how service systems change in response to the “doings,” or ongoing
activities, that connect firms and humans beyond a transaction (Åkesson et al., 2014).
Such a “doing” refers to a practice, or engagement, procedure and understanding
(Schau et al., 2009; McColl-Kennedy et al., 2012). Based on this, the authors pose the
following research question:
RQ1. How does a practice influence a service system?
By exploring how a doing, activity, or practice influences a service system, the authors
find that some practices evolve into practice styles, which order and root service
systems in specific value creation efforts (McColl-Kennedy et al., 2015). Whereas a
practice is a generic activity or doing, a practice style is the styling of a practice that
orders and roots a service system in a particular value creation effort. In other words, a
practice style mediates the amalgamation of actors, relations, activities and objects as a
service system according to the personal life of a specific human. The findings
reveal four practice styles: individual-extant, individual-modified, social-extant and
social-modified. These practice styles are based on the motivation and enactment of a
practice. Sometimes, a practice style shifts in response to event triggers. The findings
reveal four possible event triggers: service beneficiary enhancement, service
beneficiary failure, service provider failure or social change. When practice styles
shift in response to event triggers, they often change the service system. Moreover,
event triggers and practice style shifts iterate in perpetuity, which catalyzes service
system change; this is how practices influence service systems.
Based on 62 interviews across three different service contexts (crafts, healthcare and
fitness services), the results highlight how practices can change – that is, coalesce or
deteriorate – a service system. Data were collected through depth interviews and
netnographic analysis, then subsequently analyzed with a two-study multi-method
approach focusing on the micro- (individual) level and the macro- (network) level of
service systems. Study 1 focuses on a micro-level analysis using qualitative techniques
JOSM outlined by Spiggle (1994). Study 2 focuses on a macro-level analysis assessing the
27,5 influence of practices on service systems through partial least squares (PLS) regression.
The paper begins with a conceptual background, followed by an outline of the data and
analysis. This is followed by the findings section, discussion and conclusion.
Conceptual background
800 What is a practice?
Practice approaches are prevalent in service, management and marketing research, but
also in related disciplines such as sociology, anthropology and philosophy.
Accordingly, a unified body of “practice theory” does not currently exist and, as a
result, many service studies utilize the term “practice” in different ways (Brauchler and
Postill, 2010). Because of this, a much-needed integration of service and practice
research has not yet emerged in the service literature. Thus, this review begins with an
overview of practice approaches in the extant literature.
Traditional practice approaches examine human activity. These approaches can be

categorized as either structuralist or agentic. A structuralist orientation emphasizes the
influence of macro-level forces, such as culture, policy or social norms, on human
activity. Meanwhile an agentic orientation emphasizes the influence of micro-level
forces, such as personality, emotion or free will on human activity. To illustrate a more
structuralist orientation, consider Bourdieu’s (1977) focus on “structures constitutive of
a particular type of environment” and his assertions about how these structures
produce a habitus from which practices emerge (p. 77). Foucault (1979) similarly takes a
structuralist orientation and acknowledges the influence of macro-level forces on
individual practices, but focuses more on knowledge and power.
Taking a more agentic orientation, Ortner (1984) emphasizes how individual skill
can transform social structures and how this occurs when actors play the social games
of life, ultimately exerting social influence on the future trajectories of other practices.
A practice can also refer to the cognitive and affective dimensions of social activity
(Schatzki, 1996); thus, Schatzki et al. (2001) describe a practice as an “array of
activities,” or an open set of “non-regularized actions” (p. 16). Macro-level forces
(as studied by those who take a structuralist orientation) often dictate such arrays,
activities or actions. But when coordination occurs through mutual understanding
among actors, Giddens (1979) refers to this as structuration, or the ordering of social
order through the enactment of practices. He asserts that structuration is the influence
that individual practices can exert on social order and other macro-level forces.
Based on these foundations, practice approaches have found their way into
marketing, management and service research. In the marketing literature, scholars
tend to focus on practice alignment (i.e. activity coordination) among firms and
humans, including the alignment of ways of viewing the world, normalizing practices
or integrating practices (Kjellberg and Helgesson, 2006). Practices are engagements,
procedures and understandings; human practices, particularly in brand communities,
have been shown to aide firm performance (Schau et al., 2009). Based on this, other
scholars explore value co-creation as an alignment of firm and human practices
(Thomas et al., 2013). Because a fundamental idea behind value co-creation is joint
activity, there has been an emphasis on humans and firms together adding cultural
and affective value to market offerings (Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2004; Vargo and
Lusch, 2004). However, Cova and Dalli (2009) identify that value co-creation can
sometimes entail “double exploitation” or humans being willing to pay premiums for
firm offerings despite doing the “work” or activity of coordinating firm performance
with human expectations. As a result, there are also instances of value co-destruction Practice styles
when practices do not align (Echeverri and Skålén, 2011). and service
To this end, it has been shown that practice alignment can be difficult to
achieve when institutional logics compete. As emphasized in the management literature,
systems
institutions shape practices and the ways that they can influence and evolve culture and
social structures (Gehman et al., 2012). But, the institutional perspective asserts that
inasmuch as institutions shape practices, they can also be shaped by practices (Vaara 801
and Whittington, 2012; Smets et al., 2012). This occurs through practices that involve
sense-making – or “making sense” – of extant social activity (Rihova et al., 2013);
for example, the practice of “understanding” may not be explicitly physical, but it is still
considered a practice because it is a cognitive or sensory activity. Through these and
other types of practices, individuals often influence institutions.
Yet, despite the potential transformative influence of practices as shown in practice
approaches outside the service literature, traditional service research typically views
the firm as the overarching authority on practices within the servicescape, service
encounter and service experience (Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2004). However, scholars
have shown that firms by themselves cannot create value and have begun to explore
the role of humans as contributors or co-creators in service environments (Vargo and
Lusch, 2016). For example, McColl-Kennedy et al. (2012) assert practice styles as
activities emergent from the practices of both service beneficiaries and service
providers together. In line with this thought, recent scholarly attention turns to firm
and human practices together, viewed as service systems.
Service systems
Because service continues to transform in response to technology and globalization
(Helkkula et al., 2012), scholarly perspectives on service now span from narrow dyadic
perspectives, to broader service system, service-within-networks and service ecosystem
perspectives (Skålén et al., 2015; Chandler and Lusch, 2015). As explained below and
summarized in Table I, these broad perspectives arise from logics that prioritize the
activities, actions or work associated with service (Chesbrough, 2005; Maglio and
Spohrer, 2008; Barile et al., 2016). A practice approach deepens this priority and can
stimulate systems-oriented research on service innovation.
Service systems Service-within-networks Service ecosystems
Temporal emphasis
Change Engagement (temporality not Viability
emphasized)
Value co-creation emphasis
Value co-creation in dynamic Value co-creation in a static moment Value co-creation in
configurations in the meta-layer of multi-actor engagement complex, adaptive
systems or processes
Table I.
Empirical emphasis Comparison of
Coalescence and deterioration via Multi-actor engagement at the micro- Processes of complex, service systems,
event triggers, practice style shifts, level, meso-level, or macro-level – as a adaptive systems service-within-
and service system changes in the static moment of service networks and service
meta-layer ecosystems
JOSM To begin with, a service systems perspective emphasizes firms and humans together
27,5 in value co-creation configurations (Maglio and Spohrer, 2008; Åkesson et al., 2014).
Each configuration, or service system, emerges from a specific value creation effort
( Jaakkola and Alexander, 2014). However, these emergences, configurations or service
systems have traditionally been overlooked in the service literature because
temporality has not typically been emphasized (Barile and Polese, 2010; Barile et al.,
802 2016). Rather, traditional service research focuses on interactions at the site and
moment of a service transaction. Looking beyond the transaction is important because
service providers and beneficiaries remain connected long after a sale has been
completed, often beyond the servicescape (Aal et al., 2016). It has been shown that
service providers and beneficiaries remain connected when they jointly co-create value,
which often occurs within service systems (Meynhardt et al., 2016).
The service systems perspective extends the service-within-networks perspective
that prevails in much of service research (Barile et al., 2016). A service-within-networks
perspective focuses on the alignment, or engagement, of varying actors that may be

involved in service. Engagement is studied as a psychological state that arises from
interaction (Brodie et al., 2011) or as an alignment of dispositions and connections
(Chandler and Lusch, 2015). Engagement involves more than participation in direct
actor-to-actor service; it encompasses the many processes by which actors may
participate in value creation (Edvardsson et al., 2011; Tax et al., 2013).
Based on this, Chandler and Vargo (2011) encourage viewing service at
micro-, meso-, or macro-levels – at a particular moment in time. In particular,
viewing service at a micro-level reveals direct service between actors (i.e. within dyads,
or sets of two actors) at a particular moment in time. For example, direct service can
transpire when a bank employee engages with a customer. They also describe that
viewing service at a meso-level reveals indirect, or brokered, service (i.e. within triads,
or sets of three actors) at a particular moment in time. For example, the direct service
described previously can also be viewed as an indirect service; the bank employee
brokers service between a wholesaler of financial services and the customer, without
direct interaction ever occurring between the wholesaler and the customer. In this way,
the wholesaler indirectly engages the customer and, as stated previously, the
bank employee brokers the service. Finally, they describe that viewing service
at a macro-level emphasizes complex service (i.e. service among dyads and triads) at a
particular moment in time. For example, the bank or financial service described
previously can be viewed as a complex service – a combination of direct and indirect
service – when multinational corporations are engaged in a joint venture.
Drawing on the seminal notion of service as the application of competences for the
benefit of others, an instance of service can simultaneously involve – depending on the
researcher’s perspective – individuals (at the micro-level), brokers (at the meso-level) or
corporations (at the macro-level) (Vargo and Lusch, 2004, 2008). This underscores the
“doings” that transpire at these levels, which can also be referred to as practices (Schau
et al., 2009; McColl-Kennedy et al., 2012). Integrating these two definitions, service can
be viewed as the practices, activities or actions enacted for the benefit of others. Given
this, both firms and humans enact practices that benefit one another long after
transactions are completed (Aal et al., 2016). They do this throughout time, in different
ways. This is how service systems remain intact long after a transaction is completed.
However, a service-within-networks perspective falls short of providing a
framework for exploring this. Although service can change, the nature of this
change has been overlooked because a service-within-networks perspective typically
emphasizes static snapshots of service (Chesbrough, 2005). In other words, the passing Practice styles
of time during a service experience is generally absent from service-within-networks and service
perspectives. Because change is a constant and because service is not static, it is
necessary to study service as a continuous emergence transpiring against an evolving
systems
backdrop of technology, globalization, society and life. Thus, a study of service system
change is necessary to advance the service literature.
It is important to note, however, that a service system perspective differs from a 803
service ecosystem perspective (Aal et al., 2016). A service ecosystem perspective casts a
wider panoramic outlook on service by viewing service systems as co-existing next to
other service systems, which together constitute a service ecosystem. Consequently,
this scholarly lens elaborates service systems as “tightly coupled wholes,” or as subsets
within a larger service ecosystem (Nenonen et al., 2014, p. 10). A service ecosystem may
include the broader social, cultural, economic or macro systems that influence a specific
service system (Meynhardt et al., 2016). As interactions among these service systems
shape other systems with which they co-exist, the systems come to fit together at some
times and do not fit together at other times (Turchin, 2003a, b).
Thus, a service ecosystems perspective focuses mainly on adaptive mechanisms and
the viability of an entire service ecosystem (Meynhardt et al., 2016). In this perspective,
system fluctuations with respect to service ecosystem viability take priority over the health
of a single service system (Barile et al., 2016). Viability refers to an ecosystem’s ability “to
adapt to a changing environment by identifying a role to play in each context – that is how
to ‘serve’ a need– then satisfying the expectations of other viable systems such as suppliers,
customers and other stakeholders” (Barile et al., 2016, p. 5). As such, it is particularly
difficult to identify the boundaries of a service ecosystem, or a “relatively self-contained,
self-adjusting system[s] of resource-integrating actors connected by shared institutional
logics and mutual value creation through service exchange (Lusch and Vargo, 2014,
p. 161).” Doing so entails viewing service as a complex adaptive system, an approach that
has been applied across disciplines such as political economy, computer science, biology
and population ecology, to name a few (Holland, 1992; Levin, 1998; Turchin, 2003a, b).
The core emphases of the networks, system and ecosystem perspectives are
summarized in Table I.
Practice styles
Taking a practice approach to service extends the service-within-networks perspective
by highlighting the “doing” aspects that bring service alive; that is, a practice approach
combined with a service system perspective can reveal how practices animate the static
service moments emphasized in traditional service research. This largely takes place in
a service system’s meta-layer, which is understudied in service research (Chandler and
Vargo, 2011). A meta-layer rests upon the micro-, meso- and macro-levels of a network
and synchronizes the simultaneous evolution of these three levels as a system.
Stated differently, service – conceptualized at micro-, meso- and macro-levels – can
be seen as a set of engaged actors at a specific moment in time; on the other hand,
service – conceptualized in a meta-layer – can be seen as doings or practices that
connect actors from moment to moment, throughout time. Without the meta-layer, a
service system is not visible because service is emphasized as a set of engaged actors at
a certain point in time (i.e. a service network). But, with the meta-layer, a service system
is visible because service is emphasized as practices and doings (Giddens, 1979).
Although service – like a practice or a doing – is a generalized activity, it can be
enacted differently in various situations. In one service system, an actor may enact a
JOSM practice one way, while in another service system the same actor may enact the same
27,5 practice in a different way. This is because each service system’s capacity to
accommodate each practice is different (Turner, 1985). For example, “exercising” is a
generalized practice or activity. However, the practice or activity of exercising can be
enacted differently across service systems; because gyms offer many different resources
(e.g. weights, floor mat, instructors, earphones, etc.), there are many ways to enact
804 “exercising” at a gym. For example, gym members can participate in an exercise class
with friends, lift weights alone in silence, or run on a treadmill while listening to music.
As a result, many different service systems can emerge for the practice of exercising.
Hence, a practice style is a stylized or nuanced practice that is specific to a
service system. It orders and roots a service system in a specific value creation effort
(McColl-Kennedy et al., 2012). Whereas a practice is an array of activities that is
generally diffused across time and space, a practice style is a nexus of activities specific
to the context, or service system, in which it occurs. It mediates the amalgamation of
actors, relations, activities and objects as a service system. A practice style is a general
class or category within which multitudes of different practices can fall.
Consider an example of two service systems that both center on food preparation.
These two service systems may create value in different ways: value creation in one
service system may center on efficiency, while value creation in the another service
system may center on flavor. Although the generalized practice of “food preparation” is
enacted in both service systems, stylized practices of food preparation differ in each
service system because each configuration is rooted in a different value creation effort.
In other words, the “efficiency” service system centers on a food preparation practice
style that is quick and fast, while the “flavor” service system centers on a food
preparation practice style that is lengthy and complex.
Although practices may bind the same actors for the long term, practices styles may
change over time ( Jaakkola and Alexander, 2014). For example, two actors may enact
the practice of “communicating” and thus be connected over a long period of time;
however, they may choose to alter their practice styles by “communicating” in verbal or
written styles. A verbal practice style may coalesce a service system comprised of
phones, electricity and voice, whereas a written practice style may coalesce a service
system comprised of pens, paper and postage stamps. Nonetheless, as the two actors
continuously communicate with one another, they become more tightly bounded and
service systems coalesce around them. But, if, for instance, one of the actors must
change from a written to a verbal practice style, the existing service system may
deteriorate and a new service system may emerge in response to the new practice style.
In this way, humans often do the work of shaping service systems and aligning the
practices of multiple actors (Cova and Dalli, 2009; Payne et al., 2008).
This occurs because humans are motivated to adapt practices to what they feel and
think. Chandler and Chen (2015) find that human motivations can be summarized into two
general classes: social and individual. Based on these motivations, humans enact practice
styles that align with their personal lives and also the practices of other actors (Tax et al.,
2013). Because of this “work,” service systems coalesce and remain intact over time, or
they deteriorate and dissolve over time. For this reason, humans have been referred to
as “co-producers” or “working consumers”; they enact practices that bridge among
contexts, actors and resources (Cova and Dalli, 2009). These bridges transform when
practice styles shift and may coincide with transitions in surrounding service systems.
Consider, for example, the different practice styles by which food can be ordered at a
restaurant: customers may order from a service provider while standing at a cash
register, order from a service provider while sitting at a restaurant table, order from a Practice styles
mobile device, or order from a drive-through window while sitting in a vehicle. and service
The practice of “ordering food” can be enacted in different ways. As a result, service
systems may center on a particular enactment of food ordering. Consequently, if a
systems
practice style shifts, it often changes value creation in a service system (Chen et al.,
2012). In this way, practice style shifts may change service systems (McColl-Kennedy
et al., 2012). For this reason, it is hypothesized that practice styles can influence service 805
system change:
H1. Practice styles influence the change of service systems.
Because of this, it is also important to clarify how human motivations influence the
enactment of a practice across service systems (Akaka and Chandler, 2011). Moeller
et al. (2013) find that humans enact “diverse roles that vastly exceed their traditional
buyer or beneficiary tasks” (p. 471). Factors or event triggers in the personal lives of
humans inform these roles (Chandler and Chen, 2015). In response to these event
triggers, humans may become innovative in how they enact practices, especially those
typically ascribed to the role of consumer or purchaser (Aal et al., 2016).
To illustrate, consider an online shopper enacting “search,” “archive” or “sort”
practices that are associated with database management. Because the online shopper
may have suddenly become price sensitive, the shopper might compare prices in the
same ways that a brick-and-mortar shopper might compare prices. Essentially, the online
shopper combines and recombines practices associated with both database management
and brick-and-mortar shopping to establish a practice style that fits his or her needs and
personal life. This practice style then orders a service system to fit these needs. A practice
style shift would then change the service system (Turner, 1985). For this reason, it is
hypothesized that event triggers can influence the change of service systems:
H2. Event triggers influence the change of service systems.
This recombinant and modular nature of practices and practice styles provides the
fundamental pivots upon which service systems can change over time. However, in
order to better understand how service systems change, it is necessary to clarify how
and why practices are uniquely enacted across service systems.
Methodology
Research context
The authors selected three service contexts (crafts, fitness and healthcare) for the basis of
their research. These contexts were chosen for several reasons. First, the service settings
of crafts, fitness and healthcare exemplify transformative service research settings
focused on the well-being of consumer entities, individuals, communities and ecosystems
(Anderson et al., 2013; Ostrom et al., 2015). Thus, there is some consistency in the
motivations of respondents to improve both individual and collective well-being. Second,
crafts, fitness and healthcare service enable humans to participate in service in different
ways; service across these contexts is comprised of intricate webs of human, service
providers, objects and processes. In the fitness context, for example, a service system
may be comprised of the respondent, his or her social affiliations, the gym that he or she
attends and the various resources (e.g. weights, athletic apparel) used to augment the
workout. Finally, the three service contexts represent formidable industries. In the USA,
the crafting industry is a $29 billion industry (Craft and Hobby Association, 2012).
The fitness industry generated over $30.3 billion in annual revenue in 2015; finally,
JOSM hospitals, which are the largest segment of the healthcare service industry, drew in over
27,5 $986.4 billion (IBISWorld, 2016a, b). In totality, the three service contexts provide a rich
field for analyzing service, human motivation and practice enactment.
By exploring practice styles across these three different service contexts, this
research is an extension of previous investigations on the wide range of activities that
humans undertake when creating value (Garzaniti et al., 2011; Tax et al., 2013).
806 To illustrate, consumers engage in craft services, or create value, for different reasons,
from learning how to craft, to social bonding. These craft services require enactment of
different practices, ranging from the purchase of a readymade craft objects, to
customizing DIY crafts. Similarly, in the physical fitness context, some humans
exercise autonomously, while others enjoy exercising with social others. There are also
many ways to enact fitness practices, ranging from follow-along gym classes to
exercising alone at home. Even in healthcare, humans vary in motivation and practice
enactment. For instance, one may prefer a healthcare provider designated by an
insurance company. Alternately, one’s healthcare might involve family decision

making, visiting several doctors and homeopathic treatments. These three service
contexts provide a wide range of situations that can illustrate what humans do when
they create value.
Notably, each service context also represents a number of sub-segments.
For example, crafts include scrapbooking, floral arrangement, painting, needlecraft
and woodcrafts (Craft and Hobby Association, 2012). Similarly, fitness could include
gym-based exercise, specialized fitness regimen at specialty retailers (e.g. yoga or
CrossFit), exercising at home or casual jogging with friends. Healthcare might include
industry sub-segments such as insurance, hospital services, alternative medicine or diet
products. The goal of this study was not to isolate any one of these service
sub-segments, but rather to take a holistic view of these services and, specifically, to
examine how consumers participate across sub-segments. For example, the Craft and
Hobby Association (2012) study showed that the average American crafter participated
in 2.96 craft segments. Furthermore, adopting a holistic view provides insight into the
collective impact of such participation (Anderson et al., 2013).
Sampling and data collection

In total, 62 respondents constituted the total sample for the study. To qualify for the
study, the respondent needed to be an active participant in the service context.
The inquiry began with the recruitment of 22 craft consumers. The authors recruited
by purposively sampling crafters in their geographic areas, then employed snowball
sampling to recruit more respondents. Technical competence (e.g. novice or expert) was
not a factor in recruitment. The authors continued to recruit respondents until a
saturation point was reached with respect to the data (Corbin and Strauss, 2008).
To increase the generalizability of the study, the authors recruited an additional 20 fitness
consumers and 20 healthcare consumers with the same procedures used for recruiting
craft consumers. In total, 62 respondents were recruited across all service contexts.
Data were collected through depth interviews and netnographic analysis (Skålen
et al., 2015). The main mode of data collection was depth interviews (McCracken, 1988).
Questions for depth interviews were informed by previous studies that investigate
consumer motivations (Chandler and Chen, 2015; Dahl and Moreau, 2007; Garzaniti
et al., 2011) and enactment (Chen et al., 2012; Tax et al., 2013) in service experiences.
Interviews began with grand tour questions; these questions were followed with
inquiries into respondents’ practice enactment in crafts, physical fitness or healthcare
service settings. Specifically, these questions examined respondents’ motivations to Practice styles
participate in service and their chosen practice enactments (see below list). Interview and service
sessions were audio recorded with participants’ consent and professionally transcribed.
Interview protocol:
systems
(1) Grand tour questions:
• Tell me about yourself. 807
• What are your crafting/physical fitness/health interests?
(2) Motivation questions:
• When, why, and how did you start crafting/physical fitness/healthcare?
• Who else is involved in your crafting/physical fitness/healthcare network?
• Which service providers do you use?
• Why were they selected?

(3) Enactment questions:
• How did you produce this craft object/manage your physical fitness/manage
your healthcare?
• How did you do it before?
• What changed?
The authors also performed a netnography of online craft and DIY communities to
externally validate themes from the craft depth interviews. Of the three service
contexts involved in the study, the authors exclusively conducted netnographic
analysis on crafts because it is the only service involving a physical output. Through
online forums, the authors were able to access photographs of crafters’ outputs.
Additionally, the online forums allowed the authors to extrapolate motivations for craft
engagement, the enactment of craft production and the raw materials used to produce
craft objects. Following procedures prescribed by Kozinets (2002) and used in past
service research (Zhao et al., 2015), the authors purposively sampled online craft
communities by using several heuristics to select communities using a Google search.
First, the craft forum needed to be a “brand name” community. Second, the forum
needed to be active for several years. Finally, the forum members needed to be
frequently interacting with one another. Based on these criteria, the authors chose the
Project Showcase at www.craftforum.com, a Color Me Mine forum, the Lego Parents
Café in the Lego Community and IKEA’s Share Space. Through online forums, the
authors were exposed to 878 discrete online threads. Subsequently, they used
purposive sampling to select 171 threads germane to the research topic. To maximize
the chances of data discovery, the authors selected threads with thick text descriptions
(as opposed to entries with one or two line responses) and photography of craft objects.
Data analysis
Data were analyzed using a two-study multi-method approach to investigate both the
micro- (individual) level and the macro- (network) level of a service system. The first study
focused on micro-level analysis of respondents or individuals to generate a typology of
practice styles and event triggers; this included qualitative techniques outlined by Spiggle
(1994), along with triangulation, member checks and purposive sampling. The second
JOSM study focused on macro-level analysis to check the validity of the aforementioned
27,5 typology and to statistically assess the influence of practices on service systems through
PLS regression. Each approach is detailed below.
Study 1: typology generation using qualitative analysis. Because of the exploratory
nature of this research, scales and established measurement tools that conform to the
proposed theoretical framework do not exist. To investigate the influence of practices on
808 service systems, the authors used the analytic framework outlined by Spiggle (1994) to
focus data analysis at the micro, or individual, level. This generated a typology of
practices and event triggers. The authors then began analysis by carefully reading
research transcripts and categorizing units of data. This process is akin to the open
coding process in grounded theory whereby textual fragments are attached with a code
(Corbin and Strauss, 2008). Figure 1(a)-(b) provides examples of coding procedures. The
authors next extracted text passages from interview transcripts based on their relevance
to the study and coded them based on the respondent name and service context. Second,
they attached open codes describing each text passage. Third, the authors aggregated
open codes into higher order categories. In pooling higher order categories, the authors
iteratively reflected back on the literature for guidance (Gummesson, 2005). The main
analytical categories of “individual/social motivations” and “extant/modified enactment,”
emerged from the data, but were also simultaneously influenced by literature
(a)
Text Passage Open Code Higher Order Code Open Code Text Passage
(Respondent, Service Context) (Respondent, Service Context)
For me, the gym is more self-serve. I Autonomy, Produce I’ll try to do that with Brad
mean my workouts are meditative… Relaxation Social [husband]… we tandem bike… we will
(Timothy, Physical Fitness) Capital most likely do it with a group of other
riders too
(Betsaby, Physical Fitness)
I see a therapist once a week, every
Friday. I was seeing a chiropractor for Individual Social
Coping Community I like to get referrals from friends. I
a while… she said my spine bends the Motivation Motivation
wrong direction usually ask around and see, where my
(Karen, Healthcare) friends go to… I talk to my husband’s
co-workers… I usually go to them for
recommendations because I know
The landscapes… the beauty of it. Competence, Produce that we’d be on the same health plan.
When I come across something, I say Enjoyment Social So those would be the big things –
“Oh wow, that needs to be painted.” I Capital recommendations from people
went down there with my plein air (Christina, Healthcare)
setup and did a plein air painting
(David, Crafts)
Everyone was crafting, my mom and
aunts. They sewed and I just started
doing it. We give them as gifts. Like
this one I’m making for an old
classmate
(Janice, Crafts)
(b)
Text Passage Open Code Higher Order Code Open Code Text Passage
(Respondent, Service Context) (Respondent, Service Context)
I just want to show up. I want To supplement my running regiment,

“Tell me
“Do-it- in order to go faster, I need to
somebody to tell me what to do what to do”
yourself” workout. You can pick it up on your
(Jerry, Physical Fitness)
own, so I wouldn’t hire a fitness
trainer. When I do it with other
people, I become less focused
You tell me who you want me to go to, “Tell me Extant Modified Locus of (Manuel, Physical Fitness)
and that’s who I will see what to do” Enactment Enactment control
(Elvis, Healthcare) I want to be associated with the
hospital of my choice. I want more
than one doctor. I want to be able to
When I got to the stamping party, I
get in and not have to see the same
was actually bewildered that we were Course “Do-it- doctor
going to stamp and someone gave a instruction, yourself,” (Dixie, Healthcare)
lesson on stamping… it was a great follow-along customize
magnificent lesson on three ways on
Figure 1. how to make a card
(Mary, Crafts)
As I got older, I started making my
own clothing because I didn’t like
Coding procedures what was out trend-wise
(Alexis, Crafts)
(Chandler and Chen, 2015; Dahl and Moreau, 2007; Tax et al., 2013). Then, the authors Practice styles
compared differences and similarities across respondents and between service contexts. and service
Finally, they sought relationships in the data resulting in the four core intersections –
individual-extant, social-extant, individual-modified and social-modified – that were a
systems
result of this back and forth analyses between data and theory.
The authors used triangulation, member checks and purposive sampling to assess the
trustworthiness of the data. First, they triangulated sources by recruiting respondents 809
with heterogeneous backgrounds and different levels of expertise. Then, triangulation
between the authors was assessed. The two principal authors initially coded the data
independently and then held collaborative meetings to discuss and draw relationships
between coding results. Finally, the study was triangulated by context. The authors
observed results from three different service contexts (crafts, physical fitness and
healthcare) to discover convergences in the data in order to enhance the generalizability
of findings. Additionally, they conducted member checks by sharing preliminary results
to a sub-set of the sample to insure validity of interpretations. Finally, the purposive

sampling across three service contexts ensured that results were generalizable.
Study 2: validity check using PLS regression. The authors then focused on the
macro-level by using PLS regression to validate the influence of practice styles and event
triggers on service system change. PLS refers to a class of methods that combines principal
components analysis and multiple regression (Wold, 1963, 1993; Naik et al., 2000). It is
appropriate here for three reasons: first, the study of service systems is a relatively new
area of research in which empirical insights are highly exploratory; second, service systems
are not directly observable; and three, two of the variables are categorical (because of this,
PLS estimates are more stable when compared to those of multiple regression using
maximum likelihood estimation). The PLS software used for this study (SmartPLS)
conducts a bootstrapping approach for significance testing (Ringle et al., 2005). To prepare
the data for analysis, the authors scrutinized the transcripts for mentions of practice styles,
event triggers and service systems as described by respondents. Six non-biased external
judges who are working service professionals were recruited to score these mentions
according to the typology outlined in the qualitative analysis. After evaluating interrater
reliability and resolving discrepancies, these scores were used to estimate the PLS model.
Findings
Study 1: typology generation using qualitative analysis
Practice styles. The results reveal four different practice styles, which vary by motivation
and practice enactment. Humans are motivated to enact various practices for individual
reasons and social reasons (Chandler and Chen, 2015). Additionally, consumers vary in
their enactment of practices. In extant enactment, humans enact practices with little to no
customization. In modified enactment, humans significantly customize and modify
practices with little guidance from service providers. By combining motivation and
enactment, a typology of four practice styles emerged from the data: individual-extant
practice style, social-extant practice style, individual-modified practice style and social-
modified practice style (Table II). Each of these is discussed below.
Individual-extant practice style. In the individual-extant practice style, respondents
enact practices with little or no customization to fulfill individual motivations, such as
competence, autonomy or learning. Although respondents report high engagement in
these services, they adhere to the guidelines and parameters outlined by service
providers to achieve individual motivations and to order service systems accordingly.
JOSM
27,5
810
Table II.
Practice styles in
service systems
In the fitness context, the individual-extant practice style ordered service systems
according to “follow-along” fitness classes, or the hiring of a personal trainer who
dictated instructions to respondents. Some respondents reported lacking the
competence to develop fitness routines on their own and, in turn, enlisted experts or
relied on service providers to facilitate exercise. Respondents also enjoyed the structure
of instructed fitness routines because they wanted to “know what to do.” For instance,
Teeana described the individual-extant practice style in Core Power Yoga:
I actually follow instruction all the time […] At first they have to teach you each pose, like the
basic pose. And then, once you get into the pose […] you could follow the flow because the
class has a flow, from the starting one to the hardcore and then back down. So when you’re at
peak, if you’re too tired, you could go back down to the normal pose and then just relax
yourself, but you usually want to follow the class because that’s really good for you.
Teanna’s practice style was based on following along with the service provider as a
specific form of value creation; this practice style ordered her fitness service system
around the times and places of the service provider’s Yoga classes. This individual-
extant practice style also allowed the respondent to enact a practice “that’s really
good for you” without needing to know how to create a fitness routine that is in fact
“good for you.” Consequently, respondents reported enjoying the relaxing,
autonomous service experiences in accordance with these service systems; this
often allowed them to escape their perceived stressful, everyday lives. To illustrate,
Betsaby enacted an individual-extant practice style during her bootcamp class to
decompress from work:
It relieves some stress after work hours. It kind of lets me leave work a little bit earlier because
I’m trying to hit classes at a certain timeframe, so it forces me to leave work at a certain time.
And when I’m there, I’m kind of in the zone […] and it helps kind of de-stress me.
Similarly, in healthcare services, respondents who adopted individual-extant practice Practice styles
styles did little to customize existing services: they enrolled with insurance-assigned and service
healthcare providers (rather than opting to find their own healthcare providers) and
followed physician prescriptions and treatments with little to no customization.
systems
For some respondents, they felt that following a “default” doctor or “cookie cutter”
treatment gave them autonomy because they did not need to seek further care or
attention. Their service systems tended to be simple, consisting of one doctor, that 811
doctor’s staff, one insurance company and any prescribed medications. For instance,
Annie visited her doctor only once a year to get the care she needed and would leave as
soon as she could:
Which ever [doctor] has an appointment available, because I don’t go a lot. I don’t generally
see the same one. There’s nothing that’s an ongoing thing that I feel like I need to talk to the
same person.
Although other respondents report being more engaged with their healthcare, they still
enacted individual-extant practice styles to achieve autonomy. For example, David’s
healthcare service system centered on a specific service provider that outlined the foods,
shakes and vitamin supplements that were required for David to improve his health.
Eventually, he sought an affiliated instructor to hold him accountable for following a daily
diet and fitness routine. For David, value creation stemmed from being instructed and
from realizing the health benefits associated with following these instructions:
I have a coach. Now I have an actual program to follow – a system and I actually have a way
of measuring myself. So now I have to be accountable for what I’m eating because now I’m
measuring myself every week. I have a plan. I have someone telling me what to do. It’s perfect.
In the context of craft, respondents who enacted individual-extant practice styles were
drawn to “ready-to-purchase” kits that created DIY service experiences and fulfilled
individual motivations. These service systems were ordered by such kits, including
scrapbooking kits, jewelry-making kits, craft kits or LEGO kits; these kits required
assemblage, but did not require customization nor did they require many additional
resources from a service beneficiary. Resources provided by these kits could be
integrated into any extant service systems already in the lives of service beneficiaries.
By following instructions provided with these kits, respondents achieved individual-
level goals such as autonomy and competence. For instance, one respondent described
how her two children ordered their different service systems on LEGO kits. Although
one child demonstrated the individual-extant practice style to achieve autonomy and
competence, the other child did not:
I’m a mom of a creative 8 year old, he is a big LEGO lover and can spend hours building
things. I’m the typical mom that encourages her boy to build the Legos as per the instructions
[…] On the other hand I have a girl that builds any LEGO that falls on her hands completely
by the book and won’t re-use the pieces to build something else, for her once [it’s] built, the
game is over.
Her son’s service system was based on repeated, continuous and unscripted use of the
Lego bricks, while her daughter’s service system was based on following the service
provider’s instructions for one-time use.
Social-extant practice style. In the social-extant practice style, respondents also
enact practices with little or no customization. However, they do so to fulfill social
motivations, such as the development and maintenance of social relationships.
JOSM Humans who enact social-extant practice styles draw on these practices to manage
27,5 social relationships. Their service systems are ordered by social relationships and the
benefits of being socially connected to others.
In the fitness context, respondents of the social-extant practice style reported social
bonds as a motivation to engage in fitness services. Yet, while exercising with friends,
respondents of this practice style preferred to follow service provider instructions, as
812 opposed to creating customized fitness routines. Their service systems were typically
ordered by gyms, which provided social times during which respondents could exercise
among others, as opposed to exercising alone at home. In the USA especially, a special
type of fitness center has risen to popularity by ordering service systems according to
social-extant practice styles. Typically, in these particular fitness centers, service systems
emerged from service beneficiaries together completing a “Workout of the Day.” In this
way, these respondents’ service systems consisted of the fitness center, social relations
facilitated by the fitness center, fitness clothing and the cognitive or affective states of all
the actors engaged in the “Workout of the Day.” For example, Jerry and his friend Sam,
exercised together and have engaged in various physical fitness services including
boxing classes and different gyms; however they reported that this fitness center that
focused on the social-extant practice style kept them interested in fitness:
My friend Sam […] we’re pretty good friends. We kind of do a lot of stuff together. We were
looking into boxing because both of us were kind of interested. We were going to the gym, but
we were getting bored. Then we tried [CrossFit] and we kind of just stuck with this.
On the contrary, social motivations were not always based on social bonding; some
respondents were motivated by social competition. Gyms and exercising with other
humans also motivated some respondents to exercise because of their “competitive
nature.” For example, Jane was willing to pay $150 a month to join a gym to benefit from
this competitive-social environment, which motivated her to exercise harder:
It just depends on what kind of person [you are]. If you’re motivated to do 24 Hour Fitness
consistently, then props to you, but I was getting bored. So, I joined CrossFit and I like the
encouragement, everyone pushing each other […] [In CrossFit] one workout of the day, is 150
wall balls […] if you want to be competitive with these people, but, you know, I can’t go over
the 9-foot line because I’m short. They know that, but, I was lucky one time. I actually got, like,
11 and I thought I could not do any […] You kind of push yourself and you can actually do
more than you think you can.
Similarly, in the healthcare context, respondents of the social-extant practice style were
drawn to social relationships that developed their service systems. For example, Letty
described her nurse navigator at a cancer center as a “right leg,” best friends” and “family
member.” Her relationship with the nurse navigator, who relayed Letty’s medical
information to the oncologist and nurse practitioner, ordered Letty’s healthcare service
system; it was a major reason why Letty remained with her current healthcare service
provider. Furthermore, Letty followed the cancer center’s treatment program with little
customization. She did little independent research because search results were “negative”
and “depressing”; she wanted to know “just enough – not too much, not too little.”
Also, respondents of the social-extant practice style were motivated to leverage
expertise in their healthcare service system to manage their family’s health needs.
For example, Christine’s healthcare service system included herself, her son and her
friends. With respect to healthcare advice (especially her son’s healthcare), her first stop
was to seek the advice of her friends. Thus, these social relations ordered her healthcare
service system. At the same time, she sought professional information from doctors. Practice styles
She did not diverge from advice gleaned from these social relations and did not perform and service
independent diagnoses with respect her son’s health or her own health. Christine
explained her social-extant practice style:
systems
If the guy who fixes my car says “you know, you really need oil,” he’s the expert so I’m going
to give my car oil. Same thing with the doctor. If the doctor thinks that I should give my son
the vaccine, then I’m going to go with her opinion. 813
In the context of crafts, the social-extant practice style connected service to mundane
objects and integrated these objects into extant service systems; these practices
style often involved social exchange and the exchange of meaning. As a result, these
service systems were ordered by respondents’ efforts to manage social relations.
For example, Build-a-Bear type retailers offered parties during which participants
celebrated by following service provider instructions to create stuffed animal toys.
In examples like these, respondents reported social-extant practice styles through

the purchase and gifting of an experience or object “as is,” per service provider
instructions. For example, a respondent on the LEGO Legend of Chimera online forum
expressed the idea of creating social capital via gift exchanges:
Okay, so I’ve been thinking; What if there was a way to give gifts to your friends? Think
about it! You could send weapons, clothes, food or [Lego] bricks to friends, just to be nice!
Individual-modified practice style. In the individual-modified practice style,
respondents modify or customize services to fulfill individual motivations, such as
autonomy and competence. Respondents reported that “cookie cutter” solutions did not
meet their unique needs. Instead of following instructions, respondents customized
services, often through DIY solutions. By creating their own service solutions,
respondents expressed and gained technical competence and autonomy.
In the fitness context, customized fitness routines embodied the individual-modified
practice style. Some respondents reported fitness needs that professional fitness services
simply could not provide. For example, Manuel, a competitive runner, used his gym
membership to supplement his jogging training. Instead of following a gym-specified
program, he customized his own fitness routine to improve the muscle groups that would
allow him to run faster. To put together his own program, he collected advice from online
training videos and fitness magazines. Manuel’s service system was ordered by this
practice style and consisted of the practice of running, his practice of visiting the gym
regularly, gym membership, fitness equipment, running shoes, running routes and
information gained from the fitness magazines. Manuel’s service system was more
complex and self-provided than those of respondents who report extant practice styles.
Similarly, Eddie created his own weight lifting program to maximize the gains from
his fitness routine. Consistent with the individual-modified enactment practice style, he
firmly believed in individualizing one’s physical fitness:
Everyone has their own technique, but it’s whatever you feel that could work because not all
workouts will work for that person. After about a month, your workout regiment don’t work
as effectively as the first time you did it because your body gets used to it. You always need to
switch up routines.
In the healthcare context, humans often enacted the individual-modified practice style by
self-diagnosing their ailments and customizing their own healthcare service systems.
JOSM Respondents who enacted the individual-modified enactment practice style report being
27,5 highly competent, desiring of instant results and needing a high locus of control.
For instance, Dixie had a mysterious disorder that caused severe breathing and
gastro-intestinal problems. Despite tests from several specialists, she felt that doctors failed
to provide a diagnosis. So she took it upon herself to research her own condition and
ordered a service system of multiple doctors, varying specialists and nutritionists who could
814 provide her with solutions. Without consulting her doctors, her service system evolved
according to her experiments with different diets that she felt could improve her condition.
Despite the medical expertise embedded in her service system, she constantly confronted
prescribed treatments and medical prescriptions with her own independent research:
When you go online, you find out there’s another antibiotic [Flagyl] and [the doctors within
the healthcare network] won’t prescribe it for you. Why won’t you prescribe it for me? Now,
granted, Flagyl could cause the same problem for me and that would have been my fault for
asking for it […] We all know why they do it, but it’s so frustrating for the patient and on top
of that you have the insurance. You know the drug I should be taking is a $1,300 drug.
Within the craft service context, respondents leveraged their own skill and expertise to
enact independent-modified practice styles by customizing creative outputs from raw
materials. Known in the craft community as “DIYers”, these individuals modified service
offerings to suit their own needs and to gain feelings of competence. For example, Cameron
modified a stock skateboard to a smaller size so that he could perform better tricks on it.
He also customized the skateboard with stickers and other graphics. Another respondent,
Dan, turned to woodcrafts to attain feelings of competence. Referencing a custom wine
rack, Dan acknowledged that he could purchase a readymade wine rack at retailers, but
that he would not achieve competence unless he made it himself:
I am sure they make them. And with the Internet, you can find stuff much faster. But it is my
personal pride. “I can make it.” I also take pride in where I try to make something using
lumber that I left over from something.
When solutions did not exist, other respondents built their own creative objects from
scratch. For instance, one crafter used raw materials acquired from a thrift store to
create a protective cover for her web tablet. She proudly posted her creation on the
Project Showcase on craftforum.com:
I adjusted the dimensions to fit my tablet because these are for an iPad and I have a Toshiba
Thrive. I wasn’t sure what chipboard was, but the dollar store I frequent was selling picture
matting for 50 cents and I thought that would work great. I bought some hairbands at the
same dollar store to use as the elastic. Everything else, I already had at home so I spent $1.70
on materials for this.
Social-modified practice style. In the social-modified practice style, respondents modify
or customize service to develop and manage social relationships. Similar to the previous
practice style, respondents felt that extant services only offer “one-size-fit-all” solutions
that were inadequate for their needs. Consequently, they ordered their own service
systems to facilitate development of social relationships.
In the fitness service context, respondents who enacted the social-modified practice
style created unique fitness routines that enhanced their social relationships. These
participants felt that exercising alone at home or in a gym was too structured and
isolating. Additionally, they desired either social bonding or social competition through
physical fitness. For example, Mark remained active by running and playing basketball
with his friends. He did not have a gym membership and refused to run indoors on a Practice styles
treadmill. He reported his motivation as socializing with friends, who he would not and service
otherwise be able to see. In this way, physical fitness was a medium by which his social
relationships can flourish:
systems
I don’t see my friends as often anymore as we did in high school, so it’s, like, that’s our time to,
like, meet up and catch up.
815
Literally, social relationships can be built through physical fitness services. Around
2008, David endured a seven-year depression, a break up and his first mundane desk
job. He spent most of his time alone at home and reported eating excessively. Around
that time, his cousin died of a heart attack, which prompted him to improve his health
and wellness habits. He did not join a gym, because he was “not a gym rat” and he
would get “bored easily.” He began by walking around his office building on workdays.
His regular walking habit eventually evolved into jogging, then he began a carb-free
diet. During this time, David actively transformed his service system because his
activities yielded modest results, which encouraged him to further develop his fitness
routine. This motivation was heightened when he reunited with a former classmate
who was a fitness service provider. With her support, David began exercising on a
daily basis and their relationship flourished to the point where she became his
girlfriend. David recounted the story:
It was just coincidence that my very first 5K was my first organized run. It was a week
later and she was also registered to do it. She’s a runner. I was like, perfect. Yes, we have
similar interests. And I have someone to hang out with now. It’s funny because if you
look back on my Facebook page and you go back to 2011, you’re going to see nothing
but me and [Elizabeth] every day. Either we were out biking, we were out running,
we’re drinking. So she was my partner in crime. We’d work out, everything. We did
boot camp together.
With the support of “life coach,” David lost a tremendous amount of weight.
Furthermore, he began a regular routine of lifting weights, running half-marathons and
eating healthy foods. He was motivated by a social relationship and ordered his fitness
service system around this relationship.
In the healthcare arena, participants who engaged in the social-modified practice
style were motivated by their social relationships; they customized service systems by
comparing professional opinions with their own research and advice from their friends
or family. Rather than customizing healthcare for individual reasons (e.g. competence,
autonomy), respondents reported customizing healthcare services to improve
healthcare for family members or because of family members. By discussing and
sharing health advice, they created a medium for social bonding.
For example, Art only visited a doctor as a last resort or when he needed instant
results. To order his service system, he often sought the expertise of family members
who worked in medical fields and drew upon previous experiences with homeopathic
treatments. For his general healthcare and that of his family, his service system
consisted of his social relations, information gained from these social relations, healthy
foods, vitamin supplements and homeopathic remedies. He did not want his healthcare
service system to center on doctor’s offices and hospitals; rather, he wanted his service
system to center on disease prevention, as advised by those in his social circles.
Art referred to this form of healthcare as a “new way of doing things.”
JOSM Similarly, Sid, who was managing gastroesophageal reflux disease, weight gain and
27,5 high-blood pressure, developed his relationship with his sister by continually seeking
her healthcare advice; in this way, she singlehandedly empowered him to customize his
healthcare service system. Expressing frustration with his insurance-designated
physician, he mitigated his perception of his doctor’s flawed expertise by customizing
his own healthcare solutions. Before attempting the prescribed medication, he ordered
816 his service system upon his sister’s recommendation to take psyllium husk as an
alternative to the triglyceride medicine prescribed by his doctor:
I use my doctor to diagnose and my sister to validate the drugs [the doctor is] putting into me
[…] What I want to do is, if I can prove to my doctor that my sister was right and [the doctor]
was wrong, which [the doctor] refuses to believe, then by taking the psyllium husk, my
triglycerides will stay low.
As can be seen, based on his social-modified practice style, Sid’s service system centered
on psyllium husk as an alternative remedy to prescription medicine; he pursued this

solution in light of his doctor’s orders to take prescription medicine for his illness.
In the context of craft services, respondents reported the social-modified practice
style when they leveraged their skills and expertise to customize or modify objects; by
doing so, they ordered service systems as arenas for developing and managing social
relationships. For example, activities associated with crafting parties fall under the
social-modified practice style because they can strengthen social bonds under the guise
of craft. Service systems emerge from these activities. To illustrate, Wakako recalled
the social bonding that occurred over the creation of name tags and other party favors
for her wedding:
Specifically for the wedding, the preparing was much more fun than the wedding day. We had
people coming out helping us make wedding things […] Guys were hanging all the lanterns
and decorating outside. We had girls making all the name tags. We had family, my mom, my
sister, my friends. We sat around and just made these name tags […] They said they enjoyed
it. They said it was fun. They actually got a chance to meet some friends that they never met
yet. Sort of like friends of friends. We spent a lot of time together.
Here, Wakako integrated her social relations into a craft service system and
simultaneously bonded them together as a “family.” Similar service experiences like
these likely fell under this practice style category. For example, Color Me Mine, a DIY
pottery retailer promoting “Mommy and Me” and baby shower services, emphasized
social relationships and togetherness through custom crafting:
Color Me Mine offers Mommy and Me time usually on Wednesday’s at 11am. This is a great
opportunity for you and your child to have some time together. Kids just want to spend quality
time with you and what a better way to show you care than by painting something together that
your child can keep a life time. Call the studio today to confirm openings for Mommy and Me.
The mother and child are ultimately included in the craft service system, and, as a
result, strengthened their bond. Additionally, the highly customized objects that emerged
from a social-modified practice style became central to the service system. Both service
providers and service beneficiaries perceived these objects as “special” because of the
time and effort invested into these objects. Alexis expressed these sentiments in
describing customized dresses that she designed and made for her sister:
If I really care about the person, I will do it for them. Most of the stuff that I do is for family
because I love them because it’s my way of expressing my love to someone without really
saying it. It’s my time. It’s my creativity. It’s me basically for you. It’s my gift to you. If I don’t Practice styles
love you then I’m not going to put that effort into it. It’s not going to come out the way I want
it. So I guess the limit would be […] if I’m not too fond of you, then I probably won’t do it.
and service
systems
Similarly, a respondent from Craft Forum designed a custom deck box for her husband
using a combination of 3D modeling tools and raw craft materials:
I just finished my husband’s gift for Valentine’s Day. He has really gotten into a card game 817
called Netrunner, so I made him a box to keep his decks in. I used Blender to make a 3D model
of the box, then Pepakura Designer to print it out. After that it was just a matter of cutting it
out of chipboard and card stock, then covering it in fabric and finally adding the vinyl cut
outs. I made the flower look like one of the cards from the game. I see a few things I would
change but I am happy with it. I know he will be too.
Event triggers and service system change. As shown, service systems centered on
practice styles. The findings further suggest that an event in the personal life
of a respondent often triggered a practice style shift, which would often coincided
with a service system change (Figure 2). The findings suggest four types of event
triggers: service beneficiary enhancement, service beneficiary failure, service
provider failure or social change.
Service beneficiary enhancement. Service beneficiary enhancement occurred when
respondents achieved a sufficient level of competence that allowed them to customize
their services. When this occurred, these respondents realized that “cookie cutter” or
one-size-fits-all service would not satisfy their needs. Generally speaking, this
triggered shifts from extant to modified enactment practice styles. Specifically, new
or enhanced expertise improved respondents’ abilities to draw upon resources
already connected within service systems in new ways. Consequently, service
beneficiary enhancement typically catalyzed change from simple service systems
toward complex service systems.
In the craft context, respondents transitioned from engaging in objects and service
exactly as offered by service providers, to shaping unique service systems based on a
“DIY” value creation effort. Respondents Mary and Wakako felt that readymade crafts
and greeting cards were not “special” enough. It was only after enhancing their
technical skills and knowledge that they could customize their own service solutions.
This triggered service system change by allowing them to integrate more objects,
materials and services to accommodate their new practice styles. To illustrate, in the
past, Mary purchased readymade greeting cards from retailers to commemorate special
occasions, thereby exhibiting an individual-extant practice style. After attending a
stamping class, she gained knowledge and expertise to custom-create handmade cards.
As a result, she started crafting her own cards using raw materials (e.g. stamps, paper,
ink) purchased at various craft retailers. Her cards expressed her newly gained
technical expertise; when she shifted toward an individual-modified practice style, her
service system changed also.
Service beneficiary enhancement also catalyzed practice style shifts and
service system change in the fitness and healthcare contexts. For example, in the
past, Kim exercised alone at home by watching and following along with fitness
DVDs such as the P90X program thereby centering her service system on an
individual-extant practice style. However, she eventually became able to direct her
own workouts and, as a result, “got bored” of the simple fitness service
system afforded by watch-at-home programs. She transitioned to an Ultimate
JOSM (a)
Social-Modified Practice Style Social-Extant Practice Style
27,5
Homeopathy Physician Physician
818 Service
Son Octavia Son beneficiary Son Octavia Son
failure
Online Sources Physician Husband Physician

Husband
(b)
Individual-Extant Practice Style Individual-Modified Practice Style
Kidney G.I.
Allergist Specialist Specialist
Insurance
Service provider
Dixie Internist Dixie Insurance
failure
Physician
Dietician Physician
Online Sources
(c)
Individual-Extant Practice Style Social-Extant Practice Style
Online Sources
Social network
Christine Physician Physician Son Christine Physician
Figure 2. changes
Examples of practice
style shifts and
service system Friend Friend
change Friend
Fighting Championship Gym so that she could do her own workouts to improve her
strength conditioning, which was one of her goals (individual-modified practice style).
In healthcare, Art remarked that the advent of internet and social media allowed
him to become more educated about health and wellness, which prompted a
shift from an extant to a modified healthcare practice style. In addition to his doctors
and his wife (who works in healthcare), Art’s healthcare service system included Practice styles
multiple web resources: and service
I think that, you know, with so much information out there now, you can look things up so systems
easily […] either YouTube or just, you know, look up and search on forums and things like
that. I don’t have a favorite spot. I look at information from different resources. I can’t even
begin to tell you the name of different websites.
819
Service beneficiary failure. Service beneficiary failure occurred when respondents’
customized service systems failed to provide solutions, prompting practice style shifts
and service system change. Many times, service beneficiary failure was catalyzed by
cognitive overload from managing a complex affiliation of service providers. Because
respondents’ customized solutions (e.g. modified enactment) failed them, they shifted
toward extant enactment practice styles. This practice style shift often catalyzed
parallel changes from complex to simpler service systems.
In the healthcare context, respondents who enacted a modified practice style tended to
assemble ad hoc service systems of professional and non-professional health advisors.
These respondents reported consulting with nutritionists and seeking out specific
information or resources that could only be obtained from the service providers with whom
they desired to engage. Some respondents felt overwhelmed by large, complex service
systems and ultimately shifted to extant practice styles to reduce complexity in their service
systems. This often entailed following the instruction of one or fewer service providers.
To illustrate, Octavia shifted practice styles to mitigate the complexity of her service
system. Octavia’s healthcare service system was comprised of herself, her husband, her
two sons, her primary care physician, her son’s physician, a variety of homeopathy
resources and resources that espoused alternative healthcare treatments (see Figure 2(a)).
Because she was very selective of her healthcare providers, her primary care physician’s
prescription was one option among many options from which she could make her decision.
A few years ago, her two sons were diagnosed with hypothyroidism, a genetic disorder of
the thyroid gland. Her immediate reaction was to reject the synthetic hormone treatment
prescribed by her children’s physician and to treat the disorder herself with homeopathic
medicine. She did a tremendous amount of research online and sought homeopathic advice
from alternative medicine practitioners. When her customized solution failed to increase
the levels of thyroid hormone in her children, Octavia felt tremendous grief and guilt. Her
modified solution failed her. At that point, she had no other recourse than to transition to
the hormone treatment prescribed by the physician that she rejected in the first place.
Ultimately, her shift from the social-modified practice style to the social-extant practice
style coincided with a transition of her healthcare service system.
Service beneficiary failure also occurred in the fitness and crafts contexts. In fitness,
some respondents reneged “DIY” gyms, which required them to manage their own
workouts (e.g. individual-modified practice style). Citing the cognitive overload and
ineffectiveness of self-directed, modified workouts, these respondents transitioned to
physical fitness services where a trainer told them what to do (e.g. individual- or social-
extant practice styles). For instance, Jerry switched from the Fitness 19 gym to a
CrossFit gym because he no longer wanted to manage his fitness regiment; he wanted
to be told what to do by a service provider:
I was just casually going to the gym. I used to be a member of Fitness 19. They’re like a
24 Hour Fitness, just a smaller version of it. I think it was inefficient. Some people – they’re
very knowledgeable about what they need to do and where they want to be and how they
JOSM need to get there. They have a way of meeting that goal. So I didn’t have that […] I’m not a
fitness guy. I don’t want to have to think about it. I just want to show up. I want somebody to
27,5 tell me what to do.
Within crafts, Simon created a scrapbook for his friends using an extant practice style. To
reduce his workload, instead of adopting the traditional route of hand-making a scrapbook
(e.g. social-modified practice style), he chose a digital scrapbook service provider,
820 which provided templates to simplify the scrapbook’s production (e.g. social-extant
practice style):
You might call these digitally mediated scrapbooks. Send them off to a printer and they print
it and send it back to me looking like this […] I remember the production of it was hectic. I was
doing it in conjunction with my dissertation and job market.
Service provider failure. Other times, failure by a key service provider triggered
respondents to shift from extant practice styles to modified practice styles. Respondents
felt that extant service systems could not meet their needs, so they sought their own
customized solutions. In other words, exogenous variables related to a failure in the
service environment triggered practice style shifts and service system change. After a
service beneficiary failure, respondents embarked on a quest for personalized solutions,
which usually resulted in changes from simple to complex service systems.
In healthcare, for example, Dixie transitioned to the individual-modified practice style
after she grew frustrated with a service provider who failed to properly diagnose
her gastric, breathing disorder. When she was in the individual-extant practice style, her
healthcare service system was comprised of only herself, the insurance company and her
primary care physician (Figure 2(b)). After the shift to the individual-modified practice
style, she transitioned to a more complex service system comprised of multiple and
various service providers (her regular physician, an internist, a gastro-intestinal
specialist, an endoscopic physician, urgent care doctor, allergist, kidney doctor, a
dietician and multiple online resources). To further complicate the service system, each
physician had his or her own set of nurses. Describing her service system, Dixie stated:
“I might need to write this out for you before you leave because it’s kind of complicated.”
Evidence of service provider failure was also evident in crafts and fitness contexts.
Alexis, for instance, was a self-dubbed “punk,” and she felt that existing service
providers could not offer fashion with which she could identify. Stated differently,
existing service systems failed to provide her a solution. Consequently, she stopped
engaging with service providers and learned how to sew so that she can create her own
customized clothing that matched her fashion aesthetic:
As I got older I just started making my own clothing because I didn’t like what was out trend
wise. I didn’t like it. I was a punk in high school so there was nothing available for me.
In physical fitness, Jane canceled her 24 Hour Fitness membership because she “got
bored” working out alone and it no longer served her evolving needs (e.g. individual-
modified practice style). She subsequently joined CrossFit, which provided her an
opportunity to socialize with her friend and customize CrossFit’s prescribed workouts
(e.g. social-modified practice style):
I went to 24 Hour Fitness before […] but there are times where I just dropped off the face of
the Earth and I didn’t [work out consistently] – I was getting bored. I joined CrossFit. And
I like the encouragement, everyone pushing each other […] What helped too is that you were
doing it with a friend. I want to say I want to go to – four to six times a week, depending on Practice styles
how I’m feeling – you make it what it is. Like, you make it as hard as you want to because
there’s certain exercises and everyone can’t do them […] so you have to scale them down,
and service
which is where I’m at. I scale them. Because I’m in my 40s, so I don’t want to break. systems
Social change. Expansion or contraction of social affiliations also triggered practice
style shifts. Examples of social change include marriage, break-ups, the birth of
children and death. Social expansion (e.g. marriage, birth of child) generally resulted in 821
more complex service systems, whereas a social contraction (e.g. break-up, death)
resulted in more simplified service systems. However, shifts from individual-motivation
practice styles to social-motivation practice styles occurred regardless of whether the
shift was from extant to modified, or vice versa.
This transition was most evident when respondents transitioned from the
life stage of being single adulthood, to the life stage of marriage and parenting.
For example, when Christine was single, she went to her primary care physician once
on an annual basis (thereby enacting the individual-extant practice style).

Accordingly, her healthcare service system was simple. Getting married and
having a child necessitated a shift to the social-extant practice style, as well as a
transition toward a more complex healthcare service system. She reported that she
conducted a “ton of research online” and “looked at reviews for doctors and
then asked a ton of people.” Her service system is now comprised of many
more actors than it was before: herself, her child, her friends, her own physician and
her child’s physician.
Conversely, the findings suggest that contraction of one’s social affiliation circle also
tended to trigger shifts from socially-motivated practice styles to individually-
motivated practice styles. Our respondents report that relationship break-ups often
shifted their practice styles and, subsequently, changed their service systems.
For example, Timothy would typically visit a specific gym with his girlfriend and
together they would bond while taking classes such as spinning, pilates or yoga; this
illustrates the social-extant practice style around which Timothy’s fitness service
system converged in the past. When his relationship with his girlfriend ended, Timothy
began exercising alone and shifted to an individual-extant practice style. This
simplified Timothy’s fitness service system. He described his resulting fitness service
system as “more self-serve.”
Study 2: validity check using PLS regression

Through an inquiry of respondents across the craft, physical fitness and healthcare
service contexts, the Study 1 findings generated a typology of four practice styles that
order and root service systems in specific forms of mutual value creation: individual-
extant, social-extant, individual-modified and social-modified practice styles (see the
above list). The Study 1 findings also revealed four event triggers that often shift
practice styles and consequently change service systems (Figure 2). These event
triggers are service beneficiary enhancement, service beneficiary failure, service
provider failure and social change.
Although the data reveal a wide magnitude of service system change, it is difficult to
observe this change by focusing narrowly on the individual micro-level. For this
reason, methodological focus is oscillated to the macro-level wherein the magnitude of
system change can be better observed (Chandler and Vargo, 2011). To investigate this,
the authors subjected the data to model estimation using PLS regression for study 2.
JOSM To prepare the data for study 2, the authors scrutinized the transcripts for mentions of
27,5 practice styles, event triggers and service system change as described by respondents.
Six non-biased external judges who are working service professionals were recruited to
score these mentions according to the typology outlined in the qualitative analysis.
Specifically, two judges scored mentions of the four practice styles according to Table II.
Interrater reliability was found to be Cohen’s κ ¼ 0.75 indicating strong agreement
822 between the judges. Discrepancies were resolved through discussion and the resulting
scores were used for model estimation. Similarly, two different judges scored mentions of
the four event triggers. Interrater reliability was found to be Cohen’s κ ¼ 0.24 indicating
fair agreement between the judges. Discrepancies were resolved through discussion and
the resulting scores were used for model estimation. Finally, using a seven-point scale,
two other judges scored mentions of service systems before and after an event trigger, as
described by respondents, in order to assess service system change. Interrater reliability
was evaluated using Cronbach’s α, which was 0.68 thereby indicating strong agreement
between the judges. Discrepancies were again resolved through discussion and the
resulting scores were used for model estimation.
Table III shows the PLS model estimation results. H1 is supported by PLS model
estimation (0.24, p o 0.05) but explanatory power for the model is relatively weak
(R2 ¼ 0.08). This is not surprising given the exploratory nature of this research. H1
focuses on the influence of practice styles on service system change. H2, which asserts
that event triggers also influence service systems, is also supported (0.15, p o 0.05).
Discussion
This research examines how practices influence service systems. Service systems
are value co-creation configurations that coalesce around humans. By underscoring the
human aspect of service systems, the findings reveal that practices indeed influence
service systems by acting as the fundamental pivots upon which service systems
continuously change. Ironically, these pivots are understudied because they often
transpire in humanistic ways and places, away from the purview of the firm, in the
mundane activities, doings and happenings (i.e. practices) of everyday social life. When
these practices become nuanced within a particular service system, they serve as a nexus
of resources as they order other actors, relations, activities and objects around a specific
value creation effort. As this occurs, the practice emerges as a practice style, thereby
rooting the service system in a unique value creation effort. Consequently, when a practice
style again shifts (often in response to a new event trigger or parameter in its external
environment), the service system changes. This iterative cycle repeats in perpetuity.
This is how value co-creation configurations, or service systems, continually change.
To illustrate, consider a generic activity or doing (i.e. a “practice”) such as “cooking.”
Although many people practice “cooking,” they may “cook” in different styles depending
on their kitchen resources, flavor preferences or culinary expertise (i.e. service systems).
For example, if one person only has access to a microwave and another person has access
H1 Practice styles → service system change −0.24*

H2 Event trigger → service system change −0.15*
Table III. Explanatory power

PLS parameter Service system change 0.08
estimates Note: *Statistically significant
to a wood-burning stove (i.e. each person is embedded in a different service system), their Practice styles
cooking activities may differ and it can be said that they have differing practice styles. and service
Most important, if either person gains new knowledge about food preparation or
remodels his or her kitchen, the cooking style, or practice style, may shift. This practice
systems
style shift consequently changes other aspects of the service system.
In these ways, practices (i.e. cooking) as they occur in particular service
systems (i.e. one’s kitchen) are unique to those service systems and can be referred to 823
as practice styles (i.e. vegetarian cooking in John’s kitchen or Chinese cooking in
Mary’s kitchen). To summarize, a practice style is unique to the service system in
which it is embedded, whereas a practice is a generic activity or doing; a practice
style is a specific styling of a practice that orders and roots the service system
in a particular value creation effort. A practice style emerges from an individual actor’s
motivations (individual or social) and enactment (extant or modified) of a generic practice.
Research agenda: moving from a service-within-networks perspective to a service

systems perspective
The empirical nature of practice style shifts provides insight to the dimensions of
change and temporality in service systems that have been understudied in the service
literature. The difficulty of studying change and temporality in service systems can be
somewhat attributed to service systems being characterized by fuzzy boundaries and
fleeting activities. Additionally, because service systems are always changing, the
actors or resources that comprise them often appear and disappear without warning.
However, to study change and temporality in service systems, a keen exploration of
practices, practice styles and the shifts among them can shed empirical light on how
service systems coalesce or deteriorate. This further illuminates how humans weave
service into the unique fabric of their lives by enacting practices in different ways
( Jaakkola and Alexander, 2014). By focusing on practice styles, it is not necessary to
directly observe an entire service system over a long period of time. Rather, it is
possible to observe practice style shifts.
In service systems, practice style shifts can be investigated at each level: micro,
meso and macro (Chandler and Vargo, 2011). As highlighted in Table IV, although each
of these levels is static, each level becomes salient when a theoretical spotlight
illuminates a particular set of actors to be studied at a specific moment in time (while
ignoring other actors and other moments in time). However, a true service systems
perspective accommodates for change and temporality by extending the service-within-
networks perspective to include a meta-layer across these levels and over time. This
meta-layer weaves the micro-, meso- and macro-levels synchronously through time; it is
a sinew that joins the levels together as a service system. From the service literature, it
is unclear, however, how this meta-layer is animated.
To this end, the authors propose a research agenda based on our findings that
practice styles and shifts reverberate through a service system to order actors,
resources and other activities in specific forms of value creation. This reverberation
animates and takes shape in the meta-layer, often catapulting service systems
through time. In the meta-layer, service systems coalesce, deteriorate and change –
which manifests in various ways at the micro-, meso- and macro-levels. By pointing
attention to practice styles and event triggers, it is possible to empirically examine
change and temporality in service systems. As outlined in Table IV, the following
research agenda outlines questions that move toward a deeper understanding of
service systems.
JOSM Service-within-networks perspective (emphasis on engagement)
27,5 Service systems Meso-context Macro-context
perspective Micro-context Indirect, or brokered, Complex service viewed as
(emphasis on Direct service viewed as service viewed as engagement within
change) engagement within dyads engagement within triads networks
Coalescence as How might practice styles How might practice styles How might practice styles
824 service system and event triggers in direct and event triggers in and event triggers in
change service (among actors) indirect service (among complex service (among
coalesce a service system? dyads) coalesce a service triads) coalesce a service
system? system?
Deterioration as How might practice styles How might practice styles How might practice styles
service system and event triggers in direct and event triggers in and event triggers in
change service (among actors) indirect service (among complex service (among
deteriorate a service dyads) deteriorate a triads) deteriorate a service
system? service system? system?
Table IV. Change in value How might practice styles How might practice styles How might practice styles
Research agenda: co-creation and event triggers in direct and event triggers in and event triggers in
moving from a service (among actors) indirect service (among complex service (among
service-within- change a service system, dyads) change a service triads) change a service
networks perspective or uproot a service system system, or uproot a service system, or uproot a service
to a service systems from one form of value system from one form of system from one form of
perspective creation to another? value creation to another? value creation to another?
Coalescence. Coalescence refers to a process by which single entities grow together or

unite; coalescence occurs simultaneously across multiple levels in a service system
albeit in the meta-layer. By focusing on practice styles and event triggers as manifest at
each level of a service system, it is possible to examine the nature of coalescence:
• How might practice style shifts and event triggers as viewed within direct one-to-
one service contexts coalesce a service system?
• How might practice style shifts and event triggers as viewed within indirect, or
brokered, service contexts coalesce a service system?
• How might practice style shifts and event triggers as viewed within complex
service contexts coalesce a service system?
Deterioration. Deterioration refers to a process of collapse; like coalescence, it transpires
in service systems simultaneously across multiple levels albeit in the
meta-layer. By focusing on practice styles and event triggers as manifest at each
level of a service, it is possible to learn about how service systems deteriorate:
• How might practice style shifts and event triggers in direct one-to-one service
contexts deteriorate a service system?
• How might practice style shifts and event triggers in indirect, or brokered,
service contexts deteriorate a service system?
• How might practice style shifts and event triggers in complex service contexts
deteriorate a service system?
Value co-creation change. Sometimes, service systems are abruptly misaligned or
congealed. Change refers to either misalignment or congealing as an uprooting of a
service system from one form of value creation to another. This also transpires
simultaneously across multiple levels albeit in the meta-layer. By focusing on practice Practice styles
styles and event triggers as viewed at each level of a service, it is possible to explore and service
how entire service systems shift from one value creation effort to another:
systems
• How might practice styles and event triggers in direct service contexts change
a service system, or uproot a service system from one form of value creation
to another?
825
• How might practice styles and event triggers in indirect service contexts
change a service system, or uproot a service system from one form of value
creation to another?
• How might practice styles and event triggers as viewed in complex service
contexts change a service system, or uproot a service system from one form of
value creation to another?
Managerial implications
Taking a practice approach to service systems can reveal service innovations not yet
accounted for in the service literature, especially in light of globalization and emerging
technologies (Bitner et al., 1997; Bolton et al., 2014). The findings illustrate the unique
role that humans take in shaping service systems. Nuanced enactments of generic
practices, practice styles link human activity across personal spaces to human activity
in market spaces to root service systems in specific value co-creation efforts (Xie et al.,
2008). The findings suggest that service quality can be improved when the practice
styles of different customers are complemented by the firm’s own service efforts.
The findings suggest a different way of segmenting consumers based on practice
styles (Table II). In addition to other forms of segmentation (e.g. demographics and
psychographics), managers who understand practice styles may recognize that
consumers differ in how they engage with their respective firms. Specifically, managers
may recognize that consumers vary in motivation and enactment and as a result, develop
strategies that resonate with their practice styles. For example, two consumers may enjoy
physical fitness, but one prefers “follow-along” fitness courses that she can attend with a
friend (e.g. social-extant), whereas another prefers to workout alone so she can customize
her own routine (e.g. individual-modified). Thus, managers can design service experiences
to meet differential practice styles of consumers. If, for example, social-extant consumers
are the target market, then a manager could design a service experience that offers more
instructor-led fitness programs; if individual-modified consumers are the target market,
then a manager could design their service experience in an “open” format gym that offers
a variety of equipment that can be used in personalized workouts.
The findings also suggest that event triggers in the lives of consumers can pose threats
to service continuity. To preserve continuity, services that can be adjusted to practice style
shifts can be offered. For example, a consumer starting a family may shift from an
individual-motivation to a social-motivation practice style, which is typically accompanied
by a service system change (Figure 2). Using a healthcare example to illustrate, a consumer,
when she was a single adult, nested herself in a single physician service system based on a
single healthcare firm (e.g. individual-extant). Given a significant practice style shift after
getting married and bearing children, she changed her service system to include
a self-selected web of physicians to better address the healthcare of her family (e.g. social-
modified). If the single healthcare firm cannot accommodate this practice style shift, the
consumer may change her service system based on a different service providers.
JOSM Conversely, respondents simplified service systems so as to reduce cognitive overload
27,5 from the management burdens associated with highly complex service systems (e.g.
service beneficiary failure). This simplification usually entailed a shift from modified to
extant practice styles. Thus, service providers might find it fruitful to acquire or retain
consumers by offering solutions that simplify service systems. For example, Blue Apron,
an online food service, offers solutions for those who prefer extant practice styles. Their
826 value proposition is premised on the idea that cooking is a time intensive task that involves
shopping for groceries, preparation and cooking time; essentially, they offer readymade
solutions that include the ingredients being shipped directly to the consumer’s home with
recipes that require very little cooking time. In this way, Blue Apron provides a “one-stop,”
“follow-along” solution for busy consumers who still enjoy the activity of cooking.
Viewing service systems with a practice approach highlights the unique nature of
value creation. Across different service contexts, firms could provide high levels of
information and guidance to actors oriented toward extant practice styles, whereas
firms should provide only material or object resources to actors oriented toward
modified practice styles. The latter set of actors would enjoy the benefits associated
with DIY service approaches, while the former set of actors would enjoy the benefits
associated with standardized service approaches. This only becomes evident when the
service experience is viewed from a dynamic, comprehensive perspective. Because
transactions are small snippets of entire service experiences, the study of practices
before and after a transaction highlights how value creation efforts emerge across
different service systems.
Limitations and future research

The results of this study are based on craft, physical fitness and health service
contexts. Thus, future work could enhance the generalizability of the findings by
investigating other service environments. Although the study identifies four event
triggers that could catalyze practice style shifts, these four event triggers may not
represent a comprehensive list of triggers. Other potential triggers include geographic
re-location, service availability, price sensitivities and other disruptions in the life of the
consumer (e.g. loss of employment). The results of the study also hold implications for
segmentation and service design. Practice styles offer an alternative segmentation
approach based on consumer activities and doings. By understanding practice styles
and how they shift over time, firms can facilitate viability in a service system by
providing the appropriate resources according to their customers’ practice styles at a
specific moment of time. Future work could compare segmentation based on practice
styles with other forms of market segmentation (e.g. demography and psychography).
Additionally, the results imply that services could be designed around practice styles.
Subsequent scholarship may examine the theoretical intersection of practice styles and
service design, including examinations of how service providers might evolve service
models to mitigate service discontinuity due to triggers beyond the purview of the firm.
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Corresponding author
Jennifer D. Chandler can be contacted at: JECHANDLER@FULLERTON.EDU
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Practice styles and service systems

References: this document contains references to 73 other documents.

nature of these changes (Barile et al., 2016).

Traditional practice approaches examine human activity. These approaches can be

Service systems Service-within-networks Service ecosystems

perspective focuses on the alignment, or engagement, of varying actors that may be

insurance company. Alternately, one’s healthcare might involve family decision

Sampling and data collection

• Why were they selected?

I just want to show up. I want To supplement my running regiment,

to a sub-set of the sample to insure validity of interpretations. Finally, the purposive

In examples like these, respondents reported social-extant practice styles through

on psyllium husk as an alternative remedy to prescription medicine; he pursued this

Online Sources Physician Husband Physician

on an annual basis (thereby enacting the individual-extant practice style).

Study 2: validity check using PLS regression

H1 Practice styles → service system change −0.24*

Table III. Explanatory power

Research agenda: moving from a service-within-networks perspective to a service

Coalescence. Coalescence refers to a process by which single entities grow together or

Limitations and future research

that make big differences: a radical approach to consumption experience as a firms

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