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The article aims to give an overview of the history and the achieved status of information science in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) with an emphasis on the organisation of information science and practice in the GDR and on the theoretical foundations of information science.

Primarily, this article is based upon critical literature studies, especially German-language books and journal articles, but the empirical basis also includes some unpublished sources (e.g. letters from information scientists from the GDR).

There are interesting results concerning the roots of information science in cybernetics, philosophy and the practical area of documentation. The naming of this knowledge field as “informatics”, “informatics of science” or “information and documentation science” is partly very distinct from Western conceptions. We found different theoretical foundations for information science including the approaches of Bonitz, Engelbert, Koblitz and Groß and Fuchs-Kittowski. In the GDR, information science and information practice were centralised, but through the information system science and technology, they were consistently accessible at all levels of professional work. With German reunification, information practice and its institutions, as well as GDR’s information science efforts, disappeared.

The article gives hints on the importance on and the survival of some GDR approaches in contemporary information science, but those developments should be analysed in much more detail.

This is the first overview article on the state and entire development of information science in the GDR.

This study aims to evaluate how positive experiences affect satisfaction and brand loyalty toward specific brand products for travel services by collecting 489 structured questionnaires from those patronizing seven world-renowned brand travel agencies in Taiwan. As for data analysis, it uses a structural equation model (SEM) to examine causal relationships among the proposed constructs. This study suggests that marketers of brand products utilize this consumer mentality, pursue the meaning of symbol development strategies for products and appeal to more consumers to boost consumption. In addition, offering a positive experience and ensuring satisfaction is a valid strategy for creating brand life cycle advantages for travel services.

This study examines the roles of retail experience quality dimensions, customers’ in-shop emotion valence and in-shop involvement valence in shaping the holistic retail customer experience.

We conducted a total of 25 interviews with customers who have used services at non-fuel retail stores in Malaysia, commonly known as tuckshops, which are located adjacent to fuel stations. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis, which led to the identification of key themes and categories that informed the development of our conceptual framework.

This study identifies three dimensions of retail experience quality: physical surroundings experience quality, interaction experience quality and service innovation experience quality. These dimensions, which were previously unexamined, are shown to influence customer evaluations based on their interactions with the retail environment, employees and digital applications. Additionally, the study finds that these dimensions impact customers’ emotions and involvement valence, suggesting that even with negative experiences, high involvement and overall positive perceptions can still occur.

This study contributes to the literature in several ways. First, it identifies key retail antecedents that shape how customers interact with, interpret and evaluate the quality of their retail experiences. Second, it examines the complex nature of customers’ in-store emotions and involvement valence, highlighting the coexistence of positive and negative emotions in certain retail contexts. Third, the study offers practical insights for retail firms, urging them to adopt a holistic approach in addressing customer emotions and involvement across diverse retail service channels.

The study introduces new dimensions of retail experience quality and develops a framework linking these dimensions to customer emotions and involvement valence. Unlike previous research that has focused on either positive or negative aspects in isolation, this study offers a comprehensive view of how mixed emotions and involvement can impact the overall retail experience. It provides both theoretical insights and practical guidance for creating more balanced and engaging retail experiences.

This paper aims to focus on service research methods and highlights the need to treat method parts similar to the theoretical parts in papers.

The authors discuss current methodological topics and reflect on their own way of crafting method parts.

The authors provide recommendations on how to treat and enhance service-marketing research methods.

This paper aims to start discussions about methods in service-related papers, either from an editorial, reviewer or author’s perspective.

As internet banking service marketing platforms continue to advance, customers exhibit distinct behaviors. Given the extensive array of options and minimal barriers to switching to competitors, the concept of customer churn behavior has emerged as a subject of considerable debate. This study aims to delineate the scope of feature optimization methods for elucidating customer churn behavior within the context of internet banking service marketing. To achieve this goal, the author aims to predict the attrition and migration of customers who use internet banking services using tree-based classifiers.

The author used various feature optimization methods in tree-based classifiers to predict customer churn behavior using transaction data from customers who use internet banking services. First, the authors conducted feature reduction to eliminate ineffective features and project the data set onto a lower-dimensional space. Next, the author used Recursive Feature Elimination with Cross-Validation (RFECV) to extract the most practical features. Then, the author applied feature importance to assign a score to each input feature. Following this, the author selected C5.0 Decision Tree, Random Forest, XGBoost, AdaBoost, CatBoost and LightGBM as the six tree-based classifier structures.

This study acclaimed that transaction data is a reliable resource for elucidating customer churn behavior within the context of internet banking service marketing. Experimental findings highlight the operational benefits and enhanced customer retention afforded by implementing feature optimization and leveraging a variety of tree-based classifiers. The results indicate the significance of feature reduction, feature selection and feature importance as the three feature optimization methods in comprehending customer churn prediction. This study demonstrated that feature optimization can improve this prediction by increasing the accuracy and precision of tree-based classifiers and decreasing their error rates.

This research aims to enhance the understanding of customer behavior on internet banking service platforms by predicting churn intentions. This study demonstrates how feature optimization methods influence customer churn prediction performance. This approach included feature reduction, feature selection and assessing feature importance to optimize transaction data analysis. Additionally, the author performed feature optimization within tree-based classifiers to improve performance. The novelty of this approach lies in combining feature optimization methods with tree-based classifiers to effectively capture and articulate customer churn experience in internet banking service marketing.

To date, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the use of implicit measures in the service research domain is limited. This paper aims to introduce implicit measures and explain why, or for what purpose, they are worthwhile to consider; how these measures can be used; and when and where implicit measures merit the service researcher’s consideration.

To gain an understanding of how implicit measures could benefit service research, three promising implicit measures are discussed, namely, the implicit association test, the affect misattribution procedure and the propositional evaluation paradigm. More specifically, this paper delves into how implicit measures can support service research, focusing on three focal service topics, namely, technology, affective processes including customer experience and service employees.

This paper demonstrates how implicit measures can investigate paramount service-related subjects. Additionally, it provides essential methodological “need-to-knows” for assessing others’ work with implicit measures and/or for starting your own use of them.

This paper introduces when and why to consider integrating implicit measures in service research, along with a roadmap on how to get started.

Customer experience management (CXM), which aims to achieve and maintain customers' long-term loyalty, has attracted the attention of many organizations. Improving customer experience management in organizations requires that, first, their relevant capabilities be evaluated. The present study aimed to offer a set of key performance indicators for evaluating customer experience management in commercial banks.

The study, first, attempted to identify the components of evaluating customer experience management by reviewing the related literature and conducting interviews with experts. Then, the extracted components were transformed into assessable metrics using the goal question metric method, and the key performance indicators relevant to customer experience management in commercial banks were selected according to the experts' opinions and the Fuzzy Delphi method.

According to the findings of the study, 21 key performance indicators were identified for customer experience management in commercial banks, and customer satisfaction, the mean number of calls to resolve an issue in customer journey touchpoints, the NPS, and the ratio of the budget allocated to the CXM department to the budget of the marketing department were found as the most significant performance indicator according to banking experts.

The present study was among the first research projects intended to evaluate CXM and offer key performance indicators that could help the managers of commercial banks assess the maturity levels of their CXM.

Using the REPLACE conceptual model and the psycho-emotional model of disability, this study aims to analyze the experience of families with children with disabilities (FCwDs) in a specialized vacation center to understand the nature of the resources that give them a sense of well-being and a strong place attachment.

The study uses an exploratory approach. The data consist of ethnographic observations, interviews with family members and center staff and activity leaders’ answers to a questionnaire.

The specialized vacation center studied in this paper offers FCwDs therapeutic resources but also social safeness resources, providing them with a welcome time of respite.

Without questioning the need to provide inclusive services and market accessibility for consumers with disabilities, this paper recommends solutions that the author calls “safe places,” where FCwDs feel neither stigmatized nor judged, have access to social safeness, relational and restorative resources and experience well-being with their loved ones.

This study aims to understand the mechanism by which the value of ride-sharing services influences consumers’ continuance intention.

The authors collected data from 484 Chinese ride-sharing respondents and analyzed them using partial least squares structural equation modeling.

The results show that hedonic value, social connection value and environmental value positively affect consumers’ cognitive fit and emotional fit, while utilitarian value has no significant effect on either cognitive fit or emotional fit. In addition, both cognitive fit and emotional fit significantly affect consumers’ satisfaction and continuance intention. Furthermore, satisfaction mediates the effects of cognitive and emotional fit on continuance intention.

Ride-sharing practitioners should have a clear understanding of all the value dimensions of ride-sharing services, which would subsequently increase customers’ continuance intention.

This study defines and divides the dimensions of ride-sharing value and demonstrates the significant impact of environmental value on the sustainability of ride-sharing services. This study extends fit theory by dividing it into two dimensions.

The metaverse is considered an evolution of the Internet, and it engages users with digital content more seamlessly due to its enhanced immersion and diverse applications. The current study examines factors affecting the intention to adopt the metaverse. Existing studies on metaverse were found insufficient in explaining users’ intention to adopt metaverse, for which the companies are investing vast amounts of money for its implementation. The study fills the research gaps in the literature and applies the UTAUT2 (Unified Theory Of Acceptance And Use of Technology) and PAD (Pleasure, Arousal, Dominance) theory in the SOR (Stimulus-Organism-Response) framework. The study proposes a conceptual model by including effort expectancy, hedonic motivation, social influence, security personalization as stimuli, arousal, dominance, pleasure, immersive experience and perceived value as organismic variables and intention to adopt metaverse as the response variable, with gender as a moderator.

The study used purposive non-probability sampling approach and total of 420 responses were collected to examine the model. The partial least squares (PLS) technique is used for data analysis using Smart PLS software.

The study’s findings suggest that social influence and immersive experience have the highest impact on perceived value which affects users’ intention to adopt metaverse. Results indicate that individuals perceive value on using metaverse when it provides enjoyment and fun as well as security. Hence, it is important to ensure not only that individuals feel hedonically motivated but also feel secured and exert less effort to use the metaverse.

The study contributes to the existing literature on metaverse and extends its association with immersive experience and the theories applied. The fundamental qualities of metaverse that contribute to its immersive and enjoyable nature can influence users' behavioral responses. Our research emphasizes the importance of executives acknowledging the development of organismic experience within metaverse.

The insights derived from this study will serve to expand the knowledge of metaverse application developers, offering valuable guidance in incorporating these factors into their development processes. By prominently displaying security measures, metaverse brands can demonstrate their commitment to mitigating risks associated with virtual interactions. This includes clearly communicating the security protocols in place to protect user data and privacy and providing detailed information about security features can build trust and alleviate concerns.

The study highlights how the metaverse features affect individuals toward its adoption intent. Specifically, the study reveals that social influence and security affect the metaverse, further affecting the adoption intent of the metaverse. This has implications for enhancing customer relationships and value cocreation with different stakeholders. The research also recognizes that security measures are necessary for metaverse technology. These reactions could include placing regulations and standards in place to deal with the social and economic effects, making sure that data is collected and used ethically, and giving privacy and security measures priority.

This paper contributes to the body of knowledge as it is the first of its kind to explore and link immersive experience, pleasure and perceived value from the metaverse’s point of view to explore the user’s adoption intention. The study also contributes to the SOR framework with UTAUT2 and PAD theories by applying it to the metaverse context, which is used in limits.