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While prior research has examined customer acceptance of humanized chatbots, the mechanisms through which they influence customer value creation remain unclear. This study aims to investigate the emerging concept of Perceived Humanization (PH), examining how hedonic motivation, social influence and anthropomorphism influence value creation through the serial mediation of PH and trust. The moderating roles of rapport and social presence are also explored.

Based on data from an online survey involving 257 respondents, this study employs Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling utilizing SmartPLS3 software.

Hedonic motivation leads to value creation via two routes: PH and affective trust; and PH and cognitive trust. Social influence and anthropomorphism also positively impact value creation through similar pathways. Rapport moderates the impact of social influence on PH, while social presence moderates the relationship between PH and both affective and cognitive trust. A cross-cultural analysis of China, India and New Zealand highlights varying cultural dimensions influencing PH and its effects on value creation.

For practitioners in the tourism industry, the findings highlight the strategic importance of enhancing PH in chatbot interactions. By understanding and optimizing these elements, businesses can significantly improve their customer value-creation process.

This study contributes to the service marketing literature by generating a comprehensive framework for the comprehension and application of PH. Its cross-cultural perspective provides rich insights, offering valuable information for service marketers aiming to thrive in the dynamic and competitive tourism industry.

Mobile health (mHealth) service is an Australian Government initiative aiming to improve the quality of health-care services. However, little is known about Australian health consumers’ willingness to adopt mHealth. The purpose of this paper is to study the usage behavior of mHealth service users in Australia. While various factors may impact users’ willingness to accept mHealth, this research investigates factors influencing the mHealth adoption decisions of the Australian health-care consumers, and the moderating impact of demographic factors on the usage behavior (UB) of mHealth services which has been rarely addressed in an Australian setting in the past.

The theoretical framework is based on the technology acceptance model (TAM). Data were collected from residents of the Australian Capital Territory using a survey questionnaire and examined using partial least squares structural equation modeling.

The proposed mHealth usage model demonstrated a good fit and indicated that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, social influence, service quality and government influence are critical issues shaping mHealth UB. The moderation analysis revealed that users’ demographics, namely, gender, age and education are instrumental in broadening the understanding of UB of mHealth service in Australia.

The findings will inform health-care service providers about the critical importance of the key factors driving the usage of mHealth services. Health-care providers and relevant authorities can develop targeted communication strategies that maximize the acceptance of mHealth services. Furthermore, deeper understanding of users’ demographic profiles would enable health-care service providers to promote their services to the right clients.

The above findings on the factors and user demographics informing the usage of mHealth services have unique practical, contextual and theoretical implications.

Uncivil customer behaviour is a concern for service providers and can result in increasing vulnerability for them or their customers. This paper aimed to investigate the interactional link between customer incivility and service provider retaliation and job outcomes. Furthermore, power distance orientation and gender were investigated as potential moderators between customer and retaliation incivilities.

Five hypotheses were examined empirically through structural equation modelling. Overall, 679 (356 males and 323 females) service providers recruited across three countries, namely Australia (N = 233), Singapore (N = 199) and the Philippines (N = 247), were surveyed online.

The results indicated that incivility caused work exhaustion, which negatively impacted job satisfaction. Power distance orientation moderated the association between customer and retaliatory incivilities, leading to exhaustion and dissatisfaction with one's job. Importantly, the results also revealed that the female service providers with a higher power distance tend to instigate incivility compared to their male counterparts.

By incorporating both conservation of resource and negative spiral incivility theories, this study provided an integrated and cohesive explanation for both the direct and interaction effects between customer incivility, retaliatory incivility and work outcomes. In addition, the finding that emotional exhaustion promoted job dissatisfaction highlighted the importance of examining the former's role especially among the female service providers with a higher power distance as they may be less able to restrain their retaliatory behaviours during uncivil incidents. Several practical solutions aimed at reducing the vulnerability encountered by the mistreated service providers were proposed.