Rebekah Russell-Bennett, Mark Scott Rosenbaum and Ryan McAndrew
This paper aims to represent a response to issues raised in the continuing quantitative-qualitative debate by Valtakoski (2020). Which appeared in a Journal of Services Marketing …
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to represent a response to issues raised in the continuing quantitative-qualitative debate by Valtakoski (2020). Which appeared in a Journal of Services Marketing (JSM) special issue on qualitative research in service-oriented research.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors performed a content analysis of 1,268 papers that were published in JSM (1987-2019). In addition, the authors had data that is held in JSM’s manuscript central submission portal.
Findings
The analysis shows that while there is a dominance of quantitative methods in the journal, the proportion of qualitative papers is growing. During 2014-2019, 83.4 per cent of submitted papers to JSM represented quantitative research and 14 per cent represented qualitative research; however, 75 per cent of accepted papers were quantitative and 25 per cent were qualitative/mixed methods. Thus, the proportion of published qualitative studies are increasing and have a higher chance of receiving an acceptance decision compared to quantitative studies. Additionally, the largest percentage of qualitative papers published in JSM derive from corresponding authors outside of North America.
Research limitations/implications
Service researchers who opt to use inductive research methods, which tend to use qualitative research, will not confront discrimination based solely upon the use of a research methodology among editors or reviewers at JSM.
Practical implications
JSM welcomes qualitative research that has rich practical implications.
Originality/value
This study is one of the first to provide authors with a detailed analysis and responses to the qualitative-quantitative debate in marketing.
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Rory Francis Mulcahy, Ryan McAndrew, Rebekah Russell-Bennett and Dawn Iacobucci
Marketers have begun to investigate the potential of gamification for influencing consumer behavior by using game design elements in realms varying from branding, retail, sales…
Abstract
Purpose
Marketers have begun to investigate the potential of gamification for influencing consumer behavior by using game design elements in realms varying from branding, retail, sales and health services. Marketers have also begun to explore consumer behavior in sustainability. This paper aims to provide contributions to build on both literatures.
Design/methodology/approach
This research tests gamification principles in a large field study on real consumers that includes data from pre-post surveys, gamified app analytics and household energy meters. The data are analyzed using ANOVA’s and structural equation modeling.
Findings
The findings demonstrate: gamification significantly enhanced consumers’ knowledge, attitudes, behavioral intentions and realized bill savings compared to a control group; reward-based game design elements including points, badges and other rewards contribute to enhancing sustainable behavior outcomes.
Research limitations/implications
Future research in settings outside of sustainability may extend upon the findings of the current research to further understanding the impact of reward-based game design elements in marketing.
Practical implications
The findings have important practical implications for how organizations might use serious games to promote sustainable and other desirable behavior. In particular, how reward-based game design elements, points, trophies and badges, can be used to create a chain of relationships that leads to reduced electricity consumption.
Originality/value
This paper fulfills the need to understand if the impact of gamification extends outside of controlled environments and into the field. Further, it demonstrates how reward-based game design elements contribute to consumers changing their behavior, a relationship that is not yet thoroughly understood in the marketing literature.
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Rebekah Russell–Bennett, Rory Mulcahy, Kate Letheren, Ryan McAndrew and Uwe Dulleck
A transformative service aims to improve wellbeing; however, current approaches have an implicit assumption that all wellbeing dimensions are equal and more dimensions led to…
Abstract
Purpose
A transformative service aims to improve wellbeing; however, current approaches have an implicit assumption that all wellbeing dimensions are equal and more dimensions led to higher wellbeing. The purpose of this paper is to present evidence for a new framework that identifies the paradox of competing wellbeing dimensions for both the individual and others in society – the transformative service paradox (TSP).
Design/methodology/approach
Data is drawn from a mixed-method approach using qualitative (interviews) and quantitative data (lab experiment) in an electricity service context. The first study involves 45 household interviews (n = 118) and deals with the nature of trade-offs at the individual level to establish the concept of the TSP. The second study uses a behavioral economics laboratory experiment (n = 110) to test the self vs. other nature of the trade-off in day-to-day use of electricity.
Findings
The interviews and experiment identified that temporal (now vs. future) and beneficiary-level factors explain why individuals make wellbeing trade-offs for the transformative service of electricity. The laboratory experiment showed that when the future implication of the trade-off is made salient, consumers are more willing to forego physical wellbeing for environmental wellbeing, whereas when the “now” implication is more salient consumers forego financial wellbeing for physical wellbeing.
Originality/value
This research introduces the term “Transformative Service Paradox” and identifies two factors that explain why consumers make wellbeing trade-offs at the individual level and at the societal level; temporal (now vs. future) and wellbeing beneficiary.
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Ryan McAndrew, Judy Drennan, Rebekah Russell-Bennett and Sharyn Rundle-Thiele
Collective motives for alcohol consumption represent a nascent field, with individual-level attributes, peer pressure and broad-level environmental elements being at the forefront…
Abstract
Purpose
Collective motives for alcohol consumption represent a nascent field, with individual-level attributes, peer pressure and broad-level environmental elements being at the forefront of research. The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of friendships in the context of alcohol consumption and determine what group-level motives exist for alcohol consumption.
Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 participants aged 18–30, these discussed the role the participant’s friendship group played in alcohol consumption and helped to elucidate what collective and group-level motives existed.
Findings
Group-level motives can steer a collective’s alcohol consumption by either endorsing it or degrading it, the findings revealed four group-level motives: these were, competition, conformity, hedonism, with opportunity cost receptiveness acting as a buffer.
Research limitations/implications
The small sample and qualitative nature of the study means external validity still needs to be established to generalize the research to other audiences.
Practical implications
By unpacking group-level motives researchers can develop group-level strategies and match specialized interventions with the right priority group.
Originality/value
This paper is the first to address group-level motives for alcohol consumption and makes an important contribution to understanding how group-level factors can impact individuals.
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Kate Letheren, Rebekah Russell-Bennett, Rory Francis Mulcahy and Ryan McAndrew
Practitioners need to understand how households will engage with connected-home technologies or risk the failure of these innovations. Current theory does not offer sufficient…
Abstract
Purpose
Practitioners need to understand how households will engage with connected-home technologies or risk the failure of these innovations. Current theory does not offer sufficient explanation for how households will engage; hence, this paper aims to address an important gap by examining how households set “rules of engagement” for connected-home technologies in the context of electricity use and monitoring.
Design/methodology/approach
A review of the extant psychology, technology and engagement literature is conducted and yields two research questions for exploration. The research questions are addressed via 43 in-depth household interviews. Analysis includes thematic analysis and computerized text analysis.
Findings
The results include a typology of technology engagement (the “PIP typology”) and discuss three main roles for technology in assisting households: intern, assistant and manager. Key contributions are as follows: consumers in household settings may experience “compromised engagement” where the perceived middle option is selected even if no-one selected that option originally; households open to using connected-home technologies are often taking advantage of their ability to “delegate” engagement to technology, and because consumers humanize technology, they also expect technology to follow social roles and boundaries.
Research limitations/implications
Future research may examine the PIP typology quantitatively and/or in different contexts and would benefit from a longitudinal study to examine how household technology engagement evolves. Four research propositions are provided, which may form the basis for future research.
Practical implications
Recommendations for practitioners are presented regarding the benefits of keeping consumers at the heart of connected-home technology goods and services. Specific design principles are provided.
Originality/value
This paper fulfills the need to understand how households will engage with connected-home technologies and the roles this technology may fulfill in the complex household service system.
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Purpose – The chapter provides the reader with an overview of how teacher preparation programs can utilize a school-based reading/literacy clinic model within university…
Abstract
Purpose – The chapter provides the reader with an overview of how teacher preparation programs can utilize a school-based reading/literacy clinic model within university coursework. Information on how to successfully scaffold teacher candidates into becoming more reflective educators through the use of a reading clinic model is provided. Details for partnering with community organizations to provide tutoring support for struggling readers is illustrated.
Methodology/approach – The research support for utilizing tutoring programs is shared. Implications for teacher preparation programs seeking to develop literacy experiences for preservice and practicing educators are depicted. This book chapter describes a framework for establishing and maintaining tutoring partnerships within communities.
Practical implications – The author provides examples of effective community partnerships with suggestions and techniques for developing new programs and/or partnerships. Practical tips for establishing and maintaining tutoring programs which are composed of innovative practices are included.
Social implications – The key element of effective tutoring programs is to improve student achievement in literacy. Educators must build meaningful and thought-provoking literacy practices into the tutoring setting. A model for using a tutoring approach supportive of struggling readers is described. The components for effectively designing and preserving a reading clinics program are shared.
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Barry Foster, John Murrie and Ian Laird
The purpose of this paper is to determine the attitudes of employers in a de‐regulated institutional industrial relations framework, and whether they are still willing to engage…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to determine the attitudes of employers in a de‐regulated institutional industrial relations framework, and whether they are still willing to engage in collective bargaining (CB).
Design/methodology/approach
A cross‐sectional survey design using a self‐administered postal questionnaire, seeks information on employers' attitudes to a range of issues. Included are employers within all 17 standard industry classifications used by previous New Zealand researchers.
Findings
The paper quite convincingly shows that unless employers are prepared to engage in dialogue with employees or third parties and unless the benefits to be gained from such a dialogue are more widely accepted it is unlikely they will engage in CB. Therefore, involvement would appear to be limited to those areas that do not hinder managerial freedom.
Originality/value
This is one of the first studies in New Zealand of employers' attitudes to CB since the 1990s. The paper provides valuable data for policy makers, unions, employers and employment relations researchers.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine early sociological research on the experience of non-impaired siblings in families of children with disabilities for evidence of an…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine early sociological research on the experience of non-impaired siblings in families of children with disabilities for evidence of an approach consistent with aspects of the social model of disability.
Methodology/approach
Due to the historical nature of this special issue, this work examines research published over a 30-year period beginning with the 1960s and ending with the late 1980s. After an extensive literature search, a mixture of 51 quantitative and qualitative studies on the sibling experience was included in the sample.
Findings
Findings indicate that while the focus of much of the early research on the non-impaired sibling experience was on the negative impact of having a sibling with impairments, there were some exceptions in early sociological studies that highlighted the impact of structural barriers and cultural attitudes on sibling adjustment. In particular, results of early studies showed that the transmission of inclusionary attitudes within the family unit can improve the lives of siblings.
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A.K.M. Najmul Islam, Matti Mäntymäki and Izak Benbasat
Self-promotion on social networking sites (SNSs) is a controversial issue as it has been attributed to various positive and negative consequences. To better understand the reasons…
Abstract
Purpose
Self-promotion on social networking sites (SNSs) is a controversial issue as it has been attributed to various positive and negative consequences. To better understand the reasons for the mixed consequences and the nature of self-promotion on SNSs, the purpose of this paper is to theorize and empirically investigate the duality of SNS self-promotion and its underlying socio-psychological mechanisms.
Design/methodology/approach
By drawing on the motivational affordance lens and self-determination theory, this study develops a theoretical account of the duality of self-promotion on SNSs. The author places subjective vitality and SNS addiction as the positive and negative consequences of self-promotion. The model was tested using partial least squares technique with data collected from 289 Finnish Facebook users using a survey.
Findings
The results show that self-promotion contributes to both subjective vitality and to SNS addiction. Importantly, exhibitionism attenuates the effect of self-promotion on subjective vitality and amplifies the effect of self-promotion on SNS addiction. The feature-level analysis shows that status updates, adding photos, commenting in others’ posts and profile completeness are the main determinants of self-promotion. Status updates, adding photos and check-ins, in turn, have high exhibitionistic appeal.
Originality/value
To date, the empirical attempts to investigate the duality of SNS use have been rare. In particular, prior research is largely silent in explaining what tilt the outcomes of self-promotion either toward positive or negative direction. The paper fills this theoretical and empirical gap and thus contributes to literature on dualities of SNS use.
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Angus J. Duff and Chris C.A. Chan
– To empirically consider work and career as potential influences of suicide.
Abstract
Purpose
To empirically consider work and career as potential influences of suicide.
Design/methodology/approach
In this qualitative study we conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with 16 individuals who were survivors (i.e. family members or intimates) of individuals who had committed suicide. Data was analyzed using a grounded theory methodology.
Findings
This exploratory study used purposive self-determination as the theoretical framework for analyzing their life histories. Factors of purposive self-determination, including lack of purpose, feeling controlled, experiencing failure, and social exclusion all figured prominently but differentially according to life-stage. Distinct work and career themes for early-career, mid-career and late-career suicides emerged. Early-career suicides were attributed to educational or work-related contexts, leading to a sense of hopelessness. Mid-career suicides emphasized despair based in failure. Finally, an attempt to escape from challenges associated with transitioning roles in retirements emerged as a key theme in late-career suicides.
Originality/value
Although suicide has been studied extensively from medical, psychopathological, sociological, anthropological, philosophical and religious perspectives, there is a dearth of research considering why certain individuals choose to end their own lives as a result of work and career related reasons. This study sought to contribute to our understanding of this under-researched phenomenon. Additionally, while extant careers theory and research has considered positive notions of career such as career success or careers as a calling, this work presents an alternate lens, the consideration of career failure and careers as a sentence.