Service research: past, present and future research agenda

Q1 Business, Management and Accounting

Spanish Journal of Marketing - ESIC Pub Date : 2022-05-17 DOI:10.1108/sjme-09-2021-0177

H. Arici, Mehmet Ali Köseoglu, L. Altınay

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引用次数: 3

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to explore past and present service research and to provide a future research agenda for service researchers by presenting a big picture of the intellectual connections and emerging topics in the discipline. Design/methodology/approach This study is an empirical analysis of citations and cocitations on a sample of 5,837 articles published in leading service journals (from 1981 to December 2020). Network analysis was adopted to analyze the data. This study is exclusive in conducting the inquiry at the individual publication level, rather than using the normal aggregated author co-citation analysis approach. Findings The findings reveal that the main themes of service research centered on customer satisfaction, service quality, service-dominant logic, methodological foundations, market orientation and service encounter. Also clarified is the periphery domain that may become more important in the future (i.e. technology). The findings also present anchor points for conceptual framing and conceptual development – five main themes that are momentous to navigate theory discovery and justification in the knowledge domain. Research limitations/implications It calls for a more academic effort to evaluate the service research by considering different epistemological paradigms, such as positivism, monologic and hermeneutic, to better understand the process and progress of the discipline. Practical implications Through exploring the transformation of service research into a customer-centric model and technology-based service logic, this study offers possible implications for practitioners and further research areas for service researchers. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to use a citation, cocitation and network analysis to examine service research published in leading service journals. This study provides a significant contribution to the theory by combining main conceptual areas and interests in the given discipline.

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服务研究:过去、现在和未来的研究议程

目的本研究旨在探讨服务研究的过去和现在，并通过展示学科的智力联系和新兴课题，为服务研究者提供未来的研究议程。本研究对1981年至2020年12月在主要服务期刊上发表的5837篇论文的引用和被引情况进行了实证分析。采用网络分析法对数据进行分析。本研究在单个出版物水平上进行调查是排他性的，而不是使用正常的汇总作者共被引分析方法。研究结果显示，服务研究的主题主要集中在顾客满意度、服务质量、服务主导逻辑、方法论基础、市场导向和服务遭遇。此外，还澄清了在未来可能变得更加重要的外围领域(即技术)。研究结果还为概念框架和概念发展提供了锚点——这五个主题对于在知识领域中导航理论发现和证明是至关重要的。研究局限/启示需要更多的学术努力来评估服务研究，从不同的认识论范式，如实证主义、一元论和解释论，以更好地了解该学科的过程和进展。本研究通过探索服务研究向以顾客为中心的模式和基于技术的服务逻辑的转变，为服务研究者提供了可能的启示和进一步的研究领域。原创性/价值据作者所知，本研究首次使用引文、引文和网络分析来考察发表在主要服务期刊上的服务研究。本研究通过结合给定学科的主要概念领域和兴趣，对该理论作出了重大贡献。

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来源期刊

Spanish Journal of Marketing - ESIC Business, Management and Accounting-Marketing

CiteScore

9.10

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

12 weeks

期刊介绍： Expected manuscript profile: SJM-ESIC is especially interested in submissions that include unique and novel contributions on the frontier of knowledge, focused on emerging areas relevant to academic research in marketing or even opening new research niches. New methodologies and techniques are particularly appreciated. SJM-ESIC welcomes a wide array of original contributions (quantitative or qualitative empirical analysis, critical literature reviews, meta-analysis, theoretical papers, agenda for future research, etc.), as well as research that cross the frontiers between marketing and other related areas. Submitted manuscripts can be focused on Spanish, Latin-American, but also any other relevant market. Agenda for Future Research: Considering the interest of the SJM-ESIC for unique and novel contributions on the frontier of knowledge, this section aims to create a space for critical reflection of new directions in which future specialized research in the marketing field should advance. The Agenda for Future Research section welcomes contributions outlining emerging opportunities in the marketing discipline derived, for example, from changes in consumers'' behaviour. New challenges in this evolving field might be also addressed. In sum, this section aims to propose new research avenues for marketing academics in order to inspire future research agendas. Leading researchers in the marketing discipline, either alone or in collaboration, are highly encouraged to contribute to this Agenda for Future Research section. Due to the particularities of this type of contributions, no restrictions on manuscript structure apply.