Academic Research
Spinning the Wheel: The Effectiveness of Gamification in Service Recovery
This research offers insights into the efficacy of gamification in a failure-recovery context, that is, providing recovery through a gamified experience. Using one field study and three online experiments across different contexts (i.e., retail, restaurant, gym, and hotel), we show that a gamified recovery (i.e., compensation offered through a spin-the-wheel game) can have a positive effect on recovery satisfaction. This effect is mediated by the perceived enjoyment of the game and is moderated by customer choice, failure severity, compensation level, and time pressure. Specifically, we find that gamification has a positive recovery effect when customers are offered a choice, when the failure is mild, when customers receive full compensation or overcompensation (i.e., when they experience a sense of winning), and when they do not face time pressure. However, gamification can backfire and have a negative effect when a failure is severe, when customers receive only partial compensation (i.e., when they experience a sense of loss), and when they face time pressure. Finally, a single-paper meta-analysis provides aggregated evidence of these effects. For managers, our findings provide initial evidence of the usefulness of this recovery strategy and explain how it should be implemented.
Paper Link: https://doi.org/10.1177/10946705241307681
Authors: Amin Nazifi, Holger Roschk, Ben Marder, Thomas Leclercq
ABSTRACT
This research offers insights into the efficacy of gamification in a failure-recovery context, that is, providing recovery through a gamified experience. Using one field study and three online experiments across different contexts (i.e., retail, restaurant, gym, and hotel), we show that a gamified recovery (i.e., compensation offered through a spin-the-wheel game) can have a positive effect on recovery satisfaction. This effect is mediated by the perceived enjoyment of the game and is moderated by customer choice, failure severity, compensation level, and time pressure. Specifically, we find that gamification has a positive recovery effect when customers are offered a choice, when the failure is mild, when customers receive full compensation or overcompensation (i.e., when they experience a sense of winning), and when they do not face time pressure. However, gamification can backfire and have a negative effect when a failure is severe, when customers receive only partial compensation (i.e., when they experience a sense of loss), and when they face time pressure. Finally, a single-paper meta-analysis provides aggregated evidence of these effects. For managers, our findings provide initial evidence of the usefulness of this recovery strategy and explain how it should be implemented.
The Service Robot Customer Experience (SR-CX): A Matter of AI Intelligences and Customer Service Goals
This research aims to generate a nuanced understanding of service robot customer experiences (SR-CX). Specifically, this work (1) empirically explores the impact of different AI intelligences (mechanical, thinking, and feeling AI) on SR-CX (i.e., SR-CX strength and SR-CX dimensionality) and its downstream impact on important service outcomes (i.e., overall service experience and service usage intentions), and (2) considers the moderating role of consumer service goals (hedonic versus utilitarian). Drawing on insights from two field studies and two online experiments, this research demonstrates that SR-CX—which is impacted differently by varying AI intelligences—affects service outcomes. Specifically, more sophisticated AI intelligences lead to enhanced service outcomes for customers with hedonic service goals across settings by strengthening SR-CX and triggering a more extensive set of SR-CX dimensions. This pattern, however, is less clear for customers driven by utilitarian service goals. For these customers, the role of SR-CX strength and SR-CX dimensionality varies across settings. These findings, which empirically support the importance of SR-CX, may help organizations to strategically leverage robots with different intelligence levels along service journeys of customers with different service goals.
Paper Link: https://doi.org/10.1177/10946705241296051
Authors: Bart Larivière, Katrien Verleye, Arne De Keyser, Klaas Koerten, Alexander L. Schmidt
ABSTRACT
This research aims to generate a nuanced understanding of service robot customer experiences (SR-CX). Specifically, this work (1) empirically explores the impact of different AI intelligences (mechanical, thinking, and feeling AI) on SR-CX (i.e., SR-CX strength and SR-CX dimensionality) and its downstream impact on important service outcomes (i.e., overall service experience and service usage intentions), and (2) considers the moderating role of consumer service goals (hedonic versus utilitarian). Drawing on insights from two field studies and two online experiments, this research demonstrates that SR-CX—which is impacted differently by varying AI intelligences—affects service outcomes. Specifically, more sophisticated AI intelligences lead to enhanced service outcomes for customers with hedonic service goals across settings by strengthening SR-CX and triggering a more extensive set of SR-CX dimensions. This pattern, however, is less clear for customers driven by utilitarian service goals. For these customers, the role of SR-CX strength and SR-CX dimensionality varies across settings. These findings, which empirically support the importance of SR-CX, may help organizations to strategically leverage robots with different intelligence levels along service journeys of customers with different service goals.