Browsing by Author "Dodds S"
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- ItemAdapting research methodology during COVID-19: Lessons for transformative service research(Emerald Publishing Limited, 2021-02-08) Dodds S; Hess ACPurpose Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has created a challenging, yet opportunistic, environment in which to conduct transformative service research (TSR) and assess research methodology. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate and gain important new insights of a group interviewing method with vulnerable people and their support group, adapted and transferred online during COVID-19. Design/methodology/approach This research examines the experiences of 35 participants (nine family groups composed of parents and young people), involved in a research project that explores a sensitive topic, youth alcohol consumption and family communication, that was moved online during lockdown. Researcher reflections on running group interviews face-to-face prior to COVID- 19 and online during lockdown are included in the data. Findings Thematic analysis of participant interviews and researcher reflections reveals four key benefits and three limitations of online group interviews with vulnerable people and their support group. The benefits include being comfortable, non-intrusive and safe; engaging and convenient; online communication ease and easy set-up. The limitations relate to lack of non-verbal communication, poor set-up, and privacy and access issues. Practical implications The global environment is uncertain and being able to implement effective qualitative research online is essential for TSR and service research in the future. This paper provides a step by step procedure for an innovative online group interviewing technique that can be used by TSR and qualitative service researchers. Originality/value Conducting research during a pandemic has provided unprecedented insights into qualitative research approaches and methodology. This paper contributes to literature on service and TSR methodology by providing a framework for researchers to investigate vulnerable groups online in an effective, safe and non-intrusive way. The framework also has the potential to be applied to other service contexts.
- ItemBlended human-technology service realities in healthcare(Emerald, 2022-01-05) Dodds S; Russell-Bennett R; Chen T; Oertzen A-S; Salvador-Carulla L; Hung Y-CPurpose – The healthcare sector is experiencing a major paradigm shift toward a people-centered approach. The key issue with transitioning to a people-centered approach is a lack of understanding of the ever-increasing role of technology in blended human-technology healthcare interactions and the impacts on healthcare actors’ well-being. The purpose of the paper is to identify the key mechanisms and influencing factors through which blended service realities affect engaged actors’ well-being in a healthcare context. Design/methodology/approach – This conceptual paper takes a human-centric perspective and a value co creation lens and uses theory synthesis and adaptation to investigate blended human-technology service realities in healthcare services. Findings – The authors conceptualize three blended human-technology service realities – human-dominant, balanced and technology-dominant – and identify two key mechanisms – shared control and emotional-social and cognitive complexity – and three influencing factors – meaningful human-technology experiences, agency and DART (dialogue, access, risk, transparency) – that affect the well-being outcome of engaged actors in these blended human-technology service realities. Practical implications – Managerially, the framework provides a useful tool for the design and management of blended human-technology realities. The paper explains how healthcare services should pay attention to management and interventions of different services realities and their impact on engaged actors. Blended human-technology reality examples – telehealth, virtual reality (VR) and service robots in healthcare – are used to support and contextualize the study’s conceptual work. A future research agenda is provided. Originality/value – This study contributes to service literature by developing a new conceptual framework that underpins the mechanisms and factors that influence the relationships between blended human technology service realities and engaged actors’ well-being
- ItemMobilising SDG 12: Co-creating sustainability through brands(Emerald Publishing Limited, 2020-07-28) Palakshappa N; Dodds SPurpose This research extends understanding of the role brand co-creation plays in encouraging ethical consumption. The paper addresses sustainable development goal 12 (SDG 12): ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns, exploring how brand co-creation can be employed to advance this development goal. Design/methodology/approach The Customer Brand Co-creation Model is used within an embedded case design to understand the role of the brand and the consumer in promoting sustainable consumption within the fashion industry. Findings Initial insights suggest marketing has much to offer sustainability through the use of the brand. An extended brand co-creation framework highlights the importance of embedding sustainability and viewing the consumer as central to mobilising SDG12. Practical implications An important concern is to ensure sustainability is embedded within the activities and strategy of the organisation and viewed as integral rather than peripheral. Originality/value The paper examines aspects crucial to co-creation of “sustainability” through a focus on both the consumer and the brand. Case narratives provide a strong foundation to consider the Customer Brand Co-creation Model and implications of this framework for managerial practice. This study extends the model to encompass the umbrella of “sustainability” and the firm's perspective.
- ItemTension and Paradox in Women-Oriented Sustainable Hybrid Organizations: A Duality of Ethics(Springer, 2023-05-04) Palakshappa N; Dodds S; Grant SThe pursuit of social goals and ethics in business creates challenges. Sustained efforts to address poverty, environmental degradation or health/wellbeing require meaningful and transformative responses that impact across multiple levels—individual, community and the global collective. Shifting predominant paradigms to facilitate change entails a renegotiation of business strategy—between organizations, their purpose(s), individual and collective stakeholders and ultimately with society at large. Hybrid organizations such as social enterprises are positioned to affect such change. However, in balancing divergent goals such organizations encounter tensions and paradox, creating a duality of ethics. Utilizing in-depth interviews to develop a case within the sustainable fashion industry, we identify tensions and paradox within women-oriented hybrid organizations. Significantly, managing these tensions and paradox results in multiple dualities of ethics, often with a wider impact on organizational founders/managers. We find three interrelated ethical dualities: business strategy and personal values; financial sustainability and holistic sustainability; and business, employee, societal wellbeing, and personal wellbeing. This insight is noteworthy when looked at within the broader context of sustainability and highlights the importance of sustainability in women-oriented hybrid organizations.
- ItemThe development of reputational capital–How social media influencers differ from traditional celebrities(Wiley, 2022-06-09) Hess A; Dodds S; Rahman NSocial media influencers (SMI) have grown in importance as a promotional channel. However, little is known about how they build reputational capital and thus endorsement effectiveness, particularly compared to traditional celebrity endorsers. From a consumers' perspective, this research investigates both types of endorsers in different stages of the Celebrity Capital Life Cycle (CCLC). Across three studies, we find that parasocial relationships and interactions with consumers are paramount for SMIs reputational capital and endorsement effectiveness, yet not critical for traditional celebrities. Further, a consumer's perceived weak parasocial relationship/interaction with SMIs can be detrimental to their effectiveness yet has little impact on traditional celebrities' influence. We find that the positive effect of a SMI with high parasocial relationship/interaction with consumers on Word of Mouth (i.e., endorsers effectiveness) is mediated by expectation fulfillment and brand endorsers' credibility (i.e., reputation capital). This research discovers how important parasocial relationships with consumers are for SMIs in comparison to traditional celebrities; importantly this is the first research that empirically identifies how SMIs can gain and maintain reputation capital and subsequently be more effective as brand endorsers. Our findings have important implications for marketing professionals who are managing SMIs.
- ItemTransformative Service Research Methodologies for Vulnerable Participants(SAGE Publications, 2022-11-10) Dodds S; Finsterwalder J; Prayag G; Subramanian IUnderstanding vulnerable consumers when conducting Transformative Service Research (TSR) is essential but these consumers and their contexts are often complex and difficult to research. Despite a movement towards TSR methodologies suitable for studying vulnerable participants and their contexts, a comprehensive framework that can guide service researchers is lacking. The purpose of this paper is to investigate appropriate methods, procedures, and protocols that permit researching a wide range of vulnerable groups and exposures to vulnerable situations in TSR. This is undertaken via a review of the literature and the authors’ reflections of their experiences with researching vulnerability in various configurations (e.g., disasters, refugees, healthcare, disability, and older people). Through an iterative process of personal case reflections and group discussions blended with extant literature, patterns and insights regarding appropriate research protocols, techniques, processes, and sampling are identified. These insights contribute to the development of a comprehensive TSR framework in five research method areas including 1) consideration of the context, researcher, support persons and participants, 2) recruitment considerations relating to sampling, 3) recruitment considerations in terms of ethics and set-up, 4) data collection considerations relating to research protocol and set-up, and 5) data collection considerations. The framework can guide both academics and practitioners to enhance research outcomes for both participants and researchers.