Suchergebnisse

Artificial intelligence (AI) is likely to spawn revolutionary transformational effects on service organizations, including by impacting the ways in which firms engage with their customers. In parallel, customer engagement (CE), which reflects customer interactions with brands, offerings, or firms, has risen to the top of many managers' strategic wish lists in the last decade. However, despite literature-based advances made in both areas, AI and CE are largely investigated in isolation to date, yielding a paucity of insight into their interface. In response to this gap, this Special Issue offers a pioneering exploration of CE in automated or AI-based service interactions. Our editorial first reviews AI's Industry 4.0 underpinnings, followed by an important AI typology that comprises robotic process automation (RPA), machine learning (ML), and deep learning (DL) applications. We then offer a high-level synopsis of existing CE research, followed by the development of a set of integrative propositions of CE in automated service interactions. Next, we introduce the Special Issue papers, which feature particular RPA, ML, or DL applications. We conclude with an overview of further research avenues in this growing area, which has the potential to develop into a powerful service research substream in the coming years.

Political polarization is a marked political division in the population, characterized by multiple manifestations. The authors argue that it can affect consumer psychology, which in turn influences marketers, policy makers, and consumer welfare. The present work introduces the construct of political polarization to the marketing literature and shows how it serves as a novel challenge for various marketing stakeholders. For consumers, the authors propose that political polarization increases the salience of political identities, alters inter- and intragroup dynamics, and amplifies cognitive biases. These effects negatively affect consumer welfare, including financial welfare, relationships, mental and physical health, and societal interests. For marketers, polarization introduces a challenge to both be more sociopolitically engaged while also navigating competing political interests. Polarization also creates new opportunities and challenges for segmentation, targeting, loyalty, and product offerings. For policy makers, political polarization creates policy gaps, impedes the implementation of policy, and obstructs governance. Building from these insights, the authors consider the drawbacks and overlooked benefits of political polarization, potential remedies, and directions for future research.