Why was Subway’s “$5 Footlong” viewed as an iconic and beloved deal for years on end? Considering the fact that those footlongs often added up to more than $5, it seems quite puzzling. Alliteration, or the repetition of initial word sounds across two or more proximal words, may be the answer to this puzzle.

Welcome to the CSL’s “ServiceFriday”. Each Friday we post three summaries from some of our favorite sources from research literature, news articles, blogs, and more. The posts are curated to cover topics that are interesting, relevant, and thought provoking in the realm of service, business, education, and beyond.

Believe it or not, the Academy Awards (commonly known as the Oscars) do not have set criteria for what distinguishes a leading actor from a supporting actor. However, unlike the Academy, the criteria for a lead actor and supporting actor in frontline employees (FLE) are very clear in regards to service innovation.

It is common practice to try and retain customers through loyalty programs (LPs) that typically offer rewards for continued business as incentives to stay with the company. LP’s, however, can be costly to service providers if the rewards can be easily replicated or lead to a price war.

Welcome to the CSL’s “ServiceFriday”. Each Friday we post three summaries from some of our favorite sources from research literature, news articles, blogs, and more. The posts are curated to cover topics that are interesting, relevant, and thought provoking in the realm of service, business, education, and beyond.

What do Disneyland and Harvard University have in common? They both represent complex service systems that offer very unique customer experiences.

ASU has been ranked number one in innovation by U.S. News & World Report for four consecutive years now. But how exactly does one institution continue to lead in innovation?

Welcome to the CSL’s “ServiceFriday”. Each Friday we post three summaries from some of our favorite sources from research literature, news articles, blogs, and more.

In a world where service providers are growing more aware of the importance of being transparent with customers, a group of researchers conducted a study to interpret what constructs the performance transparency of service firms.

Used-car salespeople are more often than not depicted as being loud, aggressive, persistent, and male. This is what is known as a stereotype and it’s one aspect of the service industry that can hurt both the customer and service provider.

Welcome to the CSL’s “ServiceFriday”. Each Friday we post three summaries from some of our favorite sources from research literature, news articles, blogs, and more. The posts are curated to cover topics that are interesting, relevant, and thought provoking in the realm of service, business, education, and beyond.

“You have used all of your high-speed data for this billing period. You are now using low-speed data until…” This is one common example of what is known as a “flat-rate bias”. Flat-rate pricing exists when a fixed fee is charged for a service instead of the customer paying for their actual usage.

Welcome to the CSL’s “ServiceFriday”. Each Friday we post three summaries from some of our favorite sources from research literature, news articles, blogs, and more. The posts are curated to cover topics that are interesting, relevant, and thought provoking in the realm of service, business, education, and beyond.

Improving customer experience and engagement has been ranked by the Marketing Science Institute as one of the most important challenges for companies in coming years.

Customers are doing their research before buying, and increasingly they are relying on other people for the information they want. They consider online reviews, social media recommendations and word of mouth, searching for non-commercial, unbiased advice.

The breakfast buffet is closed when a customer arrives looking for scrambled eggs; a flight is delayed. Service failures may or may not be the providers’ fault, and they may affect a single customer or a group. But importantly, service failures are often unpredictable.

Success breeds success. The old saw might seem logical, but it does not always play out in the services market. In fact, service firms that are already productive with existing services may not be able to replicate that success with new service innovation. 

Billions of people, primarily in rural areas of emerging economies, comprise what’s called the Base of the Pyramid, those who eke out a living at the lowest income level. The challenges of living on so little leads to non-consumption, where people cannot buy products that would improve their livelihood.

Welcome to the CSL’s “ServiceFriday”. Each Friday we post three summaries from some of our favorite sources from research literature, news articles, blogs, and more. The posts are curated to cover topics that are interesting, relevant, and thought provoking in the realm of service, business, education, and beyond.

Companies try to manage customer expectations by communicating their capabilities, by way of their salespeople and other, non-human channels such as websites. One oft-recommended method is to promise the customer less than the firm is capable of producing, then delighting the customer by over-delivering.