Transformative Service Research: An Agenda for the Future

Laurel Anderson, Arizona State University Amy L. Ostrom, Arizona State University Canan Corus, Pace University Raymond P. Fisk, Texas State University Andrew S. Gallan, DePaul University Mario Giraldo Oliveros, University of Surrey Martin Mende, Florida State University Mark Mulder, Pacific Lutheran University Steven W. Rayburn, Texas State University Mark S. Rosenbaum, Northern Illinois University Kunio Shirahada, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology Jerome D. Williams, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

This article conceptualizes and presents a research agenda for the emerging area of transformative service research, which lies at the intersection of service research and transformative consumer research and focuses on well-being outcomes related to service and services. A conceptual framework provides a big-picture view of how the interaction between service entities (e.g., individual service employees, service processes or offerings, organizations) and consumer entities (e.g., individuals, collectives such as families or communities, the ecosystem) influences the well-being outcomes of both. Research questions derived from the framework in the context of financial services, health care, and social services help catalyze new research in the transformative service research domain.