Customer Dignity in Service Encounters

Abstract:

Though customer dignity represents a foundational cornerstone of transformative services, prior service research (with the exception of healthcare research) has failed to conceptualize customer dignity in service encounters, exposing an important literature-based gap. Relatedly, the extent to which healthcare-based patient dignity is applicable across service contexts also remains tenuous. Addressing these gaps, we define and qualitatively examine customer dignity in service encounters by drawing on a sample of financial services customers in Australia. Based on a review of dignity in philosophy, theology, humanistic management theory, and transformative service research, coupled with a series of interpretative analyses of service customers’ lived experiences of dignity, we conceptualize customer dignity as a customer’s perception of feeling valued, cared for, respected, empowered, having a sense of autonomy, and being psychologically comfortable in their relationship with a service provider. Our analyses also unveil the customer dignity themes of fairness, communication, autonomy, respect, relational orientation, empowerment, and empathy. Our analyses add to the transformative service research literature by demonstrating how customer dignity in business-to-consumer service encounters reveals conceptual overlap with, and departure from, dignity conceptions in related domains and how an improved understanding of customer dignity may yield benefits for customers (e.g., by boosting their wellbeing) and the firm (e.g., by lifting its performance).

Speaker’s Profile:

Dr Aman Abid is an Assistant Professor at Suleman Dawood School of Business, Lahore University of Management Sciences. Since 2012, he has been teaching marketing at various institutes in Pakistan and Australia. His research interests include social media marketing, political marketing, and relationship marketing. His works have been featured in reputable marketing journals and academic conferences. His academic credentials include a Bachelor of Science from Purdue University, USA, and a PhD from The University of Western Australia, Australia. He teaches Principles of Marketing and Integrated Marketing Communications at the undergraduate level and Marketing Management at the graduate level.

For queries about this event, please email shoaib.masud@lums.edu.pk