People are not always rational, rely on heuristics and are influenced by situational factors being conducive to biased decisions. Hence, the decision outcome cannot be explained by consumers’ preferences exclusively. This offers opportunities to service managers to steer the decision outcome into a desirable direction by a beneficial design of situational factors. In contrast to the discussed opportunities, situational factors can also become a pitfall for researchers and managers. I show that situational factors may compromise the validity of research results based on self reports in a service context, because the reported scores of research participants may be biased. Three perspectives related to service management are distinguished in this thesis: First, the customer independently of the service provider; second, the interaction of customer and service provider; third, the service provider independently of the customer. From the perspective of the customer, I investigate the impact of different defaults in a customization process on the decision outcome of different types of customers. From the perspective of the customer and service provider interaction, I point out a new solution to overcome a dilemma related to service productivity. Finally, from the perspective of the service provider, the possible contamination of service related constructs by socially desirable responding is examined.

People are not always rational, rely on heuristics and are influenced by situational factors being conducive to biased decisions. Hence, the decision outcome cannot be explained by consumers’ preferences exclusively. This offers opportunities to service managers to steer the decision outcome into a desirable direction by a beneficial design of situational factors. In contrast to the discussed opportunities, situational factors can also become a pitfall for researchers and managers. I show that situational factors may compromise the validity of research results based on self reports in a service context, because the reported scores of research participants may be biased. Three perspectives related to service management are distinguished in this thesis: First, the customer independently of the service provider; second, the interaction of customer and service provider; third, the service provider independently of the customer. From the perspective of the customer, I investigate the impact of different defaults in a customization process on the decision outcome of different types of customers. From the perspective of the customer and service provider interaction, I point out a new solution to overcome a dilemma related to service productivity. Finally, from the perspective of the service provider, the possible contamination of service related constructs by socially desirable responding is examined.

Research on persuasive technologies for promoting healthy behaviours has been surging in recent years, but these technologies have the risk of being perceived as undesirable meddling. The current study puts forward a non-coercive and libertarian paternalistic alternative - the nudge theory. The foundation of the nudge theory is informed by the dual processing theory and can be categorized in two types - Type 1 nudging and Type 2 nudging. As design tools, two Type 1 nudging methods: default setting and manipulation of accessibility; and four Type 2 nudging methods: reminders, prompts, framing and precommitment strategies were selected to be featured. Sleep was chosen as the use case for this study, for it is associated with a number of non-communicable diseases yet considerably few studies of persuasive technology are about sleep. Better sleep hygiene is a significant means to improve sleep, therefore used as the design goal. The current study explores possible solutions for persuasive technologies for improving sleep hygiene, and better understand the design potentials and the persuasive characteristics of different types and methods of nudging. The research methodology is informed by scenario-based design. Five (four male and one female) academic professionals with backgrounds in interaction design, human-computer interaction, artificial intelligence and robotics took part in the study. Seven scenarios and thirteen prototypes were created to illustrate the situations and present the possible solutions. Results also showed that Type 1 nudging is considered more convenient and effective. However, the sense of control is better preserved in Type 2 nudging. In regard to nudging methods, default setting is considered as the most eective method under the condition of goal-alignment, but prone to error. Manipulation of accessibility should be designed so that the navigation is intuitive and the integrity of availability should not be damaged. Timing is the most prominent factor for reminders, and the influence of reminders could be reinforced by prioritizing and cross-platform availability. The presence of prompts could be emphasized by purposeful placement, and appropriateness should be considered. The perception of framing is highly subjective, therefore it should be user-tailored and context-aware. The effects of precommitment strategies are able to access higher-level motivation, but should be reinforced with other methods. To summarize the design principles, when designing nudges in persuasive technologies, the following factors should be considered: goal alignment, intuitiveness, context awareness, availability and accessing motivation. / Forskning inom temat persuasive teknologi för hälsoinriktade beteenden har ökat under den senaste tiden. Dock kan sådana teknologier oftast uppfattas som en oönskad inblandning i människors privata liv. Denna studie föreslår ett otvingade och libertarianskt paternalistiskt alternativ för att påverka val och beteenden – nudge teorin. Flera tidigare beprövade designverktyg betonas i denna teori. Nudge teorin har en dual process teoretisk bakgrund och kan delas in i två typer av nudging –- Typ 1 nudging och Typ 2 nudging. Bland Typ 1 verktyg väljs default setting och manipulation of accessibility, och bland Typ 2 metoder väljs reminders, prompts, framing och pre-commitment strategies. I syfte att illustrera detta användes sömn som exempel, då det har länkats till flera icke-smittsamma sjukdomar och få studier har försökt att undersöka motiverande design i relation till sömn. Bättre sömnhygien är ett betydelsefullt verktyg för att förbättra sömn och användes därför som målsättning. Denna studie undersöker möjliga alternativ för persuasive teknologi i syfte att förbättra sömn. Dessutom undersöktes potentialen av olika typer av persuasive teknologi och metoder för nudging. Den valda metodologi är en informerad scenariobaserad design. Fem akademiskt anställda, fyra män och en kvinna, med bakgrund inom interaction design, human-computer interaction, artificial intelligence och robotics, deltog i denna studie. Sju scenarion och tretton prototyper utarbetades för att illustrera en situation och presentera en möjlig lösning där sömnhygien kunde förbättras igenom persuasive teknologi. Resultaten visade att Typ 1 nudging ansågs vara mer lämpligt och effektiv. Emellertid bibehålls känslan av kontroll mer inom Typ 2 nudging. Default setting ansågs som mest effektiv inom betingelsen goal alignment, men med risk för bakslag. Manipulation of accessibility bör designas så att navigering är intuitiv och att integriteten av tillgänglighet inte störs. Tajming är den mest framträdande faktorn för reminders och deras påverkan skulle kunna framhävas igenom prioritering och cross-platform availability. Prompts skulle kunna framhävas mer igenom igenomtänkt placering där lämplighet är en drivande faktor. Uppfattningen av framing är mycket subjektiv och bör vara anpassad till användaren. Pre-commitment strategier har tillgång till högre motivation men bör förstärkas med andra medel.