Abstract Purpose – The aim of this thesis is to describe and explain how service employees create personal wellbeing through improving the customer’s experience of the service by being proactive in their work, continuously running the service interaction and stimulating the customer. Design/methodology/approach – The study takes on a qualitative approach and data was collected through a primary analysis of 9 extensive interviews performed on service providers within the mobility service-business in Gothenburg.   Findings – The findings of this study show how service employees’ can create personal wellbeing for themselves in different ways and to varying extent using different tactics, judgement procedures and implicit knowledge resources. Research limitations/implications for future research – The service setting in this study is not comparable to all other organisations, something must be taken into account. Future research should focus on further analysing the findings of this thesis by performing similar studies in other service contexts and a more detailed examination of the different components. Practical implications – The findings of this thesis provide valuable insights for managers within similar service organisations where there is need for improved employee wellbeing and performance. This could lead to significantly enhanced service experiences that would benefit, not only the employees’, but also customers’ and the organisation as a whole. Keywords – Employee Wellbeing, Service Employees, Service Interaction, Transformative Service Research, Service Dominant Logic, Employee Tactics

Baseado na Teoria da Identidade Social, este trabalho investigou os efeitos da ameaça à identidade social (AIS) nas reações do consumidor. Estudos da psicologia e sociologia mostram que o contexto social de um indivíduo implicará em mudanças em aspectos psicológicos e comportamentos individuais. Este trabalho abordou o tipo de estratégia de enfrentamento utilizada por indivíduos com identidades sociais vinculadas a estereótipos negativos, como resposta a situações de falha de serviço; o efeito da identificação do indivíduo para com o grupo social como moderador; o papel das emoções como mecanismo explicativo deste efeito; a relação entre as estratégias de enfrentamento e a intenção de reclamação do consumidor e por fim o papel do tipo de falha neste contexto. Através de dois estudos experimentais feitos com pessoas de baixa renda, os resultados desta pesquisa indicam que em situação de AIS, estratégia de enfrentamento emocional (i.e. distanciamento) será menos utilizada, levando à maior intenção de reclamação do consumidor após a falha de serviço. Este efeito é maior, quanto maior for a identificação do indivíduo com o grupo. Adicionalmente, foi explorado o papel das emoções como mecanismo explicativo e do tipo de falha (interpessoal vs de resultado) nesta relação. 9Continua) Identificou-se que o efeito da AIS na estratégia de enfrentamento emocional será maior quando a falha de serviço for do tipo interpessoal (vs falha de resultado). Baseado nisto, esta dissertação contribui para a literatura de marketing, de identidade social e de falha de serviços ao evidenciar que indivíduos que sofrem de ameaça optam menos por estratégias emocionais e possuem, por consequência, maior intenção de reclamação; que este efeito ocorre devido ao maior sentimento de raiva sentido pelo indivíduo e quando o mesmo se identificar com o grupo social estigmatizado e a falha for interpessoal (i.e. de tratamento). / Based on the theory of Social Identity, this dissertation aims to understand the effects of the Social Identity Threats (SIT) on the consumer’s Coping Strategies, after a service failure. Studies in psychology and sociology show that one’s social context will imply in changes on psychological aspects and individual behavior. This dissertation investigates what kind of coping strategies will be used by individuals with social identities linked to negative stereotypes, in response to situations of service failure with high levels identity threat; the effect of one’s identification with the social group as a moderator; how emotions can explain the effect of SIT in the coping strategies; the relation between the coping strategies used by consumers and theirs’s complaint intention and at last, the role of the kind of failure in this context. To achieve this purpose, two experimental studies were done with low-income population. The results of this work indicate that situations with higher levels of SIT (vs situations with lower levels of SIT) will cause the individual to use less emotional coping (i.e. distancing), after a service failure. This effect will be moderated by one’s identification with the stereotyped social group and will result on a greater complaint intention. Additionally the role of the emotions in the explaining was approached. Furthermore, results also show that the effects of SIT on the increase of the emotional coping will be higher when the type of failure is related to an interpersonal deviation (vs an outcome failure). Based on that, this dissertation contributes to the marketing, service failure and servicescape literature by showing that: individuals who suffers from SIT will cope to service failures more emotionally; this effect will be more powerful when individual’s have a higher identification with the negative stereotyped group and will result on a greater complaint intention; this will happen because of a higher feeling of the angry emotion and will occur more when the type of failure is related to and interpersonal deviation (vs an outcome failure).

La tesi analizza l’industria dell’ospitalità in ottica Trasformative Service Research (TSR). Nella prima parte si concentra sul caso dell’Albergo Diffuso studiando come esso influenzi positivamente il benessere individuale e collettivo di tutti gli attori coinvolti. Allo stesso tempo si tiene in conto di eventuali effetti negativi derivanti dalle attività dell’hotel. Il risultato è l’Enhancing Transformative Factors’ Framework dove si evidenziano i fattori che aiutano l’Albergo Diffuso ad avere un effetto trasformativo sugli attori coinvolti. Nella seconda parte della tesi si prende in considerazione il caso del Green Hotel e si studia come il soggiorno presso tale struttura eco-sostenibile influenzi le abitudini sostenibili degli ospiti. Il risultato è una Transformative Travel Experience che evidenzia come il soggiornare presso l’hotel influenzi a seconda della durata del soggiorno, le abitudini sostenibili dei clienti che muteranno i loro comportamenti tornati alla loro routine. Nell'ultima parte della tesi si considera il caso delle charities o enti di beneficenza operanti nel settore ospitalità. L’obiettivo è studiare come questi enti attivino un processo trasformativo in ottica Service Ecosystem sulle persone da loro supportate. Il risultato è il Transformative Service Ecosystem che descrive come tali persone vengono riabilitate socialmente con il conseguente miglioramento del loro benessere psico-fisico. / The thesis analyses the hospitality industry from a Transformative Service Research (TSR) perspective. In the first part, it focuses on the case of the Albergo Diffuso studying how it positively affects the individual and collective well-being of all actors involved. At the same time, negative effects deriving from the hotel’s activities are taken into account. The result is the Transformative Factors’ Framework, which describes the factors that have a transformative effect on the actors involved. In the second part, the case of the Green Hotel is taken into account and we study how the stay at the eco-hotel influences the sustainable habits of the guests. The result is a Transformative Travel Experience that highlights how staying at the hotel influences the sustainable habits of customers who change their behaviour depending on the length of their stay, once back to their routine. In the last part, we consider the case of Charities operating in hospitality. The goal is to study how these organisations activate a transformative process on the people they support from a Service Ecosystem perspective. The result is the Transformative Service Ecosystem, which describes how such people are socially rehabilitated with the consequent improvement of their psychophysical well-being.

本研究目的是從注意力恢復理論的觀點檢驗服務環境中的人際因素如何影響恢復體驗，進而帶給顧客注意力幸福感。人際因素有顧客小群體的人際融洽、其他顧客的相似性、外表及行為適當性、以及服務人員的服務友誼、顧客導向行為與銷售導向行為。本研究執行兩個研究，研究一將會透過量表建構過程發展一個恢復體驗量表，適用於享樂型人身處理或心理刺激處理類型的服務業，並得知恢復體驗的概念內涵與組成要素。研究二將檢驗恢復體驗的前因與後果，以及恢復體驗是否會中介人際因素與注意力幸福感之間的關係。研究一結果指出恢復體驗由內容迷戀、暫時逃離、動機相容、能力相容、活動新奇感與心流六個子構面組成，該量表共以21題衡量，並具有良好的信度、收斂效度、區別效度與外在效度。研究二結果指出服務環境中的人際因素會顯著的影響恢復體驗，而恢復體驗亦會帶來顧客的注意力幸福感，恢復體驗會完全中介人際因素與注意力幸福感之間的關係。根據研究結果討論理論、方法與管理意涵。在服務業情境的恢復體驗概念內涵比大自然情境多了過程迷戀面向，但是少了一致性面向。恢復體驗的前因應不只限於與大自然有關的實體因素而已，因為人際因素亦是恢復體驗重要的前因。恢復體驗與其子構面間的關係應被建模為反映型而非形成型。本研究提供服務業者指南，告知其如何透過人際因素的形塑與管理，帶給顧客注意力幸福感。由於小群體融洽相對於其他人際因素而言對顧客的恢復體驗影響較大，服務業者應將較多資源分配在管理顧客小群體上，並促成其產生小群體融洽。最後，提出研究限制與未來研究方向。 / The purpose of this research is to examine how interpersonal factors in service environment influence restorative experience, which in turn facilitates attention-related well-being of customers from the perspective of attention restoration theory. Interpersonal factors include small groups (i.e., interpersonal rapport), other customers (i.e., similarity, physical appearance, and suitability of behavior), and service providers (i.e., service friendship, customer orientation, and selling orientation). Two studies were conducted. Study 1 developed a scale of restorative experience applicable to hedonic service industry of people-processing or mental stimulus processing types. Also, the conceptual domain and components of restorative experience were discussed. Study 2 examined the antecedents and consequences of restorative experience and whether restorative experience mediates the relationship between interpersonal factors and attention-related well-being. The results of study 1 indicated that restorative experience is comprised of six dimensions- content fascination, escape, motivation compatibility, competence compatibility, novelty of activity, and flow. The new scale is measured using 21 items and has good reliability, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and external validity. The results of study 2 indicated that interpersonal factors in service environment significantly influence restorative experience, which in turn influences attention-related well-being. Restorative experience completely mediates the relationship between interpersonal factors and attention-related well-being. Theoretical, methodological, and managerial implications are discussed. Compared to natural environment, restorative experience in the service environment contains the dimension of process fascination but has no dimension of coherence. Since interpersonal factors facilitate restorative experience, the antecedents of restorative experience should not be confined to natural elements of physical environment as done in the past studies. The relationships between restorative experience and its sub-dimensions should be modeled as reflective, not formative. This research provides guideline for service marketers to manage and harness interpersonal factors and improve attention-related well-being for customers. Since rapport in customer small group has more influence than other interpersonal factors on restorative experience, service marketers should put more resource in managing customer small groups and facilitating rapport among members in customer small group. In the end, limitations and direction of future research are presented.

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