Articles

The emerging Industry 4.0 technologies (also known as Technologies 4.0) represent a great opportunity to increase customer value in the service sector. These advanced technologies are surpassing the advantages of previous digital tools by incorporating disruptive analytical systems and hardware. Research in this special issue should examine relevant customers’ perceptions, attitudes and behaviors derived from the implementation of these technologies in service sectors. We are open to a wide range of methods, including both qualitative and quantitative empirical research. Theoretical, conceptual and critical papers are also welcomed. We also invite to submit interdisciplinary research that broaden the scope of current knowledge or cross-cultural studies analyzing the global nature of these phenomena.

Suggested topics:

• Technologies 4.0 introduction in services: managerial, employee, and customer approaches
• Differential features of Technologies 4.0 and their contributions to generate customer value
• Opportunities for Technologies 4.0 to shape new customer experiences in services
• Technologies 4.0 for a better management of the customer journey
• The influence of Technologies 4.0 on services branding
• Distributed Autonomous Organizations (DAOs)
• The role of touch versus tech in technology-driven or -facilitated services
• Impact of AI implementation on efficiency in different service industries
• Use of smart robots in the transformation of frontline and other service processes
• Robots and other technologies as consumers’ social companions
• Potential benefits of employing VR/AR technologies to enhance customer experience in services
• Challenges related to the use of Big Data analytics and cloud computing in service businesses
• Strategies to develop new services based on IoT technology
• The dark side of Technologies 4.0
• Users’ concerns about the disruptive changes caused by Technologies 4.0
• Ethics in the Fourth Industrial revolution: privacy, security. and other threats arising from a greater dependence on technology

Guest Editors SI:

- Russell Belk (York University, Canada)

- Carlos Flavián and Daniel Belanche (University of Zaragoza, Spain)

More info: https://www.springer.com/journal/11628/updates/19160320

Journal: Service Business

New Final Deadline: 31 December 2021