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Restrict, clean and protect: signaling consumer safety during the pandemic and beyond

Liliana L. Bove (Department of Management and Marketing, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia)
Sabine Benoit (Department of Marketing and Retail Management, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK) (College of Business and Economics (CBE), Australian National University (ANU), Canberra, Australia)

Journal of Service Management

ISSN: 1757-5818

Article publication date: 10 August 2020

Issue publication date: 17 November 2020

5081

Abstract

Purpose

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, customers fear for their health when interacting with service providers. To mitigate this fear service providers are using safety signals directed to consumers and other stakeholders who make organizational assessments. The purpose of this article is to synthesize the range of safety signals in a framework that integrates signaling theory with servicescape elements so as to provide guidance for service providers to assist in their recovery.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors extracted examples of how service providers signal safety to their consumers that the risk of infection is low in exchanging with their service. These examples were taken from secondary data sources in the form of trade publications resulting from a systematic search and supplemented by an organic search.

Findings

In total 53 unique safety signals were identified and assigned to 24 different categories in our framework. Most of the signals fell into the default and sale independent category, followed by the default contingent revenue risking category.

Originality/value

This study builds on signaling theory and service literature to develop a framework of the range of safety signals currently in use by service providers and offers suggestions as to which are likely to be most effective. Further, a future research inquiry of safety signals is presented, which the authors believe has promise in assisting recovery in a post-pandemic world.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This paper forms part of a special section “The Coronavirus Crisis and Beyond: Implications for Service Research and Practice”, guest edited by Dr. Volker G. Kuppelwieser and Dr. Jörg Finsterwalder.

Citation

Bove, L.L. and Benoit, S. (2020), "Restrict, clean and protect: signaling consumer safety during the pandemic and beyond", Journal of Service Management, Vol. 31 No. 6, pp. 1185-1202. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-05-2020-0157

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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