Resumo

With the inception of the transformative consumption research (TCR) movement (Mick, Pettigrew, Pechmann & Ozanne, 2012) the transformative service research (TSR) movement was also created (Anderson et al., 2013). Central to the proposition of TSR (Anderson et al., 2013) is the search for improving the comprehension of value creation to stigmatized and minority groups, and vulnerable consumers (Rosenbaum, Seger-Guttmann & Giraldo 2017) generating well being in the co-creation process (Anderson et al., 2013; Kuppelwieser & Finsterwalder, 2016).

The purpose of this theoretical article is to present the context, history and research venues for transformative service research, reviewing its main articles and concepts and presenting research already publish and one that it is currently being made by the members of the 2019 TSR group.

As services are based on interactions and relationships, they compose the foundation of civilization. Over the years, service to customers evolved from a condition of “benign neglect” to “active engagement” (Fisk, 2009) and customer co-creation of value (Vargo & Lusch, 2011) is a focal point on the path to liberate customer and create more equitable services, with focus on well-being (Fisk, 2009; Vargo & Lusch, 2011; Kuppelwieser & Finsterwalder, 2016), hence Transformative Services (Anderson et al., 2013).

The table above (Table Presented on the full version of article) is a heterogenic picture of a concept still in it´s infancy. While articles such as Anderson et al. (2013) and Blocker and Barrios (2015) aim to define TSR, Kuppelwieser and Finsterwalder (2016) make a valiant effort to differentiate TSR from SDL logic (Vargo & Lusch, 2011) and articles such as Rayburn (2018) and Anderson, Nasr and Rayburn (2018) aim to investigate empirically.

This article presents the Transformative Service Research concept, history and current developments. The TSR concept is a development of the Transformative Consumer Research movement and aims to improve the well-being of consumers in the service system at a micro, meso and macro level.

Anderson, L., Ostrom, A. L., Corus, C., Fisk, R. P., Gallan, A. S., Giraldo, M., Mende, M., Mulder, M., Rayburn, S. W., Rosenbaum, M. S., Shirahada, K., Williams, J. D. (2013). Transformative service research: An agenda for the future. Journal of Business Research, 66(8), 1203–1210. Fisk, R. P. P., Anderson, L., Bowen, D. E., Gruber, T., Ostrom, A., Patrício, L., Reynoso, J. & Sebastiani, R. (2016). Billions of impoverished people deserve to be better served. Journal of Service Management, 27(1), 43–55.