Effects of dominance transitions on advice adherence in professional service conversations

Helen Si Wang () and Chi Kin (Bennett) Yim ()
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Helen Si Wang: The University of Hong Kong
Chi Kin (Bennett) Yim: The University of Hong Kong

Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 2019, vol. 47, issue 5, No 8, 919-938

Abstract: Abstract For many professional services, advice adherence is a necessary condition for achieving service success for both customers and service providers. Despite their pivotal roles in value co-creation, typical conversational interactions often lead to low adherence. We propose that enabling a “dominance transition,” from provider dominance in the pre-advice stage to customer dominance in the post-advice stage, enhances advice adherence because it increases customers’ perceived common ground. Furthermore, providers’ consultation focus, customers’ prior knowledge, and customers’ perceived adherence effort moderate this process. Using mixed methods, including both empirical modeling and controlled and field experiments, we validate the proposed model in various contexts (healthcare, financial services, and fitness and wellness counseling). The findings establish several theoretical contributions and offer managerial implications for improving advice adherence by managing dominance transitions in conversational interactions more effectively through training service providers or even programming AI chatbots.

Keywords: Advice adherence; Professional service conversations; Conversational dominance; Dominance transitions; Customers’ perceived common ground (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11747-019-00664-8

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