Table 1

Service research exemplars of providers/customers/actors experiencing vulnerability

StudyLevel of analysisStudy emphasisService contextExperienced vulnerability domain
Yagil (2006)Customer-service provider dyadThe relationship of service provider power motivation, empowerment and burnout to customer satisfactionPublic service (welfare, health education) and private service (banks, communication companies)Service employee vulnerability
  • adverse effects of disrespectful customer behavior, especially regarding employees with high power motivation

  • employee burnout and customer (dis)satisfaction

Hepi et al. (2017)Clients, actors and service providersCocreation between two activity systems within a social services context
Other actors as enablers of value or well-being cocreation and service outcomes also influence these other actors (such as family members)
Indigenous social service providerCustomer vulnerability
Anderson et al. (2018)Service designService design in improving service and consumer entities’ well-being
Health-care consumers include patients and their families
Health servicePotential vulnerability of patients
Johns and Davey (2019)Other actorsOther parties in the service provision who may not be used by the service provider but who are central to the service value exchangeFamily support servicesConsumers who experience vulnerability in service contexts
Lam and Bianchi (2019)Customers/consumers – family membersFamily members cocreate value to improve the well-being of patients with chronic developmental disorders
The findings reveal well-being outcomes for both patients and family members
Health serviceExperienced vulnerability of patients. Implicit family members’ vulnerabilities
Kelleher et al. (2020)Customers/ consumers – family caregiversInterdependencies among multiple resource-integrating actors and value outcomes in service systems
Interdependent value outcomes are termed relational value
Social serviceDependent referent beneficiaries. Implicit family members’ vulnerabilities
Loh et al. (2022)Service providers –customers – other customersThe interactional link between customer incivility and service provider retaliation and job outcomesSales, hospitality, banking, health and governmentService employee vulnerability, service firm vulnerability, other customers experience vulnerability
  • uncivil customer behavior can result in increasing vulnerability for service providers or their customers

Leino et al. (2021)Customers/consumersPrimary and secondary customers’ needs, using service inclusion to study experiences of vulnerabilityAged careCustomers’ (including family members) experiences of vulnerability
Sandberg et al. (2022b)Customers/consumersCoping strategies of vulnerable stakeholders regarding value trade-offs and spillovers within servicescapesAged carePrimary customers’ and secondary customers’ experienced vulnerability
Riedel et al. (2023)Service employeesJob demands and personal characteristics increase frontline employee (FLE) vulnerabilityMixed (systematic literature review)Frontline employee (FLE) vulnerability
Source: Authors’ own work

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