Explores observable oral participation (OOP) of customers at the front stage of the service delivery system within a retail store setting. Spoken interactions between a customer and a sales assistant are denoted as OOP1, and those between one customer and another as OOP2. The respective front...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore poor service encounters from the customer's perspective. Design/methodology/approach – Multiple autoethnographic accounts of overwhelmingly dreadful customer experiences at a department store were gathered and analyzed. The writers of the...

Retailers are using the term retail theatre (theater) to imply a service offer that is different and special. An important component of the offer is an increased opportunity for consumers to interact and participate within the overall experience. This article compares consumer participation in...