When it becomes publicly known that products are associated with suppliers that engage in unsustainable behaviors, consumers protest, as Nestlé, Zara, and Kimberly Clark, among others, have learned. The phenomenon by which consumers hold firms responsible for the unsustainable behavior of their upstream partners suggests the notion of “chain liability.” This study aims to generate insights into the antecedents and consequences of such consumer responsibility attributions. Using data from four vignette‐based survey experiments, the authors find that the chain liability effect increases if an environmental degradation incident (1) results from supplier behavior rather than force majeure, (2) results from a company decision rather than the decision of an individual employee, and (3) is more severe. Responsibility attributions do not differ with varying organizational distance from the supplier, firm size, strategic importance of the supplied product, or the existence of environmental management systems. The chain liability effect also creates strong risks for the focal firm; higher responsibility attributions increase consumers’ anger and propensity to boycott. Therefore, firms should work to ensure sustainable behavior throughout the supply chain, to protect them from chain liability.

Purpose -The purpose of this study is to identify and assess the importance of proposed determinants of the growing consumer preference for renting consumer goods, as opposed to the actual transfer of ownership. Design/methodology/approach -Following a qualitative preliminary study and a literature review, six factors are identified as possible determinants of a preference for non-ownership modes of consumption. These are examined in a quantitative study using a sample of 461 members of a German online peer-to-peer sharing network. Hypotheses regarding the proposed determinants are tested using factor analysis and structural equation modelling. Findings -The results show that the demand for non-ownership services is negatively influenced by "possession importance" (the importance that a consumer attaches to full ownership) and positively influenced by "trend orientation" and "convenience orientation". The other proposed determinants -"experience orientation", "price consciousness", and "environmentalism" do not appear to influence a preference for non-ownership modes of consumption. Practical implications -Although the renting of goods is an increasingly popular form of consumption, consumers still value ownership. Suppliers should therefore consider offering a mixture of "ownership" and "non-ownership" modes of consumption to their customers. Originality/value -This study complements existing research in this area, which has largely been conceptual in nature, by undertaking an empirical evaluation of the importance of several proposed determinants for non-ownership preference.

A paradigm shift in marketing seems to be underway. Inspired by Vargo and Lusch's (2004a) proposal of service dominant logic, customer integration is proposed as a key component of marketing. Three stages of service provision are identified: facilities, transformation, and usage. The stages differ in terms of resource origin (company or customer), autonomy of decisionmaking (integrative or autonomous), and value (potential value, value-in-transformation, and value-in-use). These perspectives, which are synthesized in the study framework, shed light on the process of service provision and direct or indirect knowledge application (Vargo and Lusch 2004a). The author aims to show that in the context of the proposed framework, customer integration is vital to the implementation of service provision.

Research on value creation traditionally has focused on value created by the company, though customers increasingly serve as active partners, able to create value with firms in a collaborative manner. Despite interest by both scholars and managers, existing research has not yet clarified the interdependencies of service offerings and customer role patterns. This article explores value creation rooted in three generic offerings (configuration, solution, and network) and identifies differences in their prerequisites, customer activities, challenges, abilities, ability enhancers, and perceived benefits that arise in collaborative value creation (CVC). Data from 105 collaborations, collected through in-depth interviews, support the qualitative and quantitative analyses that reveal distinct patterns in customers' value creation for each service offering. A categorical principal components analysis, combined with cluster analysis, identifies five customer roles: bargain-hunting independent, comprehensive help seeker, engaged problem solver, technology-savvy networker, and self-reliant customizer. Our theoretical contribution includes the identification of customer roles across generic offerings and empirical evidence that customers perform multiple roles when engaging in CVC processes. Our findings provide managers engaged in CVC with recommendations on criteria for segmenting customer groups, on the role of the service provider in various value creation processes, and on tailored communication strategies to attract customers.

PurposeFour characteristics have been regularly applied to services: intangibility, heterogeneity, inseparability, perishability (IHIP). More and more exceptions occur which have resulted in substantial criticism. This paper aims to show that each characteristic is valid and useful when related to an individual aspect of services instead of being assigned to services as a single entity.Design/methodology/approachBased on customer integration, a framework (FTU framework) and a resource typology are developed. These approaches are the theoretical foundation of the analysis.FindingsThe FTU framework and a resource typology reveal different aspects of services and allow the assignment of the IHIP characteristics to them. Intangibility is assigned to the service offering, heterogeneity and inseparability to customer resources, and perishability to the facilities of the provider.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper is based on a theoretical analysis. Researchers may want to empirically test the approach.Practical implicationsAssigning the IHIP characteristics more clearly to certain aspects of services reveals their origin and makes them more tractable. For example knowing that heterogeneity of services is due to customers resources makes it more predictable and manageable.Originality/valueAlthough the IHIP characteristics are both widely cited and criticized, existing research has only tried to find and establish new characteristic(s). The approach of this paper is original because it takes a more trenchant look at them in order to develop a framework identifying aspects of services for which they apply.