Automated agents are playing an increasingly important role in marketing. They come in the form of embodied service robots, chatbots, or voice agents and take over tasks that were once performed by firm employees, such as serving food in a restaurant, providing advice, suggesting the shortest route to a destination, or providing support on a website or in an app. They often perform these tasks more quickly and efficiently and, unlike their human counterparts, do not fatigue. With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered language models such as ChatGPT, automated agents can even engage in conversations with customers. However, automated agents lack a human touch and in addition, have raised concerns about privacy, copyright, and job loss. In this research area, we address questions such as:     

• What are the success factors of automated agents?
• How humanlike should automated agents be?
• How similar should automated agents be to their users (e.g., joint character or interest)?
• Do digital assistants become digital companions for customers, like real lifetime buddies?
• When are automated agents inferior or superior to human employees?
• Where can automated agents relieve human employees of stressful or dangerous tasks?
• Can digital agents provide emotional support to customers?

• Prof. Dr. Katja Gelbrich
• Alina Kerath, M.Sc.
• Sandra Miederer, M.Sc.

• Gelbrich, K.; Kerath, A.; Chun, H. (2023): Matching Digital Companions with Customers: The Role of Perceived Similarity, online-first in Psychology and Marketing.
• Gelbrich, K.; Miederer, S.; Kerath, A.; Roschk, H. (2023): Can robotic agents serve customers like a human? A meta-analysis on customer responses to robotic vs. human agents, Paper presented at the QUIS18 conference at VinUniversity Hanoi, Vietnam, June 20-23, 2023
• Gelbrich, K.; Chun, H.; Kerath, A.; Hagel, J. (2022): Increasing customer outcomes through virtual companions in digital services, Paper presented at the 12th International AMA SERVSIG conference, Glasgow, UK, June 16-18, 2022.
• Gelbrich, K.; Hagel, J.; Orsingher, C. (2021): Emotional Support from a Digital Assistant in Technology-Mediated Services: Effects on Customer Satisfaction and Behavioral Persistence, in: International Journal of Research in Marketing, Volume 38, No. 1, pp. 176-193.
• Gelbrich, K., Hagel, J. (2018): “Automated Social Presence in a Digital Service: How a Digital Companion Influences Customer Satisfaction”, Paper presented at the 15th International Research Conference in Service Management, La Londe les Maures, France, June 10-13.
• Gelbrich, K., Hagel, J., Orsingher, C. (2017): “How Anthropomorphized Helpers Increase Customer Outcomes in Smart Service Usage”, Paper presented at the 26th Annual Frontiers in Services Conference, New York, June 22-25.
• and others

Starting with Hofstede’s seminal work “Cultures and Organizations,” national culture was put on the agenda of management and marketing research. In brief, members of different societies share different values (e.g., the importance of family, freedom, happiness etc.), and thus, think, feel, and behave differently. These differences apply to internal stakeholders of organizations and thus, require different leadership and conflict styles of culturally diverse firms. Importantly, cultural differences also apply to consumers, requiring different marketing strategies and instruments (product, price, promotion, and place) from firms targeting an international customer base. Since cultural values are closely related to those evolving from religiosity and religious affiliation, cross-religious marketing is an important, but largely neglected subdomain of cross-cultural marketing. In this research area, we address questions such as:    

• How should firms design their marketing mix for culturally different target groups?
• How should international e-tailers design their return management for customer groups in different cultures?
• How can marketers adapt their marketing instruments to more or less religious customers?
• How can marketers adapt their marketing instruments to customers with different religious affiliations? We mainly look at the five world religions, these being Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism.

• Prof. Dr. Katja Gelbrich

• Gäthke, J.; Gelbrich, K.; Chen, S. (2022): A Cross-National Service Strategy to Manage Product Returns: E-tailers' Return Policies and the Legitimating Role of the Institutional Environment, in: Journal of Service Research, Vol. 25, No. 3, pp. 402-421.

• Gelbrich, K.; Müller, S.; Westjohn, S. A. (2023): Cross-Cultural Consumer Behavior, Edward Elgar Cheltenham, UK.

• Müller, S.; Gelbrich, K. (2021): Interkulturelles Konsumentenverhalten, München.

• Gelbrich, K.; Stedham, Y.; Gäthke, D. (2016): Cultural Discrepancy and National Corruption: Investigating the Difference between Cultural Values and Practices and Its Relationship to Corrupt Behavior, in: Business Ethics Quarterly, Vol. 26, No. 2, pp. 201-225

• Gelbrich, K.; Roschk, H.; Gafeeva, R. (2016): A Cross-National Observation of Counter-Cultural Consumer Behaviour, in: Marketing ZFP – Journal of Research and Management, Vol. 38, No. 3 pp. 150-162

• Müller, S.; Gelbrich, K. (2015): Interkulturelles Marketing, 2. Aufl., München.

• Müller, S.; Gelbrich, K. (2014): Interkulturelle Kommunikation, München.

• and others

Product flaws are inevitable, due to the complexity of production processes, external circumstances, or human failures. Thus, it is important that firms try to eliminate the resulting inconveniences and impairments for customers. This holds particularly true for the automobile industry, where customers’ safety has to be ensured. In this research domain, we examine how to improve the service process of car recalls. We aim to show that a product recall, which is typically perceived as a negative episode, may offer the chance to improve the firm-customer relationship and to reduce negative effects on firm reputation.

• Prof. Dr. Katja Gelbrich

• Gelbrich, K.; Voigt, S.; Nazifi, A. (2023): Remedy Management for Product Recalls in the Automotive Industry: How Car Dealers Should Time the Repair and Communicate its Outcome, forthcoming in Journal of Business Research, Vol. 167, November 2023.
• Gäthke, J.; Gelbrich, K.; Chen, S. (2022): A Cross-National Service Strategy to Manage Product Returns: E-tailers' Return Policies and the Legitimating Role of the Institutional Environment, in: Journal of Service Research, Vol. 25, No. 3, pp. 402-421
• Gäthke, J., Gelbrich, K., Voigt, S. (2020): "Finding an Adequate Service Strategy to Manage Product Recalls: Effects of Perceived Risk, Perceived Convenience, and Time Horizon", in Proceedings of the La Londe Conference 2020.
• Gelbrich, K., Gäthke, J., Voigt, S. (2018): "Finding an Adequate Service Strategy for the Management of Product Recalls", 26th Annual Frontiers in Services Conference 2018, Austin TX, USA, September 6-9.
• and others

Service failures are unavoidable, whether due to negligence on the part of the providers (e.g., inattentive staff, long waiting times) or imponderables (e.g., power failure, pandemic outbreaks). We investigate how firms manage complaints after service failures in order to regain customers' trust and satisfaction and avoid negative effects (e.g., negative word-of-mouth via social media). 

We also look at two special forms of service failure: double deviation and intentional service failure. A double deviation occurs when a service provider is unable to restore customer satisfaction even after a complaint has been filed (i.e., complaint management has failed). In this case, two successive failures occur: a service failure and a recovery failure. Our research deals with the particularities of double deviations compared to "simple" service failures. In particular, we are interested in how customer relationships can be restored after double deviations.

An intentional service failure occurs when firms accept or even deliberately make a failure. This is the case, for example, in the airline industry where firms overbook flights in order to ensure full capacity usage and then have to bump passengers if the number of no-shows is less than expected. We examine how to proactively handle overbooking and provide adequate compensation. An extreme form of intentional service failure is service termination. Firms may seek to end relationships with certain customer groups because they do not fit into their portfolio, do not pay their bills, or order clothes online just to wear them for one occasion and return them afterwards. This is a very sensitive issue, and we are investigating how to terminate such customer relationships and avoid negative effects (e.g., loss of image).

• Prof. Dr. Katja Gelbrich

• Nazifi, A.; Gelbrich, K.; Grégoire, Y.; Koch, S.; El-Manstrly, D.; Wirtz, J. (2021): Proactive Handling of Flight Overbooking. How to Reduce Negative eWOM and the Costs of Bumping Customers, in: Journal of Service Research, Vol. 24, No. 2, pp. 206-225
• Nazifi, A.; El-Manstrly, D.; Gelbrich, K. (2020): Customers' Reactions to Different Organizational Tactics in a Service Termination Context, in: European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 54, No. 1, pp. 26-48.
• Gelbrich, K., Voigt, S., Pizzutti, C. (2019): "The Remedial Effect of Complaint Process Recovery (CPR) after a Double Deviation", 28th Frontiers in Service Conference 2019, Singapore, July 18–21.
• Nazifi, A.; Gelbrich, K.; El-Manstrly, D. (2019): Customers’ Reactions to Intentional Service Failures, Paper presented at the 16th International Research Symposium on Advancing Service Research and Practice (QUIS), Karlstad, Sweden, June 10-13.
• Roschk, H.; Gelbrich, K. (2017): Compensation Revisited: A Social Resource Theory Perspective on Offering a Monetary Resource After a Service Failure, in: Journal of Service Research, Vol. 20, No. 4, pp. 393-408.
• and others