Magnus Söderlund

Professor, Department of Marketing and Strategy

Consumer behaviour

human-to-robot interactions

service robots

Artificial intelligence

virtual agents

humanlike non-humans

Conference paper

The service robots have already arrived: Virtual agent features and behaviors that boost customer satisfaction in the service encounter

by Magnus Söderlund, Eeva Liisa Oikarinen and Teck Ming Tan

Published 2020

, 1 - 11

49th Annual EMAC Conference, 2020-05-26–2020-05-29, Budapest

Virtual agents (VAs) are already used as representatives of the firm in service encounters, and this study of customers’ interactions with existing VAs explores a set of VA features and behaviors with respect to their potential to influence customer satisfaction. The study also examines perceived VA humanness as a mechanism (i.e., a mediating variable)for this influence.The results show that a set of VA features and behaviors that are typical for human employees contributed to ascribing humanness to VAs, and perceived VA humanness mediated the impact of both features and behaviors of VA on customer satisfaction. Thus, what has been learned during several decades of research on the satisfaction-boosting potential of the human frontline employee appears to be useful points of reference for those who are concerned with understanding and designing VAs appearing in service encounters.

Conference paper

Suggestive selling in the service encounter

by Magnus Söderlund

Published 2012

AMA SERVSIG 2012, 2012-06-07–2012-06-09, Hanken

Conference paper

Store personnel-customer encounters in the grocery store: An examination of the impact on purchase behavior and customer satisfaction

by Magnus Söderlund and Martin Moström

Published 2012

The 3rd Nordic Retail and Wholesale Conference 2012, 2012-05-22–2012-05-25, Lund

Conference paper

Revisiting the impact of the service worker in the service encounter: Are there also aggregated spill-over effects on life at large?

by Magnus Söderlund

Published 2012

2nd Nordic Conference on Consumer Research 2012, 2012-05-30–2012-06-01, Gothenburg

Conference paper

Face value: Headless model images increases consumer identification with product target groups

by Magnus Söderlund and Hanna Berg

Published 2012

ICORIA 2012, 2012-06-28–2012-07-30, Stockholm

Conference paper

When the customer has left the store: An examination of the potential for satisfaction rub-off effects on other stores

by Magnus Söderlund, Hanna Berg and Joel Ringbo

Published 2012

The 3rd Nordic Retail and Wholesale Conference 2012, 2012-05-22–2012-05-25, Lund

Conference paper

I Did Not Get The Same As The Other Customer! An Examination Of The Effects Of Under-Reward, Equity-Reward, And Over-Reward In The Transparent Service Encounter

by Magnus Söderlund and Peter Gabrielson

Published 2010

EMAC 2010, 2010-06-01–2010-06-04, Copenhagen

Conference paper

Does retail chain satisfaction rub off on other retail chains?

by Magnus Söderlund and Hanna Berg

Published 2010

The 2nd Nordic Retail and Wholesale Conference 2010, 2010-11-10–2010-11-11, Gothenburg

Conference paper

Service variability: Does it matter if the retail customer receives less, the same, or more service than other customers?

by Magnus Söderlund and Peter Gabrielson

Published 2010

The 2nd Nordic Retail and Wholesale Conference 2010, 2010-11-10–2010-11-11, Gothenburg

Conference paper

The “Give-the-Service-Customer-Special-Treatment-Approach”: What Happens when Other Customers are Present in the Service Encounter?

by Magnus Söderlund and Peter Gabrielson

Published 2010

EACR 2010, 2010-07-01–2010-07-03, London