This study investigated the link between individuals’ 2D:4D digit ratio (a biomarker associated with prenatal testosterone exposure) and their inclination to make masculine food choices. Furthermore, the study investigated whether this potential association would be moderated by consumers’ levels of hunger (vs. satiation). Participants (N = 216; 50% female) made a set of binary food choices between items pretested to be perceived as masculine (vs. feminine) and indicated the lengths of their second (2D) and fourth (4D) digits (i.e., index and ring fingers), which were used to calculate their 2D:4D digit ratios. Additionally, they self-reported their self-perceived gender identity and their subjective sense of hunger (vs. satiation). The results revealed that low, masculine digit ratios had no overall impact on masculine food choices. However, among both men and women and irrespective of their self-perceived gender identity, hungry (vs. satiated) participants with masculine digit ratios made more masculine food choices. Thus, although digit ratios did not act as an antecedent of participants’ general tendency of making masculine food choices, the specific visceral state of hunger interacted with participants’ digit ratios to predict choices of masculine foods. Taken together, these findings expand the knowledge on when and how prenatal exposure to sex hormones may affect consumers’ food preferences and in which specific way a particular visceral state may moderate the link between biologically based factors and consumer choice.

The following sections are included: Introduction Applying a Practice View to Service Innovation Public Management Logics for Service Innovation Presenting a Model for Public Management Logics for Innovation Discussion and Implications References

Few studies have examined how customers respond to the mere presence of others in the shopping environment, and only one article (Söderlund, 2017) has investigated the unique impact that employee presence has on key customer outcomes. Söderlund (2017) found that customers entering a store with an employee present (vs. absent) reported significantly higher levels of customer satisfaction, with their increased levels of pleasurable feelings mediating this effect. However, similar to the majority of theorizing on customer satisfaction, that article was restricted to data collected in a Western society. Given the rapid economic growth in many Asian regions, there is a need to examine the applicability of such Western-based findings from an Asian perspective, and hence include participants from Eastern societies. Accordingly, the present research investigated whether Söderlund's (2017) results could be replicated among Asian customers. The current work also sought to extend prior findings beyond pleasure and customer satisfaction while simultaneously documenting a boundary condition for the hitherto positive employee mere presence effects. To this end, two between-subjects experiments with a total sample of 498 Chinese customers were conducted. Study 1, which involved a shopping situation in a clothing store, replicated Söderlund's (2017) main results and further found that employee mere presence (vs. absence) had a significant positive impact on customers' loyalty intentions. These results were reversed in Study 2, in which the shopping situation involved the purchase of an embarrassing product. Under such circumstances, employee presence (vs. absence) consistently produced negative effects on customers' levels of pleasure, satisfaction, and loyalty intentions.

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to systematically review the service scholars’ different perspectives on the role of innovation policy in influencing innovation in public service.

Design/methodology/approach – This study is based on a systematic reviewing approach. We have reviewed total of 117 articles published in the Web of Science and Scopus between 2009 and 2014. These exemplars are then analyzed in terms of their 1) distribution amount the period, methodology applied and focus dimensions within the innovation policy studies agenda, 2) drivers, barriers and potential effects toward innovation policy implementation and 3) emerging theme of innovation policy studies.

Findings – study categorizes the literature into a problem oriented, opportunity focused, and contextual pressured perspective. The problem oriented perspective approaches innovation policy as remedy to deal with market failures or even systemic failures, which requires government to recover the suboptimal investment situation in knowledge creation and other innovative activity. The opportunity focused perspective views the policy as effective incentive resource that justify government as supporting role to promote the innovation and technology development in certain area through single or packages instruments, such as financial and/or taxation method. The contextual pressured perspective views the policy making from a broader perspective that the global economic and environmental contextual needs to be considered, therefore policy are a series of interlocking consequences. This research also suggests the government intervention time in terms of different stage of innovation is also critical for the implementation of service innovation.

Contribution/value – This paper contributes with a synthesized overview of current agenda in terms of innovation policy studies. It compares different focus and potential impacts of innovation policy in recent literature studies and join to the ongoing discussion around the role of innovation policy within the service innovation development.

The purpose of this study is to systematically review the service scholars’ different perspectiveson the role of innovation policy in influencing innovation in public service.

Design/methodology/approach – This study is based on a systematic reviewing approach. We have reviewedtotal of 117 articles published in the Web of Science and Scopus between 2009 and 2014. These exemplarsare then analyzed in two parts: 1) descriptive analysis of the identified articles based on the period,publication journals, methodology applied and main themes, 2) evaluative analysis of the identifiedarticles based on the actors and organizational structure perspective.

Findings – The policy strategy and innovation driver, as well as sustainable consideration directthe focus of innovation policy. The innovation policy focuses not only on the competitive advantages withtechnology development, but also the innovation environment enhancement for sustainable innovative expertcultivation, as well as the eco-environment protection that stimulate sustainability in the society atlarge. Moreover, a network of key actors has been emphasized within both innovation policy making andinnovation implementation process, which contribute for the public service innovation. Academic scholarsemphasis the open innovation mechanism between the actors within the public service innovation policywith different lens of perspectives: combining bottom-up and top-down process within intra-organization;integrating power and responsibility between organizations; and richness of relationships between publicauthorities and other through the outside-in and inside-out processes.

Contribution/value – This paper contributes with a synthesized overview of current agenda in termsof innovation policy studies. It compares different focus and potential impacts of innovation policy inrecent literature studies and join to the ongoing discussion around the role of innovation policy withinthe service innovation development.

Through the use of self-service mobile devices, the traditional marketplace interaction is being replaced by a marketspace transaction, in which the foundation of customer-company interaction has changed. This article discusses the main actors of experiencial value creation through the physical world and virtual world in the context of transport service. The empirical data is collected from semi-structured interviews with 19 young urban transport commuters. The results show that self-service mobile devices enhance the information accessibility for passengers to create customized travel experiences through a closer interaction with other actors, including transport service providers, transport-related service providers, and other passengers. Moreover, the scope of travel experience was expanded beyond the traditional service encounter both temporally and spatially. This article is an exploration of the influence of self-service mobile devices in the changing roles of customers and companies. A key message is that executives must pay attention to how their companies create experience value in both the physical world and the virtual world, separately or in combination.

The aim of this paper is to understand how customer travel experience is created/co-created by using self-service mobile device within the urban transit service. We adopt interview and focus group discussion as methods with the focus of several urban transit service mobile apps. This study finds that storable experience information provides a fused service experience through self-service devices that enable passengers to achieve imaginary and lived, individual and social experiences simultaneously. Results contribute to an increased understanding of the travel experience creation through networked mobile technologies and address their effects on personal experience creation.

Purpose – The aim of the present research is to assess and analyze the processes of change in transport organization based on a market orientation sense. The objective is to explore the antecedents, processes and consequences during the organization changes following the teleology theory. This research addresses two questions: how policy influences transport organization in proceeding market-oriented changes; and how such organization maintains market-oriented changes. The analyze dimensions include four dependent stages: initiation, reconstitution, institutionalization, and maintenance.  

Design/methodology/approach – The paper adopted an in-depth single case study of Changzhou Transit Group in China. The case study method is adopted to have deeper understanding of the market orientation in relationship with service performance.

Findings – This study reveals that a market orientation is related to top management emphasis, policy guidance, interdepartmental conflict and connectedness, reward system orientation and public acceptance. Furthermore, this study suggests the market orientation is related to the social-political environment, organization performance, employees’ organizational commitment, and organization culture.  

Research limitations – This paper is research as a single case study where the empirical results could not inductive into a generative scope.

Practical implications – This research suggests that a market orientation may or may not be very desirable for a public organization, depending on the nature of its supply and demand side factors. Moreover, this research explores that the factors can be expected to foster or discourages to a market orientation. These factors mainly controlled by the managers and in turn could be useful for the improvement of market orientation changes.

Originality/value – The paper offers new insights into how organizations develop a greater market orientation, organizational change, and the nature of market orientation, involving the intra-organizational power and organizational learning in creating and maintaining market orientation. 

Purpose: The main aim of this paper is to explore the organizational and institutional issues for innovation to co-create value by focusing on the influence of public policy and the implementation mechanism, which contributes to a more sustainable public transport system development. The objective is to explore sustainable public transit innovation and development in the Chinese context and answer the research questions: how sustainability public policy is influencing innovation and what is the role of service innovation in integrating local sustainable public transport development with or without conflict between central and local interests.

Methodology/approach: The paper is of explorative nature. It presents different theoretical concepts - (i) Sustainability and sustainable public transit, (ii) Service innovation, and (iii) value creation/co-creation. The paper illustrates these concepts in an in-depth case study of Changzhou Bus Rapid Transit system in China. Critical case study method is employed in this paper to understand the role of policy for integrating sustainability and innovation. The decision-making process of the local transport authorities in Changzhou is assessed and analyzed against the theoretical framework, which explores the joint working practices in public policy sector and its influence in service innovation and sustainable public transit development. 

Findings: The study outlines the Chinese policy context in terms of responsibilities, powers and resources available to local transport authorizes, and articulates the tools of government that applied to affect a more sustainable public transit system with the goals of improving environment and meet stakeholder demands. Policies are important in the case of China. Policy integration in urban public transit development enhances the public transport services, drives service innovation and influences the environmental and social patterns.  

Research limitations/implications: The single case-study design of the present research does not enable empirical generalizations to be made. Future research in this area should focus on generalizing the present findings by studying the development and integration of sustainability policy in other empirical settings, could be of different BRT systems in China, and re-conceptualization.

Contribution/value: The paper makes an original contribution to the study of sustainable and innovative urban public transit service by explicitly linking the integration of suitability policy and its effect to service innovation and value co-creation based on social and environmental perspectives. The study expands the scope of understanding complex problems and challenges of policy implementation, as well as the potential conflict with the local urban public transit development. It also is contributes to the ongoing discussion in the service research concerning the influence of sustainability towards service innovation and public policy implementation process.

The main aim of this paper is to assess and analyze the role of sustainability policy in influencing service innovation practices in the context of public transport. The intension is to understand the critical dimensions related to sustainability policy driven service innovation. The critical dimensions mainly focus on the relationship between innovation and policy, the challenges, competences and opportunities driven by sustainability policy. Design/methodology/approach. The paper is of an explorative nature. Critical case study method is adopted in this paper to understand the role of sustainability policy in service innovation. Findings. The study reveals that national sustainability policy framework drives the formulation and implementation of sustainable service innovation as a tool to achieve sustainable public transit system. The sustainability policy context in terms of responsibility, power and resource integration creates shared-platform that induces service innovation, which create value co-creation opportunities to the customers and other stakeholders. Research limitations/implications. The single case-study design of the present research does not enable empirical generalizations to be made. Contribution/value. The paper makes an original contribution to the study of sustainable and innovative public transit by explicitly linking the adoption of sustainability policy and its role in service innovation and value co-creation embedded on social and environmental perspectives. Practical implications. National policies often cannot influence local/urban transport directly, but become effective tool towards service innovation and value co-creation.