Exploring Transformative Service Research: Innovating for Next Generation Challenges through Systematic Literature Review and Bibliometric Analysis

This study conducts a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) and bibliometric analysis on Transformative Service Research (TSR) in the Business, Management, and Accounting areas. It seeks to uncover critical aspects of conceiving, planning, and delivering transformative services (TSs) that enhance individual and social well-being. This literature review attempts to investigate the evolution of TSR. It conducts an in-depth investigation into TSR, seeking to develop service design ideas and methodologies that promote well-being at several levels and contexts. Our exploratory research design used an SLR (Caputo et al., 2018) to provide a thorough, unbiased, and replicable synthesis of relevant studies (Diaz et al., 2022). The SLR selected a sample of 188 studies indexed in both the Web of Science and the Scopus databases using a search query string with precise inclusion-exclusion criteria. We presented the existing conceptual framework of the transformative service knowledge area and the critical factor of TSR using descriptive, bibliometric, and (manual) content analyses. The publication trend in TSR shows a significant increase since 2019, with 27 articles published annually from 2019 to 2023. Leading journals include the Journal of Services Marketing. The United States leads in publications and citations, followed by Australia. The analysis identified six clusters with 116 keywords, indicating a dispersed network with an average centrality of 21.48 links per keyword. Keywords like transformative service research, well-being, and value co-creation showed strong linkages. However, most links demonstrated low strength, with many below 0.9. Strong associations were observed between TSR and well-being. Each cluster represents a specific discourse around transformative services, anchored by a main and associated keyword. Further, the manual content analysis indicated that the present research has addressed key components and well-being outcomes identified in the TS seminal framework, primarily in health and financial services in urban contexts. Tourism and hospitality are new and promising TSR industries, whereas heritage, culture, and creativity are understudied. Results also found that most TSR research is overtly positioned in the urban context, where health, financial, and social services are typically clustered. However, customers in rural locations have been demonstrated to be more vulnerable than those in metropolitan areas (Ho and Shirahada, 2021). Therefore, they are absent from the present body of literature and could benefit from TSR. Moreover, TSR emphasizes service as critical to society's well-being and sustainability, while microlevel analyses focus on specific industries. This study identifies gaps in TSR research, particularly in developing areas such as tourism and cultural sectors. It evaluates essential components of TSR frameworks and critical aspects for TS design, providing insights across multiple domains. Preliminary findings indicate that TSR has yet to be completely developed in specific domains and ecosystems, and additional research is needed to shed insight into the dynamic domain of transformational services and their contributions outside of the traditional domain where TSR originated. Understanding TS’s intricacies may help to address cultural and technological obstacles in service delivery. Integrating data mining and topic modeling with bibliometric and manual content analysis can enhance research outcomes by leveraging advanced data analysis software. These highlight opportunities for future research to better understand TSR's impact across multiple domains and ecosystems.