ISS 2020 Vision Future of Service Management | Seite 44

Future service users will likely be less loyal and more demanding, savvy and experienced.
With information at their fingertips and an array of social media platforms where they can
broadcast complaints and recommendations, today’s end-users are at the centre of their
world – they retain control, and their expectations are extraordinarily high. Information
technology will continue to empower end-users, and this is particularly evident in service-
driven industries.
According to interviewed subject-matter experts:
It is a question of willingness-to-pay, it is the difference between what the service
provider can offer and what the customer is willing to pay for it. Each individual
decides the service level that is appropriate for them – some are willing to pay more,
to fulfil their needs. Customized services are not for free, but you have to balance
it with the willingness-to-pay. Price-sensitivity and willingness-to-pay are far beyond
rational thinking, they are very subjective and emotional. 40
5.1.3 Immaterialization & commercialization
As the 21 st century increases in complexity and people grow wealthier, they spend a greater
proportion of their income on things of higher immaterial value. Immaterial goods, services
and experiences are those that possess stories of an emotional nature rather than services and
products of a functional nature. Service providers must be able to creatively use storytelling
and staging that are aligned with the immaterial values the organization seeks to project. This
combination will create immaterial experiences that resonate with authenticity and establish a
deeper emotional bond with users. 41 This trend is also represented by the growing movement
towards concept selling, where you are no longer selling a product or service, but rather,
selling a vision or fulfilling a purpose. Providers must become masters using immaterialization
to their advantage. It will help them set a service culture, stage experiences, and use physical
assets to better engage with the emotional needs of end-users.
The complexity of life in the 21 st century is driving a need for greater personal wellbeing and
a quest for a deeper personal sense of meaning. This is not only important in private, spiritual
arenas but in all aspects of our lives, including work and consumption. 42 Developments like
the experience and transformation economy are now being discussed as reflecting such
changes in society. We have entered a new era in which experiences and transformations
are the primary economic offerings that are most in demand and generate the highest value
returns. 42
As people seek immaterial experiences, business is also increasingly becoming ideologically
driven where organizational culture is recognized as a source of competitive advantage.
As Peter Drucker stated, “culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Immaterial values help
40 Coenen, C., ISS 2020 Vision: Future of Service Management, 2016.
41 Mitchell, T. ISS 2020 Vision: Future of Service Management, 2016
42 Brown, K., Future Travel and the Evolving Tourist, SCENARIO Magazine 02:2014, 2014.
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