Showing papers in "Service Industries Journal in 2022"

Advancing knowledge through literature reviews: ‘what’, ‘why’, and ‘how to contribute’

Abstract: ABSTRACT Literature review is part and parcel of scholarly research. Though many literature review guides are available, they remain limited because they do not adequately account for the different types of literature review. Noteworthily, literature reviews can manifest as part of conceptual or empirical studies, or as independent studies, in which the latter may be curated in various ways. Moreover, despite its importance and popularity, literature reviews, particularly as independent studies, continue to attract unfair criticism and remain scarce in service research. To address the aforementioned gaps, this article endeavors to provide an overview and guidelines for writing literature reviews. Specifically, this article explains (1) what a literature review is and is not, (2) why literature reviews are valuable, and (3) how to conduct a literature review, as well as (4) the areas of service research and (5) the innovative ways in which literature reviews can be curated in the future.

Green human resource management in service industries: the construct, antecedents, consequences, and outlook

Abstract: ABSTRACT Parallel to the increased awareness of environmental issues, there has been a rapid increase in studies focusing on Green Human Resource Management. Studies have shown that organizations that can link their environmental management efforts to their human resource management systems have improved organizational and employee-level outcomes. This study is a systematic review of empirical work focusing on Green Human Resources Management in service industries. Using a systematically selected sample of 48 articles, we compared the scales used to measure Green HRM, the theoretical frameworks on which the empirical papers were based, and identified the nomological network covering how Green HRM is positioned concerning its antecedents, outcomes, and mediators or moderators. We highlight important issues regarding the current state of Green Human Resources Management in service industries and provide avenues for future research.

A systematic review of creativity in tourism and hospitality

Abstract: ABSTRACT Employee creativity has become an essential concept in tourism and hospitality literature in the last two decades. Nevertheless, empirical evidence on creativity has developed into a fragmented area of research with a variety of definitions and conceptual lenses. The current study suggests that this discrepancy of extant research impedes theoretical and empirical advancement. This study systematically reviews studies in the tourism and hospitality field to strengthen future work on employee creativity. The study results show that leadership is the most powerful predating and moderating factor in employee creativity. The results also show that positive organizational culture and climate factors greatly influence employee creativity. Finally, this study proposes a combined framework of creative qualities, which can be used as a managerial tool in tourism and hospitality, and other similar service-oriented industries.

Employee mindfulness and creativity: when emotions and national culture matter

Abstract: ABSTRACT Mindfulness has recently attracted more attention from service scholars due to its positive effect on various job outcomes. Yet, the linkage between mindfulness and service employees’ creativity is still not well understood. This study aims to bridge this gap by examining how emotions might influence the mindfulness and creativity relationship from different cultural perspectives. Frontline service employees from three countries, the Philippines, Turkey, and the United States, were sampled to form a cross-border dataset. PLS multigroup results show that creativity positively influences service recovery performance and error reporting across the three nations. Furthermore, the mindfulness-creativity link is mediated by gratitude as a positive emotion in the United States, but by envy as a negative emotion in the Philippines and Turkey. This suggests that the link between mindfulness and creativity may be culturally contextual. These results might provide insights for mindfulness practices within the service work environment.

How does mindfulness boost work engagement and inhibit psychological distress among hospital employees during the COVID-19 pandemic? The mediating and moderating role of psychological resilience

Abstract: ABSTRACT This study examines the, mediating and moderating effects of psychological resilience on the relationship between employee mindfulness and job-related outcomes such as work engagement and psychological distress. By employing the tenets of the Job Demands-Resources theory, a model was tested by collecting data from 164 nurses in North Cyprus. The results indicate that mindfulness significantly increased engagement, and resilience positively mediated this relationship. Furthermore, results revealed that mindfulness is negatively and significantly related to psychological distress and that resilience further alleviates this negative effect as a moderator. Practical implications of conducting training programs that boost resilience are discussed.

The intellectual structure of customer experience research in service scholarship: a bibliometric analysis

Abstract: ABSTRACT This study presents a framework and viewpoint on the intellectual structure and evolution of customer experience research in the service literature. Using the Scopus database, journal articles on customer experience have been extracted and examined to unearth the source knowledge and main themes via a two-step approach of bibliometric (citation and co-citation) and content analyses. The bibliometric analysis has revealed five main clusters of the knowledge domain: (1) methodology and information technology, (2) customer co-creation of value, (3) service quality and customer satisfaction, (4) tourist experience, (5) customer perception in service environments. Based on the literature review, content analysis was subsequently performed to reveal recent articles from each cluster. Overall, this article comprehensively examines customer experience literature in the service industries. Results present a holistic comprehension of the knowledge domain, reveal scientific progress, and provide main directions and questions for further academic efforts.

Characteristics and roles of streamers in e-commerce live streaming

Abstract: ABSTRACT Streamers are the individuals at the core of e-commerce live streaming (ELS), which is a successful influencer marketing strategy. However, a systematic profile of ELS streamers is lacking. This study aims to investigate the roles and characteristics of ELS streamers, as well as their matching relationships, by applying the grounded theory method to analyze semi-structured interviews of 96 consumers. Eight characteristics of ELS streamers (expertise, attractiveness, credibility, interactivity, popularity, price support, affinity, and responsiveness) are identified and further classified into four roles (opinion leader, spokesperson, interactive friend, and salesperson). This study is the first to create a role set for ELS streamers and the first to systematically elucidate the roles of ELS streamers and their corresponding characteristics. It not only supplements e-commerce, influencer marketing, and role theory research by identifying new characteristics and roles of ELS streamers, but it also provides a clear framework practitioners can use to train streamers.

Stakeholder engagement and business model innovation value

Abstract: ABSTRACT Despite important strides made in the business model literature, substantially less is known regarding its constituent sub-concept of business model innovation (BMI). In particular, the role and dynamics of different stakeholders’ BMI-related engagement remain nebulous, as therefore explored in this paper. Moreover, though business models are recognized to house firm-based value propositions, the nature and extent of stakeholders’ actual perceived BMI-related value (BMIV) remains tenuous, exposing a second research gap. Addressing these issues, we first develop the BMIV concept, defined as a stakeholder’s perceived value created through some nontrivial new aspect in a firm’s value creation, – communication, -delivery, and -capture mechanisms and activities. Using interdependence theory’s outcome transformation, we then develop a conceptual model that recognizes the role of different BMI stakeholders’ interdependent engagement in creating BMIV. Specifically, BMI stakeholders are predicted to consider the goals/interests of focal others, alongside their own, in their BMI-related engagement, in turn affecting all these stakeholders’ BMIV. We predict BMIV-based stakeholder engagement to differ based on whether stakeholders’ goals/interests converge or diverge: While converging stakeholder goals tend to yield cooperative/equality-based SE, diverging goals trigger altruistic/aggressive SE, as formalized in a set of propositions. We conclude by deriving important implications from our analyses.

Spiritual leadership and work alienation: analysis of mechanisms and constraints

Abstract: ABSTRACT In the present study, we propose a negative association between spiritual leadership and work alienation. We also propose service employee social capital as a mediator of the spiritual leadership-work alienation link and political skill as a boundary condition of the direct association between spiritual leadership and social capital and the indirect association between spiritual leadership and work alienation. Time-lagged (three rounds, three weeks apart) survey data collected from 283 service sector employees supported our proposed hypotheses. Despite the prevalence of work alienation in service organizations and the recognition that it can lead to several negative outcomes, little is known about how managers can address service employees’ feelings of work alienation. We address this crucial theoretical gap and offer several practical implications that can help managers in service organizations enhance employees’ social capital and undermine their feelings of alienation at work.

Combining strategies for high service productivity with successful service innovation

Abstract: ABSTRACT Service innovation and service productivity are key elements of a firm’s ability to gain competitive advantages. Although previous studies have advanced the understanding of each topic individually, few attempts have been made to bridge the gap between the two research streams. Endeavoring to explain how firms combine strategies for high service productivity with successful service innovation, we adopt a multiple-case research design. Results of a one-year field study in the financial services market show that firms are more likely to gain competitive advantages if they link multiple innovation configurations that fit with their productivity strategy. We identified 27 cases that facilitated productivity through cost emphasis, revenue emphasis, or a dual emphasis on both cost and revenue. Our data, which include 42 in-depth interviews as well as public documents, also suggest that two sets of service innovation configurations—new service development and service design—are linked together in relationships with service productivity.

The attribution effects of CSR motivations on brand advocacy: psychological distance matters!

Abstract: ABSTRACT Companies are becoming increasingly involved in corporate social responsibility (CSR) to enhance their self- rather than public interests, and this has made CSR ambiguous when considering organizational goodwill. This study therefore investigated the relative effects of CSR motivations on brand advocacy while considering psychological distance as a moderating variable. Two between-subject experiments were conducted using coffee shop customers in the United States as participants. The findings revealed that customers demonstrate more brand advocacy toward a company when they believe the company has conducted a CSR activity with a public-serving motivation than when they believe the company has conducted a CSR activity with a firm-serving motivation. Furthermore, customers demonstrate greater brand advocacy with respect to public-serving motivations when a firm’s spatial or temporal CSR initiative distances are low (when there are local or present benefits, respectively). However, customers demonstrate greater brand advocacy with respect to firm-serving motivations when a company conducts a CSR initiative with a low social distance (when there are in-group benefits).

Does green inclusive leadership promote hospitality employees’ pro-environmental behaviors? The mediating role of climate for green initiative

Abstract: ABSTRACT Drawing on social learning and social information processing theories, this study proposes and tests a model of the association of green-inclusive leadership on pro-environmental behaviors (task-related pro-environmental behavior (PEB) and organizational citizenship for the environment) through climate for green initiative. Using data collected in two waves from 254 employees working in the hospitality industry (restaurants) and utilizing structural equation modeling, our results suggest that green-inclusive leadership is a promising leadership style in encouraging task-related PEB and organizational citizenship for the environment (OCBE). The results also suggest that climate for green initiative is an effective underlying mechanism between the green-inclusive leadership-pro-environmental behaviors linkages. Our model is novel in that the associations proposed and tested were not investigated before. Furthermore, the research is the first of its kind to introduce climate for green initiative in the research of pro-environmental management practices. Discussion, implications and limitations are presented.

Theories, constructs, and methodologies to study COVID-19 in the service industries

Abstract: ABSTRACT Despite the wide variety of literature on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the service industry, there is still a lack of an integrated systematized view of these multiple impacts. This study contributes to service research by identifying a variety of academic and managerial perspectives about the influence of COVID-19. We pay attention to the service industry, but with an especial focus on the tourism and hospitality industries, which have been more severely affected. This paper presents two multi-approach studies blending a systematic literature review (SLR) and a focus group methodology. Hence, it integrates and synthesizes the main results of the two studies considered to assist researchers and practitioners. It offers a complete overview of the state of the art and identifies three key service trends that have been accelerated by COVID-19: (1) the increasingly digital and autonomous customer; (2) the growing potential of data-driven services versus privacy concerns, and (3) the evolution from firm-centric to customer-centric and networked business models. Finally, this study provides relevant theoretical implications where we suggest relevant theories, constructs, and methodologies for future research to advance the current knowledge, and useful guidelines for business managers to better understand how to respond to market changes.

Detecting fake reviews with supervised machine learning algorithms

Abstract: ABSTRACT This study provides an applicable methodological procedure applying Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based supervised Machine Learning (ML) algorithms in detecting fake reviews of online review platforms and identifies the best ML algorithm as well as the most critical fake review determinants for a given restaurant review dataset. Our empirical findings from analyzing 16 determinants (review-related, reviewer-related, and linguistic attributes) measured from over 43,000 online restaurant reviews reveal that among the seven ML algorithms, the random forest algorithm outperforms the other algorithms and, among the 16 review attributes, time distance is found to be the most important, followed by two linguistic (affective and cognitive cues) and two review-related attributes (review depth and structure). The present study contributes to the literature on fake online review detection, especially in the hospitality field and the body of knowledge on supervised ML algorithms.

Anthropomorphize service robots: the role of human nature traits

Abstract: ABSTRACT Empowered by artificial intelligence (AI), human-like service robots are prevalent, but they may have negative effects. Limited research has studied suitable strategies for anthropomorphizing service robots. In contrast to ordinary nonhuman objects, one of the robots’ most essential features is that they have logic and are rational when they are empowered by AI, yet such rationality may destroy consumers’ perceived identity uniqueness as human beings, eliciting bad outcomes. Therefore, we explore how to anthropomorphize service robots through maintaining consumers’ perceived identity uniqueness. Through four studies, we find that consumers’ attitudes about service robots will improve via a decreased identity threat if service robots are anthropomorphized with external human nature traits (that can be shared by animals) rather than uniquely human traits (that only humans have). In addition, this effect is mitigated by robots’ servant communication style. The results indicate what anthropomorphic type of service robot is suitable for managers.

The mediating role of organizational learning capability and resilience in the error management culture-service innovation link and the contingent effect of error frequency

Abstract: ABSTRACT Error management culture (EMC) has received a significant interest in the service management literature. However, there remains a lack of studies investigating the underlying mechanisms (mediating variables) where EMC affects service innovation within the boundary condition of its moderating variables. This study investigates how EMC influences service innovation through organizational learning capability (OLC) and organizational resilience mechanisms. In addition, this study empirically examines the moderating role of error frequency on the relationship between EMC and OLC and organizational resilience. By investigating 300 service firms, this study empirically reveals that (a) EMC positively relates to OLC and organizational resilience; (b) OLC positively relates to organizational resilience; and (c) OLC plays a mediating role in the relationship between EMC and service innovation. This study also demonstrates that error frequency weakens the relationship between EMC and OLC in service firms.

Discovering meaningful engagement through interaction between customers and service robots

Abstract: ABSTRACT Although service robots are causing a paradigm shift in the service industry by creating new interactions with customers, there is limited knowledge regarding which elements of service robots create desirable interactions with customers. To address this gap, this study invited situated action theory to investigate elements of service robots shaping customers’ meaningful engagement. 252 responses from the survey were analyzed. These revealed that some socio-functional elements are primary for meaningful engagement by affecting both experiential and instrumental outcomes, whereas others are salient for either one of the outcomes. Our analysis also examined personal innovativeness and viability of human–robot team pertaining to meaningful engagement. This study contributes to the literature by identifying socio-functional elements of service robots and exploring how they create meaningful engagement. It also provides practical implications to service companies, demonstrating critical elements of service robots for enhancing their service quality and for developing robot-driven service environments.

Service failure and self-recovery in tech-based services: self-determination theory perspective

Abstract: ABSTRACT The pervasiveness of self-service technologies (SSTs) in the service industry has led to renewed interest in SST failure and recovery. Understanding how customers respond to SST disruptions and motivating them to resolve SST failures by themselves should be at the core of service companies’ recovery strategies, as this entails significant benefits to service providers and customers. Drawing on self-determination theory, we examined how intrinsic motivation encourages customers to undertake self-recovery after SST failure. A survey was conducted among users of airport self-check-in kiosks, and the obtained data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The findings show that a greater perceived needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness results in higher expected value and attitude towards self-recovery, thus increasing self-recovery intention. Following expert interviews with airport personnel to consolidate the results, this study provides managerial suggestions aimed at raising customers’ intrinsic motivation, especially competence needs, to promote self-recovery.

Transforming tourists’ intentions through destination engagement: insights from transformative learning theory

Abstract: ABSTRACT Tourist-based destination engagement (TBDE) has emerged as a strategically significant concept to endure the destination-tourist relationship; however, identifying its related constructs is still nascent. We develop an integrative model for TBDE by identifying destination experience, destination attachment, and destination authenticity as antecedents of TBDE and destination advocacy as its consequence. We also propose a new association by investigating the direct and indirect relationship of TBDE on destination advocacy through destination satisfaction. Finally, findings were discussed conforming to transformative learning theory by relating it to TBDE and its modeled constructs. The results reveal a positive influence of all the identified drivers on TBDE and TBDE’s positive impact on destination advocacy. Moreover, destination satisfaction emerges as a mediator by supporting the positive indirect relationship between TBDE and destination advocacy. Implications for theory and practice are suggested for the tourism industry, which the tourism organizations may utilize to foster TBDE and sustain the tourist-destination relationships.

Employees’ CSR attributions and pro-environmental behaviors in the hotel industry: the key role of female supervisors

Abstract: ABSTRACT This study suggests that employees’ pro-environmental behaviors are determined by their attributions regarding the reasons why hotels engage in corporate socially responsible initiatives. Furthermore, the role of supervisors’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) perceptions in shaping frontline employees’ CSR attributions is studied. Finally, we examine whether the impact of supervisor’s CSR perceptions on employee attributions differs according to the supervisor’s gender. The results showed the influence of substantive CSR attributions on pro-environmental behaviors, as well as the influence of supervisors’ CSR perceptions on employees’ substantive CSR attributions. It is also found that when the supervisor is a woman, the effect of her CSR perceptions on employees’ CSR substantive attributions was stronger. Additionally, women’s CSR perception also significantly influenced employees’ CRS symbolic attributions, although to a lesser extent. These findings have important theoretical and practical implications to promote sustainable economic growth and reduce the environmental impact on the hotel industry.

Conflict-solving as a mediator between customer incivility and service performance

Abstract: The customer incivility literature has primarily focused on emotional exhaustion and burnout as emotion-focused mediators that channel the effect of customer incivility. Drawing on conservation of resources (COR) theory, the current research proposes a new problem-solving-focused mediator, namely, conflict-solving behavior. The authors test the mediating role of conflict-solving behavior between customer incivility and customer service performance while controlling for emotional exhaustion and employee incivility as parallel mediation mechanisms. The results from three studies provide strong support for a negative relationship between customer incivility and conflict-solving behavior and for conflict-solving behavior as a full mediator between customer incivility and customer service performance. Furthermore, the negative effect of customer incivility on conflict-solving behavior is mitigated when customer service employees are promotion-focused and as investment in customer relationship building increases. The findings extend the scope and generalizability of customer incivility research from the business-to-customer to the business-to-business context. Managerial implications for employee training and hiring as well as the importance of cultivating customer relationships as a buffer to dampen the effect of customer incivility are discussed.

Emotions in service research: evolutionary analysis and empirical review

Abstract: ABSTRACT This study provides a bibliometric review of emotion-focused research in the service discipline by examining the main research themes and concepts, conceptual foundations, and the most recent research fields. Six-hundred forty-seven documents on emotions were extracted and examined by performing co-citation and bibliographic coupling analyses as well as qualitative content analysis. Co-citation analysis results show that ‘emotions’ is a defined research area with six fundamental themes; namely, positive customer emotions, emotional reactions to service failure and recovery, measurement of emotions, empirical analysis of emotions, brand love, and customer delight. In addition, various theoretical foundations could be employed in various empirical contexts, among which conservation of resources and social exchange play a great role. An examination of the most recent documents via bibliographic coupling analysis clarifies six appealing research trends and releases various recommendations on the occasions for further investigation to be drawn.

Linking artificial intelligence to service sabotage

Abstract: ABSTRACT The widespread use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in the service industry has made the conflict between service robots and frontline employees a hot topic. While research shows that the adoption of service robots may have a negative impact on employees’ psychology and behavior, little is known about its effects on frontline employee’ service sabotage. The current study explores the influencing mechanism of service sabotage in the context of AI introduction based on the STARA theory and conservation of resource theory. The results reveal that: (1) Frontline employee’s AI awareness direclty affects service sabotage; (2) Organization-based self-esteem plays a partial mediating role between AI awareness and service sabotage; (3) Perceived organizational support weakens the effect of AI awareness on service sabotage.

How do macro-environmental factors impact customer experience? A refined typology, integrative framework, and implications

Abstract: ABSTRACT In increasingly turbulent times shaped by macro-environmental shifts, the complexity of customer experience has radically intensified. Augmenting this complexity, myriad contingency factors are involved in customer experience delivery. Therefore, scholars have called for the development of a comprehensive view of the extent to which customer experience literature has viewed and studied the roles of macro-environmental factors, and an integrative understanding of how customer experience can be affected by different macro-environmental factors. To this end, this study (1) differentiates the concept of macro-environmental factors; (2) summarizes extant knowledge by conducting a systematic literature review via qualitative and quantitative analysis to identify relevant research gaps; and (3) grounded in the service-dominant logic service ecosystem perspective, develops an integrative framework that integrates a holistic, novel view and understanding of the dynamic relationship between customer experience and macro-environmental factors while accounting for different contingency factors of lower environmental factors (meso and micro). Using the COVID-19 crisis, we vividly illustrate the real-life applicability of the integrative framework we develop. The study broadens the scope of customer experience research, offers actionable ideas for business managers in a turbulent environment, and puts forth a research agenda identifying key research lines for advancing the customer experience research field.

Technostressors and service employees outcomes: a longitudinal study

Abstract: ABSTRACT This study determines the impact of technostress creators on employee wellbeing dimensions and employee engagement. This study also examines the moderating role of mindfulness and optimism to use technology between technostress creator and employee wellbeing. A longitudinal research design was adopted to collect the data from 286 government employees involved in public dealing during two waves of COVID-19 in Pakistan. The data were assessed using structural equation modeling and Hayes’ method to test mediation and moderation. The study findings shed important light on the role of personal resources in reducing stress over a time period. The results conclude that technostress creators negatively influence employee wellbeing dimensions and employee engagement in both waves. Also, personal resources, i.e. mindfulness and optimism to use technology, dampen the negative association of technostress creators on employee wellbeing. One of the significant limitations of this research is collecting the data from employees working in public offices only, whereas this study fills an essential gap by exploring the role of technostressors using a longitudinal study design.

Customer no-show reduction in web-based appointment service: investigations of non-attendance behaviors

Abstract: Web-based appointment services can improve the efficiency of the relative services, but always suffer from customers’ non-attendance behaviors. Previous research ignores the opportunistic feature of no-shows that is essential to understand customers’ non-attendance behaviors. Further, the effect of formal cancelation policies is yet understudied. To solve these problems, a research model based on transaction cost theory is proposed and tested in the context of the web-based outpatient registration service. Results of the research show that the occurrence of no-shows can be reduced when asset specificity factors increase and uncertainty factors decrease. The awareness of cancelation policies can lead to more cancelations but can also weaken the effects of asset specificity factors. Besides, no-shows can be decreased when cancelation policies are more restrictive.

Work stress, ego depletion, gender and abusive supervision: A self-Regulatory perspective

Abstract: Drawing upon the self-regulatory perspective, we investigate the antecedents of abusive supervision. We study supervisor’s work stress as a predictor of abusive supervisory behavior and investigate supervisor ego depletion as an intervening mechanism. Furthermore, we study the role of gender in explaining ego depletion and abusive supervision. We employed a multilevel research design to study supervisor work stress and ego depletion at group level and perception of abusive supervision at individual level. Data are collected from 59 supervisors and 295 subordinates working in the banking sector. We find that supervisor work stress is positively associated with subordinates’ perception of abusive supervision, and supervisor ego depletion plays a mediating role. We find that these relationships are more pronounced for females than males. We contribute by identifying supervisors’ work stress as an antecedent of abusive supervision and extend ego depletion theory by studying supervisor’s ego depletion as an underlying mechanism.

Examining the influence of multiple dimensions of authentic dining experiences

Abstract: This study tested multiple constructs of authenticity (i.e. true-to-ideal, true-to-fact, and true-to-self) and examined the structural relationships among authenticity perception, perceived value, positive emotions, and revisit intentions. Gilmore and Pine’s authenticity model suggests that authenticity is strongly related to customers’ trust. Customers tend to perceive chain restaurants as more credible than independent restaurants. Thus, this model contradicts the widespread argument that independent organizations reflect authenticity. Further investigation is needed to verify the relationship between restaurant ownership type and authenticity perception. Data were collected from 491 Chinese ethnic diners and analyzed using a structural modeling analysis. All three authenticity dimensions significantly influence overall authenticity perceptions. Furthermore, individuals’ authenticity perceptions affect revisit intentions through perceived value and positive emotions. Additionally, the ownership type of ethnic restaurants moderates the effects of the three authenticity dimensions on overall authentic dining experiences. Thus, ethnic restaurateurs should emphasize different authenticity dimensions of uniquely positioned restaurants.

The potential and constraint of work gamification for employees’ creative performance

Abstract: ABSTRACT Drawing on the affordance theory, this paper theorizes about how workplace creativity could be influenced by employees’ interaction with game design elements incorporated into work systems. To comprehensively capture possible relationships, two vital theoretical frameworks -ability-motivation-opportunity (AMO) and affordance theory, were employed to provide theoretical guidance and a basis upon which propositions were established. A review of literature in the field reveals that gamified work system, through the improvement of ability-, motivation- and opportunity-enhancing practices supports dimensions including employee’s motivation and competence which are prerequisites for a creative outcome. Furthermore, contrary to the common opinion, work gamification could constrain employees’ creativity at work. Theoretically grounded in existing theories and past literature, this conceptual paper touches on unpopular discussions in the literature, opens a research avenue for further studies by providing testable propositions and recommendations for practice.