ABSTRACT
This chapter supports the importance of transformative service research, which broadly seeks to better understand how service, service providers, and service systems may enhance individual, community, and global well-being. This type of research plays a critical role toward providing maximum service value to all consumers, particularly those with potential vulnerabilities. This chapter begins with a brief review of the transformative service research movement, followed by an in-depth investigation into consumer vulnerabilities, ultimately exposing a current lack of understanding in the field regarding service experiences among key segments of potentially vulnerable consumers—more specifically, those with physical disabilities, individuals with mental impairments, and elderly populations. The chapter also introduces the concept of ‘service inclusion’ and highlights the need for future research aimed toward enhancing the service experience and welfare of persons with such potentially limiting biophysical or psychosocial characteristics. Finally, attention turns to understanding the socially supportive and restorative roles that consumption settings may assume in consumer consumption experiences and human well-being.
