Editorial: Service research in the new (post-COVID) marketplace

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to encourage service researchers to consider the long-term or permanent impact of the coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) on services, service delivery, organizational structures, service providers and service systems from global perspectives. Design/methodology/approach: This editorial is based on the personal reflections of the Journal of Services Marketing editors. Findings: The services marketing discipline emerged in a time when customers and employees were encouraged to engage in social interaction and to form relationships, as many service encounters were deemed as social encounters. COVID-19 has impacted the ability of customers and employees to freely engage in social interaction, and as a result, we need to consider the steadfastness of our foundational theories and conceptual models in the “new” marketplace. Research limitations/implications: The editors put forth a series of sixteen research questions that warrant future empirical and descriptive research. Practical implications: Managers can understand how COVID-19 will profoundly impact dramatic changes in the marketplace and prepare for them. Originality/value: This study suggests that our theoretical and practical understandings of service industries has been significantly impacted by COVID-19.