Service system well-being: scale development and validation

Purpose Recent marketing research provides conceptual models to investigate the well-being of collectives, but service system well-being (SSW) remains untested empirically. This research conceptualises and develops a measure for SSW at the micro, meso and macro levels. Design/methodology/approach Using a series of studies, a multidimensional SSW scale is developed and validated to ensure its generalisability. After the development of preliminary items, Study 1 ( N = 435 of service employees) was used to purify items using factor analyses. Study 2 ( N = 592 of service employees) used structural equation modelling (SEM) with AMOS and SmartPLS to test the scale's dimensionality, reliability and validity. Findings The results confirm the validity and reliability of the nine dimensions of SSW. The measure was validated as a third-order micro-, meso- and macro-level construct. The dimensions of existential and transformative well-being contribute to micro-level well-being. The dimensions of social, community and collaborative well-being contribute to meso-level well-being. Government, leadership, strategic and resource well-being drive macro-level well-being. In addition, a nomological network was specified to assess the impact of SSW on service actor life satisfaction and customer orientation. Research limitations/implications The study contributes to services literature by theorising SSW as a hierarchical structure and empirically validating the dimensions and micro-meso-macro levels that contribute to SSW. Practical implications The SSW scale is a useful diagnostic tool for assessing levels of well-being across different systems and providing insights that can help develop interventions to improve the well-being of collectives. Originality/value The research is the first study to theorise the micro, meso and macro levels of service system well-being and operationally validate the SSW construct.