Creating, Measuring, and Managing Impact in Complex Service Systems

Call for Papers

Journal: European Journal of Marketing
Publisher: Emerald Publishing
Manuscript Submission Deadline: 31 March 2027

European Journal of Marketing invites submissions for its Special Issue on Creating, Measuring, and Managing Impact in Complex Service Systems.

About the Special Issue

Complex service systems such as healthcare, education, financial services, public administration, and social care involve multiple interdependent actors, technologies, institutions, and users. Although research frequently advances theoretical understanding of these systems, there remains limited evidence of how research insights produce meaningful changes in policy, practice, service delivery, stakeholder behaviour, and societal outcomes.

This Special Issue seeks rigorous research that explains how impact is created, defined, measured, traced, sustained, and managed across complex service environments. Contributions should provide credible empirical evidence of valuable and ethical change while also examining unintended consequences, power imbalances, stakeholder tensions, and the unequal distribution of impact.

Topics of Interest

Submissions may include, but are not limited to:

Frameworks and metrics for assessing research impact
Behavioural, cognitive, relational, and systemic change
Research impact beyond financial outcomes
Stakeholder collaboration and co-creation
Participatory and creative research methods
Service design and intervention-based research
Longitudinal and field-based impact assessment
Impact pathways from awareness to sustained change
Policy and professional practice transformation
Scaling and sustaining research impact
Intended and unintended consequences
Ethical challenges in impact measurement
Power dynamics and stakeholder influence
Unequal or marginalised stakeholder outcomes
Governance structures in complex service systems
Organisational, societal, and professional interests

Preferred Article Types

The journal welcomes:

Empirical Research Articles
Qualitative Studies
Quantitative Studies
Mixed-Methods Research
Experimental Research
Participatory Research
Intervention-Based Studies
Longitudinal and Field-Based Studies

Submission Information

Manuscript Submission Opens: 01 February 2027
Manuscript Submission Deadline: 31 March 2027
Manuscripts must be submitted through the journal’s ScholarOne Manuscripts system.
Authors should select the appropriate Special Issue title from the drop-down menu during submission.
All submissions must strictly follow the journal’s official Author Guidelines.
Manuscripts must be original, unpublished, and not under consideration elsewhere.

Guest Editors

Ting Yu
Ko de Ruyter
Che-Hun Liao

Posted on ServiceSetu Academics — Premier Platform for Academic Opportunities & Research Collaboration.

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Creating, Measuring, and Managing Impact in Complex Service Systems

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