Phygital Service Experiences: Redefining Consumer Journeys in Hybrid Ecosystems

Call for Papers
Phygital Service Experiences: Redefining Consumer Journeys in Hybrid Ecosystems
Journal: The Service Industries Journal
Submission window: 1 May 2026 – 30 June 2026
Deadline: 30 June 2026

This special issue examines how services are being reshaped by phygital experiences, where physical and digital elements merge across consumer journeys. It argues that digitization has not replaced physical experience; instead, it has created hybrid ecosystems that now define service design, value creation, and customer experience in sectors such as retail, hospitality, healthcare, tourism, and public services.

The call highlights several important shifts. It focuses on how phygital service models deliver convenience, personalization, and immersion, while also creating fragmentation, cognitive load, decision fatigue, and disorientation for consumers. It also raises issues around trust, authenticity, privacy, accessibility, inclusion, and ethical personalization in digitally mediated environments.

Special Issue Editors

• Muhammad Ishtiaq Ishaq, De Vinci Higher Education, De Vinci Research Center, France.

• Ali Raza, Excelia Business School, CERIIM, France.

• Quart-ul-Ain Talpur, Paris School of Business, France.

Scope
The special issue welcomes conceptual, empirical, and mixed-method papers, as well as interdisciplinary and industry-collaborative work. Topics include phygital frameworks, hybrid customer journeys, multisensory design, AR/VR/MR/AI/IoT in service experiences, consumer adaptation to fragmented touchpoints, memory and satisfaction, organizational implementation challenges, consumer resistance, and methodological approaches such as experiments, field studies, and digital ethnography. The call especially encourages work that examines how phygitality affects service quality, well-being, brand attachment, and long-term engagement.

Submission details
Authors should submit original, unpublished manuscripts through the journal’s submission system and include a cover letter for the special issue. Papers should follow the journal’s author guidelines and clearly state their theoretical and practical contribution to service research. The tentative publication date is early 2027.

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