Werner Kunz
Biography
Werner H. Kunz is Professor of Marketing and Director of the Digital Media Lab at UMass Boston. He is the first at UMass Boston named a Web of Science Highly Cited Researcher (top 0.1% globally). He’s also the only College of Management faculty member to receive two Chancellor’s Awards—Service (2020) and Scholarship (2026). His research focuses on service technology, including AI collaboration, service robots, digital media, and innovation, with publications in leading journals.
Area of Expertise
- Service Technology incl. service robots, Human-AI Collaboration, and the Digital Revolution
- Company Innovativeness and Innovation Management
- Digital Media and Social Networks
- Social Impact of Technology & CDR
Professional Publications & Contributions
- Le, Khanh B. Q., Laszlo Sajtos, and Werner H. Kunz (2026), "More Than a Collaborator: The Rise of Human-Machine Symbiosis in Service Frontlines,” Journal of Business Research, (forthcoming)
- Le, Khanh B. Q., Werner H. Kunz (2026): When Humans Stop Thinking: Tackling the Silent Threat of AI Complacency in Service Operations, Journal of Service Management, (forthcoming)
- Kunz, Werner H., Lola C. Duque, Luis Santamaria, Helle Alsted Søndergaard, and Per Kristensson (2026), "Being Innovative as a Company in an Aging Society, Journal of Service Management, Vol. 36,” Journal of Service Management, 36 (forthcoming).
- Kunz, Werner H., Laszlo Sajtos, and Carlos Flavián (2026), "Beyond Replacement: Human-Machine Teamwork/Collaboration in the Age of AI,” Journal of Service Management, 36 (4), 477-494.
- Le, Khanh B. Q., Laszlo Sajtos, Werner H. Kunz, and Karen V. Fernandez (2025), "The Future of Work: Understanding the Effectiveness of Collaboration Between Human and Digital Employees in Service,” Journal of Service Research, 28, 2, 186-205.
- Pitardi, Valentina, Jochen Wirtz, Stefanie Paluch, and Werner H. Kunz (2024), "Metaperception benefits of service robots in uncomfortable service encounters,” Tourism Management, 105 (March), 104939-39. (SERVSIG Best Service Paper of 2024)
- Kunz, Werner H. and Jochen Wirtz (2024), "Corporate digital responsibility (CDR) in the age of AI: implications for interactive marketing,” Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, 18 (1), 31-37.
- Kunz, Werner H. (2024), "Company Innovativeness - A Radically New Perspective on an Old Concept,” Journal of Service Research, 27 (4), 494-96.
- Wirtz, Jochen, Werner H. Kunz, Nicole Hartley, and James Tarbit (2023), "Corporate Digital Responsibility in Service Firms and Their Ecosystems,” Journal of Service Research, 26, 173-90. (JSR Best Paper of the Volume, SERVSIG Finalist Best Paper of 2023, 2024 AMA-EBSCO-RRBM Award for Responsible Research in Marketing Finalist)
- Osburg, Victoria-Sophie, Vignesh Yoganathan, Werner H. Kunz, and Shlomo Tarba (2022), "Can (A)I Give You a Ride? Development and Validation of the CRUISE Framework for Autonomous Vehicle Services,” Journal of Service Research, 25, 630-48.
- De Keyser, Arne and Werner H. Kunz (2022), "Living and working with service robots: a TCCM analysis and considerations for future research,” Journal of Service Management, 33 (2), 165-96.
- Yoganathan, Vignesh, Victoria Sophie Osburg, Werner H. Kunz, and Waldemar Toporowski (2021), "Check-in at the Robo-desk: Effects of automated social presence on social cognition and service implications,” Tourism Management, 85 (September 2020), 104309-09.
- Wirtz, Jochen, Paul G. Patterson, Werner H. Kunz, Thorsten Gruber, Vinh Nhat Lu, Stefanie Paluch, and Antje Martins (2018), "Brave new world: service robots in the frontline,” Journal of Service Management, 29 (5), 907-31. (Highly Commended Award for 2018, Finalist Best Service Article 2018)
- Larivière, Bart, David Bowen, Tor W. Andreassen, Werner H. Kunz, Nancy J. Sirianni, Chris Voss, Nancy V. Wünderlich, and Arne De Keyser (2017), "“Service Encounter 2.0”: An investigation into the roles of technology, employees and customers,” Journal of Business Research, 79, 238-46.
- Anderl, Eva, Jan Hendrik Schumann, and Werner H. Kunz (2016), "Helping Firms Reduce Complexity in Multichannel Online Data: A New Taxonomy-Based Approach for Customer Journeys,” Journal of Retailing, 92 (2), 185-203.
- Jahn, Benedikt and Werner H. Kunz (2012), "How to transform consumers into fans of your brand,” Journal of Service Management, 23 (3), 344-61.
- Kunz, Werner H., Bernd Schmitt, and Anton Meyer (2011), "How does perceived firm innovativeness affect the consumer?,” Journal of Business Research, 64 (8), 816-22.
- Kunz, Werner H. and Jens Hogreve (2011), "Toward a deeper understanding of service marketing: The past, the present, and the future,” International Journal of Research in Marketing, 28 (3), 231-47.
Additional Information
Selected Honors
2026
Chancellor’s Award for Distinguished Scholarship for his exceptional long-lasting contributions to the research field of service technology incl. human-machine collaboration (including service robots and AI), company innovativeness, corporate digital responsibility (CDR), and the societal impact of technology.
2025
Highly Cited Researcher 2025 by Web of Science, which places me in the top 1% of researchers globallyacross all fields
Best Service Article of the Year 2024 Award by SERVSIG for “Metaperception Benefits of Service Robots in Uncomfortable Service Encounters” (co-authors Pitardi, Valentina, Jochen Wirtz, and Stefanie Paluch). It was selected as the best service article published across all journals.
2024
Best JSR Article Award of the Year 2023 Award of the Journal of Service Research for “Corporate Digital Responsibility in Service Firms and Their Ecosystems” (co-authors Jochen Wirtz, Nicole Hartley, and James Tarbit)
2023
Inaugural Bo Edvardsson "Industry Impact in Services" award 2023. This award has been created to honor a service scholar who has made significant impact to service practice through their research, teaching and/or outreach efforts.
2021
Best Paper of the Year 2020 Award of the Journal of Service Theory and Practice for “Service robots, customers and service employees: what can we learn from the academic literature and where are the gaps?” (co-authors Vinh Lu, Jochen Wirtz, Stephanie Paluch, Thorsten Gruber, Antje Martins, and Paul Patterson).
2020
Chancellor’s Award for Distinguished Service for his exceptional long-lasting contributions to the University by the digital media lab and his work for the service research community SERVSIG.
2019
Best SERVSIG Service Article of the Year 2018 Award Finalist for “Brave New World: Service Robots in the Front Line” (co-authors Jochen Wirtz, Paul Patterson, Thorsten Gruber, Vinh Lu, Stephanie Paluch, and Antje Martins).