Steve Tax

Dr. Stephen Tax was a long-time professor in the Gustavson School of Business at the University of Victoria. He taught marketing management, services management and international marketing to undergraduate, graduate and executive students.

Steve's research interests focus on interdisciplinary issues in services management, notably service recovery, service design, customer performance and service networks. His overarching research goal was to improve the design and delivery of the customer experience. His work has produced a host of articles appearing in such journals as the Journal of Marketing Research, the Journal of Marketing, the Journal of Service Research, Sloan Management Review, the Journal of Retailing, the Journal of Operations Management and the Journal of Consumer Psychology. His co-authored article, "Customer Evaluation of Service Complaint Experiences: Implications for Relationship Marketing" won the AMA Award for best services marketing article published in 1998. The article, "Recovering and Learning from Service Failure," was awarded the Richard Beckhard Prize in 2000 for the outstanding article published in Sloan Management Review in the field of planned change and organizational development. The Marketing Science Institute selected his co-authored paper, "The Service Delivery Network (SDN): A Customer-Centric Perspective of the Customer Journey," as one of its 2013 must read articles. The paper was also selected as a finalist for 2013 best paper in the Journal of Service Research.

He was a past editorial board member of the Journal of Marketing and the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. Steve served on the board of the Journal of Service Management and the Journal of Service Research.

Journal Publications

Tax, S. S., McCutcheon, D. M., & Wilkinson, I. F. (2013). The Service Delivery Network: A Customer-centric Perspective of the Customer Journey. Journal of Service Research, 16(4), 454–470. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094670513481108

Garnefield, I., Helm, S. V., Eggert, A., & Tax, S. S. (2013). Growing Existing Customers’ Revenue Streams Through Customer Referral Programs. Journal of Marketing, 77(4), 17–32. https://doi.org/10.1509/jm.11.0423

Tax, S. S., Kim, Y. "Sally", & Nair, S. (2013). Getting the Right Payoff from Customer Penalty Fees. Business Horizons, 56(3), 377–386.

Read, M., Colgate, M., Corwin, V. S., & Tax, S. S. (2012). Helping Create Service “Experts”: The Opportunity for an Athletic Approach to Coaching in Service Organizations. International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching, X(1), 27–40.

Tax, S.S. (2008). Forgiven But Not Forgotten: Covert Uncertainty in Overt Responses and the Paradox of Defection‐Despite‐Trust. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 16(3), 283 – 294. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327663jcp1603_10

Tax, S.S. (2007). Satisfaction Strength and Customer Loyalty. Journal of Marketing Research, 44(1), 153–63.

Tax, S. S., Colgate, M., & Bowen, D. (2006). Preventing Customers from Failing. Sloan Management Review, 23–30.

Tax, S. (2004). Toward an integrative approach to designing service experiences: Lessons learned from the theatre. Journal of Operations Management, 22(6), 609 – 627. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jom.2004.07.002

Tax, S. (1998). Recovering and learning from service failures. Sloan Management Review, 40, 75–88. http://sloanreview.mit.edu/

Tax, S. (1998). Customer Evaluations of Service Complaint Experiences: Implications for Relationship Marketing. Journal of Marketing, 60, 60–76. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1252161?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

Tax, S. (1997). The effects of distributive, procedural, and interactional justice on postcomplaint behavior. Journal of Retailing, 73(2), 185–210. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-4359(97)90003-8

Tax, S. (1997). Designing and implementing new services: The challenges of integrating service systems. Journal of Retailing, 73(4), 105–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-4359(97)90017-8

Recognition & Awards

Grants

Visiting Scholar Grant, Funded by Meiji University (April 21, 2016 - April 28, 2016), awarded December 16, 2015 (¥400,000), Completed, Fall 2016, PI Stephen Tax

Antecedents and Consequences of Customer Performance, Funded by SSHRC (April 1, 2007 - March 31, 2010), awarded April 1, 2007 ($78,951.00), Completed, Spring 2010, CoInvestigator Stephen Tax with PI Mark Colgate, CoInvestigator Vivien Corwin

Word of mouth and Service Recovery, Funded by UVic Office of Research Services (May 1, 2007 - May 1, 2010), awarded April 30, 2007 ($4,000.00), Completed, Spring 2010, PI Stephen Tax

UVic Business Grant to study "Customer Penalties", Funded by University of Victoria (July 1, 2007 - June 30, 2008) ($2,200.00), Completed, Fall 2007, PI Stephen Tax

SSHRC (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council), Funded by Federal Government (May 1, 1999 - April 30, 2002) ($72,000.00), Completed, Fall 1999, CoPI Stephen Tax

Courses Taught

• Marketing Management (MBA)
• Customer Experience Management (MBA)
• Services Marketing (MBA)
• Summer Institute, Service Management (Executive Programs)
• BC Ferries Program in Service Management (Executive Programs)
• Capital City Group, Service Design (Executive Programs)