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The Working Customer — A Fundamental Change in Service Work

  • Chapter
Customers at Work

Abstract

The idea that customers are active is not new. Customers have always and in many ways, contributed to the process of service provision. They have always had to inform themselves about the products and services on offer, had to get to the point of sale, transport the goods, prepare them at home and to dispose of the wrapping and packaging. Customers have thus never been completely inactive. However, the role of the cus- tomer has been changing substantially over the last century. Enterprises have increasingly been transferring functions from employees to cus- tomers, clients, and patients. Early milestones of this development are outlined below.

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Authors
  1. Kerstin Rieder
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  2. G. Günter Voβ
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Social Science Research, ISF München, Germany

    Wolfgang Dunkel (researcher) (researcher)

  2. Department of Sociology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany

    Frank Kleemann (Visiting Professor of the Sociology of Work, Occupations and Organizations) (Visiting Professor of the Sociology of Work, Occupations and Organizations)

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© 2013 Kerstin Rieder and G. Günter Voβ

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Rieder, K., Voβ, G.G. (2013). The Working Customer — A Fundamental Change in Service Work. In: Dunkel, W., Kleemann, F. (eds) Customers at Work. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137293251_9

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