Negotiating dignity in service encounters: advancing transformative service research

Purpose This paper aims to explore how dignity is negotiated in solidarity service encounters, contributing to transformative service research (TSR) and services marketing. It examines how recognition and exclusion are co-created through micro-practices between service users and volunteers in a grassroots solidarity restaurant. Design/methodology/approach The study draws on a 24-month narrative ethnography, combining participant observation with reflexive field notes that captured lived stories and emotionally charged encounters with service users and volunteers. Narrative analysis illuminated fragile interactions and theorised dignity as a relational accomplishment sustained through everyday practices. Findings Seven relational themes are identified: dignity in routines, emotional atmospheres, exclusion and micro-violence, volunteers’ emotional labour, materiality and symbolic gestures, coexisting fragility and agency and fragile ties. Integrating these themes, the paper proposes a conceptual model and five propositions positioning dignity as co-created in fragile encounters, continuously negotiated between recognition and rupture. Research limitations/implications The research is based on a single solidarity service context, which may limit generalisability. However, it offers transferable insights for understanding vulnerability, inclusion and customer experience in diverse services. Future research could extend the framework across different contexts of service provision. Practical implications The findings highlight the importance of gestures, atmospheres and symbolic materiality in shaping dignity. They emphasise the emotional labour of volunteers and the value of flexible, ethical discretion in service delivery. These insights are relevant for managers, NGOs and policymakers designing inclusive services. Originality/value This paper advances TSR by shifting attention from formal service design to lived micro-practices. It introduces dignity as a central dimension of customer experience, providing novel insights into service inclusion in vulnerable contexts.