Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, vol. 17, no. 2 (spring 2009), pp. 111–128. © 2009 M.E. Sharpe, Inc. All rights reserved. ISSN 1069-6679 / 2009 $9.50 + 0.00. DOI 10.2753/MTP1069-6679170202 A characteristic of services is that they are inseparable, which means that services typically are produced and consumed simultaneously. The inseparable nature of services implies that both customers and frontline employees contribute, interact, and are mutually involved in the production and execution of a service transaction (Grönroos 2000; Kelley, Donnelly, and Skinner 1990; Zeithaml, Parasuraman, and Berry 1985). Although the degree of mutual involvement varies with the type of service, employees and customers share the responsibility for successful service outcomes. For example, customers at hair salons must communicate their desired hairstyle to the stylist, who then must cut and style the hair as requested. In other examples, market- ing students may seek to gain greater understanding and applicability of course content by working outside the classroom when instructors assign projects, and full-service restaurant customers must communicate their preferences to wait staff who, in turn, fulfill these wishes by bringing out the correct order. We define shared responsibility as mutual dependence or accountability for the success of a service outcome, through verbal and physical efforts by the parties directly involved in the service exchange. Willing and competent frontline employees are es- sential for creating a successful service exchange (Bowen 1990; Salanova, Agut, and Peiró 2005). During a service encounter, employee performance characteristics often are perceived by customers as more important than the core service (Ozment and Morash 1994). Researchers con- sistently find that the behaviors and attitudes displayed by employees influence customers’ emotional responses to and perceptions of service quality (Brady and Cronin 2001; Singh 2000; Sweeney, Johnson, and Armstrong 1992). However, employees represent only half of the service ex- change dyad, and customers may share responsibility for generating successful service outcomes (Ennew and Binks 1999; Kelley, Donnelly, and Skinner 1990). Consequently, customers can be viewed as “partial employees” in service exchanges because they contribute to both technical (i.e., what they do) and functional (i.e., how they do it) service quality (Kelley, Skinner, and Donnelly 1992; Mills, Chase, and Margulies 1983). The expectations, attitudes, and be- haviors customers bring to a service encounter can also positively or negatively affect their overall service experi- ence (Yagil 2001). Services can be described by the nature of the service act (tangible versus intangible) and by the recipient of the service (people versus things) (Lovelock 1983). These cat- egories help determine the service content and whether a EXPLORING DETERMINANTS AND EFFECTS OF SHARED RESPONSIBILITY IN SERVICE EXCHANGES Jeremy J. Sierra, Robert S. Heiser, and Shaun McQuitty Service inseparability means that customers and service providers rely on each other for successful ex- changes. Customer and employee interdependence or shared responsibility is often needed to complete a service transaction. Although shared responsibility is an integral part of service exchanges, few studies examine its effect on customers. Based on existing theory, we propose that perceptions of shared respon- sibility for service exchanges create value for customers and positively affect their responses to the service. We conduct three studies to evaluate this idea. In Study 1, we find empirical support for the direct and indirect effects of shared responsibility on willingness to pay a price premium for the service received in a full-service restaurant setting. In Study 2, we find that perceptions of shared responsibility for student learning lead to favorable emotional and attitudinal responses toward the educational experience. In Study 3, we show that for unsuccessful service exchanges, customer perceptions of shared responsibility positively influence customer responses to the service and brand; additionally, we identify key antecedents of shared responsibility. The implications of these findings for service marketers are discussed. Jeremy J. Sierra (Ph.D., New Mexico State University), Assistant Professor of Marketing, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, js204@txstate.edu. Robert S. Heiser (Ph.D., New Mexico State University), Assistant Professor of Marketing, University of Southern Maine, Portland, ME, robert.heiser@maine.edu. Shaun McQuitty (Ph.D., University of Alberta), Professor of Marketing, School of Business, Athabasca University, Athabasca, AB, Canada, shaunm@athabascau.ca.