With her groundbreaking publications 30 years ago marketing professor Valarie Zeithaml (University of North Carolina) initiated scientific research on value from the customer's perspective. Moreover, she substantially influenced existing thinking on services marketing and service quality. Hence, Valarie Zeithaml was named a Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researcher in the report on "The World's Most Influential Scientific Minds".

Building on that Professor Zeithaml, Professor Zauner, and an international team of experts from the University of St.Gallen, WU Vienna, and Ghent University have published an article in the renowned Journal of Service Research (5-year impact factor: 9,211). The results provide a sound basis for research on (digital) marketing and current practice alike.