The Lotus in the Mud: A Conceptual Model of Livestream Yoga Service Experience

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the service economy is substantive. People processing services—where customers are present at a physical environment for the service exchange in order to receive the service benefits—are experiencing business hardships as authorities around the world have ordered these businesses to shut down face to face operations in an attempt to curb the contagion. People processing services such as yoga studios have found an alternative way to deliver their service during this challenging time through digital technology. That is, the provision of livestream yoga classes. This chapter explores this service offering and posits a conceptual model of the livestream yoga service experience. It discusses key learnings, identifies managerial opportunities and proposes an agenda for future research.