Question

Compare two different servicescapes [based on ambient conditions, music, scent, color, spatial layout, and signs] you have visited recently. As part of your comparison, highlight how the differences in servicescapes can impact and influence both customer perceptions and behavior.

Answer 1

As the demand grows for customized services, so too the management of those experiences becomes more important. This study examines the relationship between service environment, customer predisposition and service experience evaluation. Based on data derived from 366 visitors to two theme parks in Hong Kong, a link was found between the servicescape and tourist evaluation through the moderating effects of customer predispositions. Consequently, both the substantive and communicative aspects of the servicescape reliably predicted visitors' evaluations. In addition, a visitor's predisposition to fantasize and/or participate was found to influence the ability of servicescape elements to shape a favorable service experience. Theoretical contributions of this research are elucidated. Moreover, managerial implications related to servicescape design, promotion strategies and service experience enhancement are discussed.

Drawing on literature from environmental psychology, the present study examined place attachment as a second-order factor and investigated its relationships with place satisfaction and visitors' low and high effort pro-environmental behavioural intentions. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling were used to test a model using a sample of 452 visitors at the Dandenong Ranges National Park, in Australia. Results supported the four-dimensional second-order factor of place attachment and indicated (a) positive and significant effects of place attachment on both low and high effort pro-environmental behavioural intentions of park visitors, (b) a significant and positive influence of place attachment on place satisfaction, (c) a significant and positive effect of place satisfaction on low effort pro-environmental behavioural intentions, and (d) a negative and significant influence of place satisfaction on high effort pro-environmental behavioural intentions. The main theoretical contribution relates to the inclusion of the four dimensions of place attachment in a single model. Findings are discussed with respect to their applied and theoretical relevance.

This exploratory study attempts to establish the link between Internet retailing and services marketing and proposes a conceptual framework for examining the Web site as an e-servicescape. Findings suggest that the dimensions of the servicescape as they pertain to Web sites play a significant role in influencing customers' attitudes, evaluation, and purchase intentions with respect to online retailers. Whether a Web site is an extension of an organization's bricks-and-mortar establishment or a stand-alone service portal, it is clear that the servicescape dimensions of ambient conditions (AC), spatial layout and functionality (SLF), and signs, symbols, and artifacts (SSA) are present and influential in organizations' cyber settings.

Service blueprinting has been used for over 30 years as a service process visualization technique. A new service process visualization technique called Process-Chain-Network (PCN) has been recently introduced and is claimed to be an improvement on previous visualization methods. We use the method of conceptual evaluation to compare and explore the similarities and differences between the concepts in service blueprinting and the concepts in PCN. Specifically, we aim to answer two research questions: 1) how well do PCN concepts support service blueprinting concepts? and 2) how well do service blueprinting concepts support PCN concepts? The results of this study show that these modeling formalisms have different views towards the categorization of service activities. We conclude that whilst service blueprinting depicts business roles and their interactions with a customer, PCN focuses on the nature of interaction between customer and service provider. Moreover, we find that PCN is a better method for process re-engineering in comparison with service blueprinting, both modelings supporting customer experience to some degree.