chapter 10 Flashcards
the 4 four core purposes service environments fulfill
1.Purposes of service environments
2.Theories from environmental psychology that explain consumer responses to service environments
3.Servicescape Model
4.Design of effective service environments
what is the Purpose of service environments
*Shape Customers’ Service Experiences and Behaviours
*Signal Quality and Position, Differentiate, and Strengthen the Brand
*Core Component of the Value Proposition
*Facilitate the Service Encounter and Enhance Productivity
*Physical surroundings help shape appropriate feelings and reactions in customers and employees.
*Servicescapes form a core part of the value proposition.
*Each servicescape here clearly communicates and reinforces its hotel’s respective positioning and sets service expectations as guests arrive
what is the Mehrabian-Russell Stimulus-Response Model
(impact of environment on emotions)
*Feelings are a key driver of customer responses to service environments
*Simple yet fundamental model of how people respond to environments
*The environment, its conscious and unconscious perceptions and interpretation influence how people feel in that environment
*Feelings, rather than perceptions/thoughts, drive behaviour
*Typical outcome variable is ‘approach’ or ‘avoidance’ of an environment, but other possible outcomes can be added to model
What is the Rusell Model of affect
*Emotional responses to environments can be described along two main dimensions
–Pleasure: direct, subjective, depending on how much individual likes or dislikes environment (how positive or negative)
–Arousal: how stimulated individual feels, depends largely on information rate or load of an environment (excited or calm)
*Advantage: simplicity, allows a direct assessment of how customers feel
–Firms can set targets for affective states
3 main dimensions of service environment
1.Ambient conditions: light, sound, smell, temperature
2.Space/functionality:layout
3.Signs, symbols and artifacts: colors, logo
–People perceive them as a whole
–Key to effective design is how well each individual dimension fits together with everything else
–Internal customer and employee responses can be categorized into cognitive, emotional and physiological responses, which lead to observable behavioural responses towards the environment
exterior facilities, general facilities, store layout, interior displays, social dimensions
–Exterior facilities
*Architectural style, window displays, marquee, storefront
–General interior
*Flooring and carpeting, cleanliness, scents, light, music
–Store layout
*Traffic flow, department locations, furniture,
–Interior displays
*Interactive screens, ensemble, price display, posters
–Social dimensions
*Employee uniforms, privacy, self-service,
3 key ambient conditions and their impact
*Impact of Music
–In service settings, music can have a powerful effect on perceptions and behaviours, even if played at barely audible levels.
–Structural characteristics of music―such as tempo, volume, and harmony―are perceived holistically.
*Fast tempo music and high-volume music increase arousal levels
*People tend to adjust their pace, either voluntarily or involuntarily, to match tempo of music
–Careful selection of music can deter wrong type of customers
*Impact of Scent
–An ambient smell is one that pervades an environment.
*May or may not be consciously perceived by customers
*Not related to any particular product
–Scents have distinct characteristics and can be used to obtain emotional, physiological, and behavioural responses.
–In service settings, research has shown that scents can have significant effect on customer perceptions,attitudes, and behaviours
*Impact of Colour
–Colours have a strong impact on people’s feelings
–Colours can be defined into three dimensions:
*Hue is the pigment of the colour
*Value is the degree of lightness or darkness of the colour
*Chroma refers to hue-intensity, saturation or brilliance
–Research has shown that in service environments, despite differing colour preferences, people are generally drawn to warm colour environments.
–Warm colours encourage fast decision making and are good for low-involvement decisions or impulse buys
–Cool colours are preferred for high-involvement decisions
roles of spatial layout and functionality
*Spatial Layout
–Floorplan
–Size and shape of furnishings, counters, machinery, equipment, and how they are arranged
*Functionality
–The ability of those items to make the performance of the service easier
roles of signs, symbols and artifacts
*Communicates the firm’s image
*Help customers find their way
*Let customers know the service script
*First-time customers will automatically try to draw meaning from the signs, symbols and artifacts
*The challenge is to design such that these guide customer through the service delivery process
–Unclear signals from a servicescape can result in anxiety and uncertainty about how to proceed and obtain the desired service
how are employees are part of the servicescape
*Appearance and behaviour of both service personnel and customers can strengthen impression created by service environment or weaken it
*For employees, once they are dressed up, they must perform their parts
*For customers, marketing communication may seek to attract those who appreciate the service environment and are also able to enhance it by their appearance and behaviour
*In hospitality and retail settings, newcomers often look at existing customers before deciding whether to patronize the service firm
design in a holistic view
Selection of Environmental Design Elements
*Design with a holistic view
–Servicescapes have to be seen holistically: No dimension of design can be optimized in isolation, because everything depends on everything else
*Design should be from a customer’s perspective
*Environmental aspects that irritate shoppers
–Ambient conditions
–Environmental design variables
tools to understand how customers use and respond to servicescape
*Tools that can be used to design and improve servicescapes:
–careful observation
–feedback from employees and customers
–photo audits
–field experiments
–blueprinting
*Keen observation of customers’ behavior and responses to the service environment by management, supervisors, branch managers, and frontline staff.
*Feedback and Ideas from frontline staff and customers, using a broad array of research tools from suggestion boxes to focus groups and surveys.
*Photo audit – ask customers to take photographs of their experience and these are used as basis for further interviews or included as part of survey of experience.
*Field experiments can be used to manipulate specific dimensions in an environment and the effects observed. *Blueprinting - extended to include physical evidence in the environment.
