Servicescape is a model developed by Booms and Bitner to emphasize the impact of the physical environment in which a service process takes place. The aim of the servicescapes model is to explain behavior of people within the service environment with a view to designing environments that does not accomplish organisational goals in terms of achieving desired behavioural responses. For consumers visiting a service or retail store, the service environment is the first aspect of the service that is perceived by the customer and it is at this stage that consumers are likely to form impressions of the level of service they will receive.
Booms and Bitner defined a servicescape as "the environment in which the service is assembled and in which the seller and customer interact, combined with tangible commodities that facilitate performance or communication of the service". In other words, the servicescape refers to the non-human elements of the environment in which service encounters occur. The servicescape does not include: processes (e.g. methods of payment, billing, cooking, cleaning); external promotions (e.g. advertising, PR, social media, web-sites) or back-of-house (kitchen, cellars, store-rooms, housekeeping, staff change rooms), that is; spaces where customers do not normally visit.
The servicescape includes the facility's exterior (landscape, exterior design, signage, parking, surrounding environment) and interior (interior design and decor, equipment, signage, layout) and ambient conditions (air quality, temperature and lighting). In addition to its effects on customer's individual behaviors, the servicescape influences the nature and quality of customer and employee interactions, most directly in interpersonal services. Companies design their servicescapes to add an atmosphere that enhances the customer experience and that will affect buyers' behavior during the service encounter.
Origins, importance and influences
The servicescapes model is an applied stimulus-response model where the application is specific to the service sector. The model was developed by US academic, Mary Jo Bitner in 1990. It is heavily influenced by a branch of social science known as environmental psychology. In services marketing, the servicescapes model has become the dominant framework for studying and evaluating the physical environment in which service encounters occur. A service encounter can be defined as "the duration in which a customer interacts with a service. The customer's interactions with a service provider typically involve face-to-face contact with service personnel, in addition to interactions with the physical elements of the service environment including the facilities and equipment."Furnham, A.and Milner, R., "The Impact of Mood on Customer Behavior: Staff Mood and Environmental Factors," Journal of Retail and Consumer Services, Vo. 20, 2013, p. 634
According to Lusch and Vargo, the servicescape is an important resource that enables the firm to "channel consumer realities in certain ways".Lusch, R.F. and Vargo, S.L., The Service-dominant Logic of Marketing: Dialog, Debate, and Directions, Oxon, Routledge, 2015, p. 96 Empirical studies have demonstrated that the servicescape affects both the customer's emotional and behavioural responses in service settings.Mutum, D.S., "Introduction to Service Branding and Servicescapes," in Services Marketing Cases in Emerging Markets: An Asian Perspective, Roy, Sanjit Kumar, Mutum, Dilip S., Nguyen, Bang (eds), Springer, 2015, pp 63-65, The servicescapes model seeks to describe all the customer interactions that occur during a service encounter and to understand how environmental elements impact on the customer's service experience.
The stimulus-response model
The SOR model (stimulus→organism→response model) describes the way that organisms, including customers and employees, respond to environmental stimuli (e.g. lighting, music, interior-design). In essence, the model proposes that people's responses exhibit three broad types of responses to stimuli in the external environment - physiological, emotional (affective) and behavioural responses.
A simple stimulus-organism-response model Stimulus (physical environment) → Organism (customers & employees) → Response (comfort, pleasure, etc)
Environmental psychology
Environmental psychologists investigate the impact of spatial environments on behaviour. Emotional responses to environmental stimuli fall into three dimensions; pleasure, arousal and dominance. The individual's emotional state is thought to mediate the behavioural response, namely approach or avoidance behaviour towards the environment. Architects and designers can use insights from environmental psychology to design environments that promote desired emotional or behavioural outcomes.Donovan and Rossiter, J., "Store Atmosphere: An Environmental Psychology Approach," Journal of Retailing, Vol;. 58, no. 1, 1982, pp 34-57
Three emotional responses are suggested in the model. These responses should be understood as a continuum, rather than a discrete emotion, and customers can be visualised as falling anywhere along the continuum as shown in the diagram.Ridgway, Dawson and Bloch (1990) "Pleasure and Arousal in the Marketplace: Interpersonal differences in approach-avoidance responses," Marketing Letters, vol 1, no 2, pp139-47
Pleasure–displeasure refers to the emotional state reflecting the degree to which consumers and employees are satisfied with the service experience.
Arousal–non-arousal refers to the emotional state that reflects the degree to which consumers and employees feel excited and stimulated.
Dominance–submissiveness refers to the emotional state that reflects the degree to which consumers and employees feel in control and able to act freely within the service environment.
The individual's emotional response mediate the individual's behavioural response of Approach→ Avoidance. Approach refers to the act of physically moving towards something while avoidance interferes with people's ability to interact. In a service environment, approach behaviours might be characterised by a desire to explore an unfamiliar environment, remain in the service environment, interact with the environment and with other persons in the environment and a willingness to perform tasks within that environment. Avoid behaviours are characterised by a desire to leave the establishment, ignore the service environment, and feelings disappointment with the service experience. Environments in which people feel they lack control are unattractive. Customers often understand the concept of approach intuitively when they comment that a particular place "looks inviting" or "gives off good vibes".
The desired level of emotional arousal depends on the situation. For example, at a gym arousal might be more important than pleasure (No Pain; No gain). In a leisure setting, pleasure might be more important. If the environment pleases, then the customer will be induced to stay longer and explore all that the service has to offer. Too much arousal, however, can be counter-productive. For instance, a romantic couple might feel out of place in a busy, noisy and cluttered restaurant. Obviously, some level of arousal is necessary as a motivation to buy. The longer a customer stays in an environment, the greater the opportunities to cross-sell a range of service offerings.
Mehrabian and Russell identified two types of environment based on the degree of information processing and stimulation:Mehrabian, A. and Russell, J.A., An Approach to Environmental Psychology, Cambridge, MA, MIT Press
High load: Environments that are unfamiliar, novel, complex, unpredictable or crowded are high load. Such environments tend to make people feel alert and stimulated. Low load: Environments that are familiar, simple, unsurprising and well organised are low load. Such environments tend to make people feel relaxed, calm and even sleepy.
Activities or tasks that are low load require a more stimulating environment for optimum performance. If the task to be performed is relatively simple, routine or boring then users benefit from a slightly more stimulating environment. On the other hand, tasks that are complex or difficult may benefit from a low load environment.
The servicescapes model
The servicescapes model is an applied stimulus-organism-response model (SOR model), which treats the physical environment as the stimulus and the response is the behavior of employees and customers within the physical environment.Bitner, M.J., "Evaluating Service Encounters: The Effects of Physical Surroundings and Employee Responses," Journal of Marketing, vol. 54, no. 2, 1990, pp 69-82 The servicescape performs four important roles - packaging - presents the outward appearance to the public; facilitator - guides the efficient flow of activities; socialiser - conveys expected roles to both employees and customers and differentiator - serves as a point of difference by signalling which segments of the market are served, positioning the organisation and conveying competitive difference.Bitner, M.J., "The Servicescape," in Handbook of Services Marketing and Management, Swartz, R. and Iacobucci, D. (eds), Thousand Oaks, CA, Sage, 2000, pp 37-49
Physical environment as stimuli
The elements of the physical environment itself make up the inputs (stimuli). Environmental inputs are sensory, spatial and symbolic.Bitner, M.J., "Servicescapes: The Impact of Physical Surroundings on Customers and Employees," Journal of Marketing, vol. 56, no. 2, 1992, pp 57 -71Katz, K.L. and Rossiter, J., "Store Atmosphere: An Environmental Psychology Approach," in Bateson, J.E.G., Managing Services Marketing: Text, Cases and Readings, Dryden, Orlando, Fl, 1991, pp 227-243 For convenience, these elements are normally considered as three broad categories including:
Ambient conditions: Temperature, air quality, ambient noise, lighting, background music, odor, etc. Space/Function: Equipment such as cash registers, layout, furnishings and furniture, etc. and the ways that these elements are arranged within the space Signs, symbols and artefacts: Directional signage, personal artefacts (e.g. souvenirs, mementos), corporate livery and logos, style of décor (including colour schemes), symbols, etc.
Each element in the physical environment serves multiple purposes. For instance, furnishings may serve a functional role in that they provide seating where patrons can wait for friends or simply enjoy a quiet rest, but the construction materials may also serve a symbolic role in which they communicate meaning through shared understandings. Plush fabrics and generous drapery may signify an elegant, up-market venue, while plastic chairs may signify an inexpensive, family-friendly venue. Signage may provide information, but may also serve to assist customers navigate their way through a complex service environment. When evaluating the servicescape, the combined effect of all the elements must also be taken into consideration.
Ambient conditions