Crafting the Service EnvironmentMudie: Chapter 4

Lovelock: Chapter 10I would sincerely request you

all to go through the chapters

in the book, when you study.

What is the Purpose of Service Elements? Service environments, also called servicescapes, relate to the style and

appearance of the physical surroundings and other experiential elements encountered by customers at service delivery sites.

Designing the service environment is an art that takes considerable time and effort, and can be expensive to implement.

Once they are built, service environments are not easy to change.

Shaping Customers’ Experiences and Behavior For high-contact services, the design of the physical environment and the

way in which tasks are performed by customer-contact personnel jointly play a vital role in creating a particular corporate identity and shaping the nature of customers’ experiences.

The servicescape affects buyer behavior in 3 ways: Message-creating Medium: symbolic cues to communicate the distinctive nature and

quality of the service experience.

Attention-creating Medium: to make the servicescape stand out from other competing establishments, and to attract customers from target segments.

Effect-creating Medium: colors, textures, sounds, scents and spatial design to enhance the desired service experience, and/or to heighten an appetite for certain goods, services or experiences

Helps the firm to create a distinctive image & positioning that is unique.

Image, Positioning and Differentiation

Services are often intangible, and customers use the servicescape as an important proxy for quality, and firms take great pains to signal quality and portray the desired image.

Many servicescapes are purely functional. Firms that wish to project the image of being low-price set up shop in inexpensive neighborhoods, have simple appearance, and minimize waste of space.

Servicescape as Part of Value Proposition

Servicescape help to shape appropriate feelings and reactions in customers and employees.

Example: Disneyland, Las Vegas

Facilitate Service Encounter and Enhance Productivity

Servicescapes are usually designed to aid the service encounter, as well as improve productivity.

Means to reduce failures are in place Color-coded keys on cash registers

Mirrors for front-line staff

Tray-return stands and notices in fast-food shops

Understanding Consumer Responsesto Service Environments

Feelings are a Key Driver There are two models that help us better understand consumer responses

to service environments:

Mehrabian-Russell Stimulus-Response Model

Russell’s Model of Affect

Mehrabian-Russell Stimulus-Response Model The model holds that the environment, its conscious and unconscious

perception and interpretation, influence how people feel in that environment.

People’s feelings in turn drive their responses to that environment.

The model states that feelings, rather than perceptions or thoughts, drive behavior.

We don’t avoid an environment simply because there are a lot of people around us; rather we are deterred by the unpleasant feeling of crowding, of people being in our way, of lacking perceived control, and of not being able to get what we want as fast as we wish to.

Mehrabian-Russell Stimulus-Response Model

Environmental Stimuli & Cognitive Processes

Dimensions of Affect:

Pleasure and Arousal

Russell Model of Affect It is widely used to help understand feelings in service environments and

suggests that emotional responses to environments can be described along two main dimensions.

Pleasure is a direct, subjective response to the environment, depending on how much the individual likes or dislikes the environment.

Arousal refers to how stimulated the individual feels, ranging from deep sleep (lowest level of internal activity) to highest levels of adrenaline in the bloodstream – for example, when bungee jumping.

Arousal quality of an environment is dependent on its “information load”, i.e., its degree of Novelty (unexpected, surprising, new, familiar) and

Complexity (number of elements, extent of motion or change)

Russell Model of Affect

Distressing Exciting

Boring Relaxing

Arousing

Sleepy

Unpleasant Pleasant

Drivers of Affect Affect can be caused by perceptions and cognitive processes of any degree

of complexity.

Simple Cognitive Processes, Perception of Stimuli tangible cues (of service quality)

consumer satisfaction

Complex Cognitive Processes affective charged schemata processing

attribution processes

Drivers of Affect Affect can be caused by perceptions and cognitive processes of any degree

of complexity. However, the more complex a cognitive process becomes, the more powerful is its potential on affect. Example: Bad food in a restaurant cannot be compensated by good music.

We usually have routine service encounters, where we tend to function on auto-pilot mode.

Most of the time, it’s the simple cognitive processes that determine how people feel in the service setting. Those include the conscious and even the unconscious perceptions of space, colors, scents and so on.

Behavioral Consequences of Affect At the basic level, pleasant environments tend to draw people in,

unpleasant environments drive us out.

Arousal acts as an amplifier of the basic effect of pleasure on behavior.

For example: loud, fast-beat music would increase the stress levels of shoppers when they are trying to make their way through crowded aisles on a pre-Eid evening.

When customers have a strong affective expectation from services (candle-lit dinner, spa visit, etc.), managers need to make sure that the servicescape is designed to match those expectations.

If customers feel positively about the environment, their loyalty increases.

Bitner’s Servicescape Model Identifies the main dimensions in a service environment and views them

holistically

Customer and employee responses classified under, cognitive, emotional and psychological which would in turn lead to overt behavior towards the environment

Key to effective design is how well each individual dimension fits together with everything else

EnvironmentalDimensions

Internal Responses BehaviorModerators

HolisticEnvironment

Ambient Conditions

Space/ Function

Signs, Symbols & Artifacts

Approachor

Avoid

Social Interactions between Customers

and Employees

Approachor

Avoid

Perceived Servicescape

Employee Response

Moderator

Customer Response

Moderator

Employee Responses

Customer Responses

CognitiveEmotional

Psychological

CognitiveEmotional

Psychological

Bitner’s Servicescape Model

Dimensions of the Service Environment

Dimensions of the Service Environment Servicescapes are complex and have many design

elements

Ambient Conditions Music (e.g, fast tempo and high volume increase arousal

levels)

Scent (strong impact on mood, affect and evaluative responses, purchase intention and in-store behavior)

Color (e.g, warm colors associated with elated mood states and arousal but also increase anxiety, cool colors reduce arousal but can elicit peacefulness and calm)

Lighting (creative use of light can bring an interior to life – the interaction of light and shadow can sculpt, expand, scale, highlight, silhouette, sparkle, and most importantly can move merchandise)

Dimensions of the Service Environment Spatial Layout and Functionality

Layout refers to size and shape of furnishings and the ways it is arranged

Functionality is the ability of those items to facilitate performance

Signs, Symbols and Artifact Explicit or implicit signals to communicate the firm’s image, help consumers find their way

and to convey the rules of behavior

Customers become disoriented when they cannot derive clear signals from a servicescape

Dimensions of the Service Environment People are part of the service environment, too

The appearance and behavior of both service personnel and customers can reinforce or detract from the impression created by a service environment

Termed as “aesthetic labor”

Impact of Music on Restaurant Diners

Restaurant Patron Behavior

Fast-beat Music Environment

Slow-beat Music Environment

Difference between Slow and Fast-beat

Environments AbsoluteDifference

% Difference

Consumer time spent at table

45min 56min +11min +24%

Spending on food $55.12 $55.81 +$0.69 +1%

Spending on beverages

$21.62 $30.47 +$8.85 +41%

Total spending $76.74 $86.28 +$9.54 +12%

Estimated gross margin

$48.62 $55.82 +$7.20 +15%

The Effects of Scents on the Perceptions of Store Env

Evaluation Unscented

Environment Mean Ratings

Scented Environment Mean Ratings Difference

Store Evaluation

Negative/positive 4.65 5.24 +0.59

Outdated/modern 3.76 4.72 +0.96

Store Environment

Unattractive/attractive 4.12 4.98 +0.86

Drab/colorful 3.63 4.72 +1.09

Boring/Stimulating 3.75 4.40 +0.65

The Effects of Scents on the Perceptions of Store Env

Evaluation Unscented Environment Mean Ratings

Scented Environment Mean Ratings Difference

Merchandise

Outdated/up- to-date style 4.71 5.43 +0.72

Inadequate/adequate 3.80 4.65 +0.85

Low/high quality 4.81 5.48 +0.67

Low/high price 5.20 4.93 -0.27

Aromatherapy: The Effect of Fragrance on People

Fragrance Aromatherapy Aromatherapy Class

Traditional Use

Potential Psychological Impact on People

Orange Citrus Calming Soothing agent,

astringent

Calming and relaxing effect esp. for nervous people

Lavender Herbaceous Calming, balancing, soothing

Muscle relaxant, soothing

agent

Relaxing and calming, helps create a homey and comfortable feel

Jasmine Floral Uplifting, balancing

Emollientsoothing agent

Helps makes people feel refreshed, joyful, comfortable

Peppermint Minty Energizing, stimulating

Skin cleanser Increase attention level and boosts energy

Color Color has a language of it’s own. Much like music, it can evoke moods and

emotions – excitement, happiness, serenity, sadness.

Color is composed of 3 elements: Hue – the name of the color, e.g. red, blue, green

Value – the lightness or darkness of a color

Chroma – the intensity of strength or purity of color

Color can only be measured in relation to other colors.

Large spaces are better balanced by using a scheme of soft, low-intensity color with strong, vibrant hues reserved for accent or highlight value.

Colors have both optical and emotional values.

Common Associations and Human Responses to Colors

Color Degree of Warmth Nature Symbol Common Association and Human Responses to Color

Red Warm Earth High energy and passion; can excite, stimulate, and increase arousal and blood pressures

Orange Warmest Sunset Emotions, expressions, and warmth

Green Cool Grass and Trees Nurturing, healing and unconditional love

Blue Coolest Sky and Ocean Relaxation, serenity and loyalty

Purple Difficult Disturbing, the most disliked color in terms of environmental settings

Lighting When considering lighting design for a service setting, the following factors

must be taken into account: Daylighting – the way in which it is controlled influence heat, glare, penetration, visibility

and the perception of color. Most schemes take into account of the orientation of the building to the sun.

Color – the direction and strength of daylight affect the perception of color.

The nature of the activity to be performed in the space – accuracy, speed, safety, recognition, etc.

Lighting The service provider’s perception of the task – is it to sell visual satisfaction, or is it to sell

hamburgers? Is it to indicate the conservative solidity of a bank, or is it to reassure people about to board a plane?

Levels of vision – if the task required detailed work from the customer or service provider then strong light is required. If the background setting is well lit, then even greater intensity of light will be required for the detailed work as the eyes become accustomed to the relative lessening of the contrast.

Ambience – the desired mood – a church or library would generally exude a peaceful calm, while a fast-food diner or music store would wish to create a youthful, exciting, gregarious atmosphere.

Selection of Environmental Design Elements There is a multitude of research on the perception and impact of

environmental stimuli on behavior, including: People density, crowding

Lighting

Sound/noise

Scents and odors

Queues

No standard formula to designing the perfect combination of these elements. Design from the customer’s perspective

Design with a holistic view!

Tools to Guide in Servicescape Design 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 ranging from suggestion boxes to focus groups and surveys.

Field Experiments can be used to manipulate specific dimensions in an environment and the effects observed.

Blueprinting or Service Mapping - extended to include the physical evidence in the environment.

I would sincerely request youall to go through the

chaptersin the book, when you study.