Strategic Analysis

1. Servicescape Research: a review and research agenda

(a) Servicescape definition: The design of buying environments to produce specific emotional effects in the buyer that enhance his or her purchase probability (Kotler 1973, p.50)

Bitner (1992) coined the term ‘servicescapes’ in reference to the physical surroundings as fashioned by service organizations to facilitate the provision of service offerings to the customers. Ezeh & Harris (2007)

* Tangible and intangible features that make up the service experience

* Tangible features: buildings, decorations and fixtures

* Intangible features: temperature, colour and music

* Aim of the paper is to supply a critical review of contemporary research into servicescapes.

* Generally accepted that the term “atmospherics” was coined by Kotler (1973) who first recognized the influence of the in-store environment on the perceptual processes of customers leading to purchase or non-purchase decisions

* Kotler (1973) asserts that customers perceive store atmosphere through a combination of visual (colour, lighting), aural (music type, sound level), tactile (cleanliness), and olfactory (scent) cues present within the service environment.

Linking Bitner with S-O-R Relationship (stimulus –organism – response)

* Mehrabian and Russell (1974) proposes that servicescape stimuli affect the emotional states of customers and this lead to the display of approach-avoidance responses.

* Emotional states are posited as important mediators between servicescape stimuli and customer behavior.

Kotler’s Argument

- Kotler (1973) contends that there is no ideal servicescape composition for all industries. He argues that since each market is made up of customers with varying tastes, servicescape composition should be based on (a) the target audience, (b) what that target audience is seeking from the buying experience, (c) the servicescape variables that can fortify emotional reactions sought...