Physical Evidence and the Servicescape

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Physical Evidence and the Servicescape

• Chapter 11

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Provider Gap 2

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Gap 2 Not Having the Right Service Designs and
Standards

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Objectives

• This chapters objectives are to
• 1.Show how physical evidence can help close Gap
  2
• 2. Explain the impact of the servicescape and
  other physical evidence on customer perceptions
  and expectations
• 3. Illustrate differences in types, roles and
  implications of the servicescape
• 4. Using a framework, explain why the
  servicescape affects customer and employee
  behaviour
• 5. Present elements of an effective physical
  evidence strategy

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Physical Evidence

• Physical evidence is a key component of the
  expanded marketing mix for services.
• Physical evidence is defined as the environment
  in which the service is delivered and in which
  the firm and the customer interact, and any
  tangible commodities that facilitate performance
  or communication of the service.

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Physical Evidence

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What is Physical Evidence?

• Because of the intangibility of services,
  customers must rely on tangible cues, or physical
  evidence, to evaluate the service before its
  purchase and to assess their satisfaction with
  the service before and after consumption.
• Elements of physical evidence include all aspects
  of the organizations physical facility, known as
  the servicescape, as well as all other forms of
  tangible communication.
• Elements of the servicescape that affect
  customers may be both exterior and interior
  attributes.

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What is Physical Evidence?

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Examples of Physical Evidence

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How Does Physical Evidence Affect the Customer
Experience?

• Physical evidence, and in particular the
  servicescape, can have a profound and meaningful
  effect on the customer experience.
• As marketers, it is important to pay attention to
  customer experiences and recognize the impact of
  physical space and tangible elements in the
  creation of those experiences.

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Types of Servicescapes

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Servicescape Usage

• Self-service environment the customer performs
  most of the activities (ex. ATMs and movie
  theatres)
• Remote service little or no customer
  involvement with the servicescape (ex. Financial
  consultants and mail-order services)
• Interpersonal services represent situations in
  which both customers and employees are present in
  the servicescape (ex. Hotels, restaurants,
  schools, hospitals)

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Servicescape Complexity

• Lean service environments are very simple, with
  few elements, few spaces, and few pieces of
  equipment.
• Examples of lean environments include information
  kiosks and FedEx drop-off facilities.
• In contrast, elaborate service environments are
  very complicated.
• A good example of an elaborate environment is
  that of a hospital with many floors and rooms,
  sophisticated equipment and high variability.

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Strategic Roles of the Servicescape

• Package
• The servicescape and other elements of physical
  evidence essentially wrap the service, and
  convey an external image to consumers.
• The servicescape is the outward appearance of the
  organization, and is critical in setting up
  customer impressions and expectations.
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Strategic Roles of the Servicescape

• Facilitator
• The servicescape can serve as a facilitator,
  aiding the performances of customers and
  employees within the environment.
• The design of the setting may enhance or inhibit
  the efficient flow of activities within the
  service setting.
• A facility that is well designed and functional
  can make both the customers and employees
  experience pleasurable.
• Poor and inefficient design can frustrate both
  customers and employees

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Strategic Roles of the Servicescape

• Socializer
• Servicescape design can help convey expected
  roles, behaviours and relationships of both
  employees and customers.
• Facility design suggests to customers what their
  role is relative to employees, what parts of the
  servicescape they are welcome in, how they should
  behave while in the environment, and what types
  of interactions are encouraged.

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Strategic Roles of the Servicescape

• Differentiator
• The design of the physical facility can
  differentiate a firm from its competitors and
  also signal the market segment that the service
  is intending to target.

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Strategic Roles of the Servicescape

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Framework for Understanding Servicescape Effects
on Behaviour

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The Underlying Framework

• The framework for understanding how the
  servicescape effects behaviour is derived from
  stimulus-organism-response theory.
• In our framework, the multidimensional
  environment is the stimulus, consumers and
  employees are the organisms responding to the
  stimuli, and their behaviours are the resulting
  responses.
• The assumption is that the impact of the
  servicescape on customers and employees will
  cause them to behave in certain ways depending on
  their internal reactions to the servicescape.

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Behaviours in the Servicescape

• Individual Behaviours
• Psychologists suggest that individuals react to
  places with two general forms of behaviour
  approach (positive behaviours) and avoidance
  (negative behaviours).
• The servicescape can actually influence the
  degree of success that an individual experiences
  in executing their plan once inside the service
  setting.
• Each individual comes to a particular service
  organization with a goal or purpose that may be
  helped or hindered by the setting.

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Behaviours in the Servicescape

• Social Interactions
• The servicescape influences the nature and
  quality of customer and employee interactions.
• All social interaction is affected by the
  physical container in which it occurs.
• Environmental variables such as physical
  proximity, seating arrangements, size and
  flexibility can define the service experience.
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Internal Responses to the Servicescape

• Environment and Cognition
• The perceived servicescape can affect peoples
  beliefs about a place, as well as their beliefs
  about the people and products found in that
  place.
• The servicescape can be classified as a form on
  non-verbal communication.
• Overall perception of the servicescape allows the
  firm to be mentally categorized.
• For example, in the restaurant industry a
  particular configuration of environmental cues
  may suggest fast food, while another
  configuration suggests elegant restaurant.

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Internal Responses to the Servicescape

• Environment and Emotion
• The perceived servicescape can elicit emotional
  responses that influence behaviours.
• Elements such as colours, décor and music can
  have subconscious effects on individuals.
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Internal Responses to the Servicescape

• Environment and Physiology
• The perceived servicescape may also affect people
  in purely physiological ways.
• For example, it is well known that the comfort of
  seating in a restaurant influences how long
  people will stay.
• Environmental design and physiological responses
  can also affect how well employees perform their
  job functions.

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Internal Responses to the Servicescape

• Variations in Individual Responses
• People generally respond the environment
  cognitively, emotionally and physiologically, and
  their responses influence how they behave in the
  environment.
• However, the response will differ between
  individuals.
• Personality differences, moods or the purpose for
  being in the particular environment can cause
  variations in how people respond to the
  servicescape.

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Environmental Dimensions of the Servicescape

• There is a complex mix of environmental features
  that influence the responses and behaviours of
  customers and employees.
• The multitude of potential influencing elements
  have been categorized into three main dimensions
• Ambient Conditions
• Spatial Layout and Functionality
• Signs, Symbols and Artifacts

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Ambient Conditions

• Ambient conditions include background
  characteristics of the environment such as
• Lighting
• Noise
• Music
• Scent
• Colour
• These factors can have a profound effect on how
  people think, feel and respond to a particular
  service establishment.
• Ambient conditions have a greater effect on the
  customer or employee when considerable time is
  spent in the servicescape their impact builds
  over time.

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Spatial Layout and Functionality

• Spatial layout refers to the ways in which
  machinery, equipment and furnishings are
  arranged, the size and shape of those items, and
  the spatial relationship among them.
• Functionality refers to the ability of those
  items to facilitate the accomplishment of
  customer and employee goals.
• Spatial layout and functionality becomes
  particularly important in a self-service
  environment, where customers cannot rely on
  employees for assistance.

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Signs, Symbols and Artifacts

• Many items in the physical environment serve as
  either explicit or implicit signals that
  communicate about the place.
• Exterior and interior signs are examples of
  explicit communicators. They can be used as
  labels, for directional purposes, and to
  communicate rules of behaviour.
• Environmental symbols and artifacts that
  communicate less directly are referred to as
  implicit cues. Artwork, certificates and
  photographs, and personal objects can communicate
  meaning and create an impression.
• Signs, symbols and artifacts are particularly
  important in forming first impressions and for
  communicating service concepts.

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Guidelines for Physical Evidence Strategy

• Recognize the Strategic Impact of Physical
  Evidence
• Blueprint the Physical Evidence of Service
• Clarify Strategic Roles of the Servicescape
• Assess and Identify Physical Evidence
  Opportunities
• Be Prepared to Update and Modernize the Evidence
• Work Cross-Functionally

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Summary

• The physical evidence of the service serves as a
  primary cue for setting customer expectations.
• Tangible cues, particularly the servicescape,
  influence customers responses as they experience
  the service.
• The servicescape can serve as a package, a
  facilitator in aiding the goal accomplishment of
  customers and employees, a socializer in
  prescribing environmental behaviours, and a
  differentiator to distinguish the organization
  from its competitors.

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Summary

• The servicescape can affect the approach and
  avoidance behaviours of individuals, as well as
  their social interactions.
• These behavioural responses arise because the
  physical environment influences peoples
  beliefs/cognitions about the service
  organization, their feelings or emotions in
  response to the environment, and their actual
  physiological reactions while in the physical
  facility.
• The impact of physical evidence must be
  researched and planned as part of the overall
  marketing strategy.

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Self-Test

• Online Learning Centre Self-Test