This document discusses the concept of servicescape and atmospheric elements that influence consumer behavior in service environments. It covers how factors like lighting, music, scent, and staff appearance can positively impact customer moods, enjoyment, and spending. The importance of servicescape design is greater when competitive differences are small or customers seek distinct experiences based on demographics. Atmospheric elements must be considered alongside customer segmentation to ensure the intended environment matches target audiences' expectations.

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SERVICES
MARKETING
The Servicescape
Atmospherics / Physical
Evidence
Tom Chapman
www.marketing101.co.uk
Twitter @idlehans

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Introduction
 Toconsider the various elements that make up the
service environment and to explore the concept of
atmospherics and elements of environmental
psychology.
 The importance of the servicescape
 The effect of the servicescape on behaviour
 The classification of servicesape variables and
their relative importance in different service
environments.

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Kotler (1973, pg 48)
 People in their purchase decision-making respond to more
than simply the tangible product or service being offered…
buyers respond to the total product… in some cases, the
atmosphere is the primary product.

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Obermiller and Bitner (1984)
 consumers who viewed retail products in an emotionally
pleasing environment evaluated the products more
positively than did subjects who viewed the same products
in an unpleasing environment.

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Gardner (1985)
 Small changes in physical surroundings may influence
consumers, moods at the point of purchase, and slight
deviations in communications strategies may significantly
affect moods upon exposure to advertising (Gardner, 1985,
281).

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Donovan & Rossiter (1982)
 Citing Mehrabrian and Russell (1976)
 approach or avoidance behaviours linked to, (1)
physical desire, (2) a desire for exploration, (3) a desire
to communicate and (4) a level of performance and
satisfaction gained from the activity they are involved
in.
 emotional responses
 pleasure to displeasure, arousal to non-arousal and
dominance to submissiveness.
 …persons will enjoy spending more time and
perhaps more money in those retail stores where
they feel pleasure and a moderate to high
degree of arousal. (Donovan & Rossiter, 1982, 42)

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Spies et al (1997, pg15)
 Spieset al (1997, 15) found that atmosphere
did not affect the total amount of money
spent but only the amount of money spent
for spontaneous purchases. Customers
spent more money for spontaneous
purchases in the pleasant compared to the
less pleasant store. (considered 2 differing
furniture stores?)

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What is an atmosphere?
 Use of the senses, sight, sound, scent & touch.
 Visual - colour, brightness, size and shape (Charla et al 2002,
Chebat & Morin 2007, Dijkstra 2008)
 Aural - volume & pitch (Michon et al 2002, Dube & Morin 2001,
Morin et al 2007, Yalch & Spangenberg 2000)
 Olfactory – scent (Zemke & Shoemaker 2007, Mattila & Wirtz
2001), freshness (Boyer & Hult 2006), ambient odor (Chebat &
Michon 2003)
 Tactile - softness, smoothness, temperature (Bitner 1992)
 Affected by:
 Staff – Dress, Appearance (Kim et al 2009, Shao 2004), gender (Fischer et al
1997)
 Other Customers (Grove & Fisk 1997)

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Perceived and Intended
atmosphere
 The more dissimilar the customers of a
particular establishment the more varied
their perception of a given intended
atmosphere?
 Consider Segmentation Variables (Haytko & Baker 2004, Jaeger
2006, Kaufman-Scarborough 1999)
 Age
 Culture
 Gender
 Disability

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Atmospherics’ importance?
 Atmospherics is important where
 The product is purchased / consumed (Allard et
al 2009)
 The seller has design options (Newsom et al
2009)
 The number of competitive outlets increase, but
also in monopolistic circumstances to increase
likely sales (Babin 2000)
 Product and / or price differences are small
(Verhoeven et al 2009)
 Product entries are aimed at distinct social
classes or life style buyer groups (Kubacki et al
2007, Lee et al 2008)

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Atmosphere Planning?
 Who is the target audience?
 What are they seeking from the Experience?
 What variables can fortify the beliefs and emotional
reactions they are seeking?
 Will the resulting atmosphere compete effectively with the
competition?

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A retail example? - Gender
 Grocery shopping is the customary activity
of the housewife. Attempts to eliminate
"food shopping" through home delivery
and telephone order have to date been
relatively unsuccessful. Apparently, the
process of grocery shopping has positive
utility for a large segment of women who
view it as an integral part of their role.
Tauber (1972, 47)

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Gender Divide
Raajpoot et al (2008)
 Relative to men, women are more ‘‘virtuous’’ and to a larger extent act in
accord with positively valued health/nutritional and ethical principles.
Beardsworth et al. (2002)
 Men seek more assistance from salespeople (Cleveland et al., 2003)
 Men are more negatively affected by waiting time than women (Grewal et al.,
2003).
 Generally, women enjoy shopping more than do men (Alreck and Settle,
2002) and make greater use of cues (Meyers-Levy and Sternthal, 1991)
 The visible nature of shopping and the importance of the social
interaction that takes place during shopping suggest that social
referents are likely to influence patronage behavior (Evans et al., 1996).
Because women are more social than men, customer compatibility
should have a greater effect on women than on men.

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Westbrook & Black (1985, pg 80)
 Motivationaltheorists have typically
regarded human behaviour as the
product of both internal states as well as
external stimuli apperceived by the
individual
 hypothesisedseven 'major dimensions' of
shopping behaviour based on shopping
motivations.
 (1)anticipated utility, (2) role enactment, (3)
negotiation, (4) choice optimisation, (5)
affiliation, (6) power and authority, (7)
stimulation.

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Babin (1994)
 ... traditional product acquisition explanations may
inadequately reflect the total value of a shopping experience
(Babin et al., 1994, pg 644).
 Babin et al (1994) proposed to describe the shopping
experience that consumers have based on utilitarian and
hedonic shopping values.

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Turley & Milliman (2000)
 Classification of Atmospheric variables
 External
 General Interior
 Layout & Design
 Point of Purchase
 Human

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Conclusion
 Allof the above authors have a common
purpose that links their research. They all
propose in some form or another that there
is more to making a purchase than simply
the functional elements of the product itself.
Some are more concerned with consumer
behaviour, whilst others are concerned with
generality or specific elements of
competitive advantage but all realise that
there are various elements or components
that affect buying behaviour and product
choice.