In the article “Evaluating a servicescape: the effect of cognition and emotion” Lin (2004) reviews literature regarding the effects of servicescapes on customer behaviour based on the concept of Gestalt psychology and extends the literature by proposing a framework for a customer’s evaluation process (Lin, 2004). Servicescape is understood as the design of the physical environment created by a firm to enhance the action of their customers (Goi & Kalidas, 2016). While services can be difficult to evaluate due to their intangible nature, servicescapes give the customer physically tangible information about the intangible product of the tourism service and thus create an immediate perception for the customer (Kotler, 1973). Therefore,servicescapes are “an important source of evidence in the overall evaluation of the servicescape itself”, the overall quality of the services provided by the service organisation and the organisation in general (Lin, 2004, p.164). Hence an understanding of how customers evaluate the physical environment is of importance for service providers.

 

Taking on a “Gestalt” psychology perspective Lin (2004) argues that individuals form a holistic mental image of the servicescape based on all elements of the servicescape including various environmental cues and physical components (Lin, 2004). More precisely, first individuals receive input through their sensory systems that absorb all environmental cues, which in the second step is cognitively retrieved to create a perceptual mental image. Thirdly, this image further stimulates an emotional response, based on which individuals then again, in the fourth step, process cognitively by evaluating the servicescape (Lin, 2004, p.171). Individuals’ formation of the mental image of the servicescape is affected by micro variables (e.g. personality traits, preconsumption expectation) and macro variables (e.g. demographics, cultural influences) (Baraban & Durocher, 2010).

 

This framework on the customers’ evaluation process represents Lin’s (2004) answer to the long-posed question in literature on emotion and cognition which of these two comes first: In line with Lazarus (1999) Lin claims that cognition precedes emotion (Lin, 2004; Lazarus, 1999; Pham et al., 2001). Unlike many prior studies, arguing that environmental stimuli trigger emotional responses and behaviours directly, Lin (2004) stresses the importance of cognitive processing as consumers form specific expectations of the service before the actual purchase (Lin, 2004; Oliver, 1980). The author’s reasoning is intelligible and clear even for someone without a psychological background. Hence, Lin’s (2004) call for a more holistic view of future study on the effect of servicescapes on customer behaviour, with a focus on consumers’ psychological processing and evaluation, can only be emphasised here. 

 

The effect of cultural differences on servicescape evaluation

As Lin (2004) herself repeatedly refers to examples from tourism and the hospitality sector, it seems rather surprising that the author mentions the possible effect of cultural differences, as one macro-variable, on the formation of the perceptual image rather on a side note. Especially for service providers of large hotels and resorts which have very comprehensive servicescapes and very international guests, an understanding of these cultural differences in attitudes and behaviour and their impact on customers’ evaluation is of utmost importance when making decisions about the layout and design of the servicescapes (Baraban & Durocher, 2010). Lin (2004) herself mentions the complexity of the visual cue colour of servicescapes. How people perceive colour, what colour means to them and which colours they prefer depends on their culture (De Bortoli & Maroto, 2001; Boyatzis & Varghese, 1994). For instance, whereas in Austria, Germany and Switzerland the colour white is associated with nature (snowy mountains), in Japan it symbolizes death (De Bortoli & Maroto, 2001). Hence, as requested by Lin (2004) the role of micro- and macro- variables when examining the effect of servicescapes on customer behaviour should be subject of future empirical research (Lin, 2004). 

 

The question of the role of service employees

Lin (2004) stresses the superior role of servicescapes compared to interactions with service employees in the beginning and conclusion of her paper by claiming that the customers interact with the physical facility first before they have a chance to interact with service employees (Lin, 2004). This view directly contradicts findings of previous studies of scholars (Bitner, 1992; Parish et al., 2008; Ford, Sturman & Heaton, 2011; Chang, 2016). Chang (2016) argues that employees’ interactions with customers crucially influence customer consumption experiences in service firms (Chang, 2016). Similarly, Parish et al. (2008) emphasise the inseparable and interactive customer-service providers linkage which strongly affects customers’ experience with services (Parish et al., 2008). In her often-cited study Bitner (1992) includes the employee perspective and stresses that the organisation’s servicescape “should support the needs and preferences of both service employees and customers simultaneously” (Bitner, 1992, p.2). Arguing that satisfying service providers precedes satisfying customers, Parish et al. (2008) call for a stronger focus on employee satisfaction of literature on servicescape (Parish et al., 2008). The authors even claim that the design of servicescapes is a central human resources and marketing issue that should not be delegated to architects and designers (Parish et al., 2008). Hence, clearly the jury is still out on the debate of whether the design of servicescapes has a stronger impact on customers’ service evaluation than their interactions with service employees.  

 

Experiencescape

Despite Lin’s (2004) contributions made to the literature on customers’ evaluation process of servicescapes, one decisive thought is not being raised by the author. Servicescapes are embedded in a larger “experiencecape” for the tourist at the destination level (Chowdhary, 2017). Service providers at the firm level are not only responsible for their servicescapes but also, they need to align these with the larger experiencescape on-site to create a seamless experience for the tourists (Chowdhary, 2017). Care must be taken to ensure that tourism organisations like hotels and resorts do not create fashioning artificial servicescapes in search of long-term profitability. The risk is that this will have them drift away from the local conditions, community and culture instead of creating one overall unique and most of all authentic experiencecape at the destination level with all service providers. Going even another step further, including the local population in the equation, it can be suggested that instead of focusing on the physical servicescape organisations should create a “social servicescape” – tourism that encourages active involvement of the local population with the tourists. (Woodside & Martin, 2008, p.183). The bottom line is that in addition to Lin’s (2004) identified research gaps, the concept of servicescape at firm level should be applied to the destination level so that future studies can investigate how servicescapes of organisations can be synced to form an overall experiencescape. 

 

In conclusion, Lin (2004) contributes to the literature on servicescapes by proposing a framework for a customer’s service evaluation process that emphasises the importance of cognition. However, although the author identifies interesting research gaps this reflection raised further issues that need to be subject to future research such as the embeddedness of organisations’ servicescapes in an overall experiencescape at the destination level. 

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Bibliography

 

Baraban, R. S., Durocher, J. F. (2010). Successful Restaurant Design. 3 ed.,  Wiley, New York. 

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Bitner, M. J. (1992). Servicescapes: The impact of physical surroundings on customers and employees. Journal of Marketing, 56(2), 57-71.

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Boyatzis, C. J., & Varghese, R. (1994). Children’s emotional associations with colors. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 155, 77-85.

 

Chang, K.-C. (2016). Effect of servicescape on customer behavioral intentions: Moderating roles of service climate and employee engagement. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 53, 116-128. 

 

Chowhardy, N. (2017). Servicescapes-reinforcing the experiencescapes. LinkedIn Online. May 2017. Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/servicescapes-reinforcing-experiencescapes-dr-nimit-chowdhary/[Accessed 07.05.2018].  

 

De Bortoli, M., Maroto, J. (2001). Colours Across Cultures: Translating Colours in Interactive Marketing Communications. ELICIT. European Languages and the Implementation of Communication and Information Technologies conference. Available at: https://globalpropaganda.com/articles/TranslatingColours.pdf. Accessed 07.05.2018].  

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Ford, R. C., Sturman, M. C., Heaton, C. P. (2011). Managing Quality Service in Hospitality: How Organizations Achieve Excellence in the Guest Experience.New York: Cengage Learning

 

Goi, M.-T., Kalidas, V. (2016). Effect of Servicescape on Emotion, Mood, and Experience among HEI students. World Review of Business Research, 6(1), 81-91.

 

Kotler, P. (1973). Atmospherics as a marketing tool. Journal of Retailing, 49, 48-64. 

 

Lin, I. (2004). Evaluating a Servicescape: The Effect of Cognition and Emotion. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 23, 163–178.

 

Parish, J. T., Barry, L. L., Lam, S. Y. (2008). The Effect of the Servicescape on Service Workers. Journal of Service Research, 10(3), 220-238.

 

Woodside, A., Martin, D. (2008). Tourism Management. Analysis, Behaviour and Strategy. CAB International: Oxfordshire.