Significance of the Servicescape

Servicescape is a business term used to define the overall representation of commercial sites where exchange services take place. They are sites strategically designed to influence cognitive and psychological mindset of people to prepare for commercial actions. According to Arnould et al., “And like places generally, they have meanings and values for persons, indeed may serve as the foci for the production of socially and personally significant meanings, intentions, and purposes,” . Due to the transcending definition of the term in the business environment, there are social-cultural dimensions that widen non-commercial perspectives of the meaning of servicescape. This paper attempts to define, give examples, and analyze the relevance of servicescape in service marketing.

Servicescape is a service marketing strategy implemented by business management even though it but involves consumer input. Modeling a servicescape requires merging substantive and communicative concepts at varying proportions to produce desired outcome. Substantive concept engages the manipulation of physical environment in order to improve the physical appearance and authenticity of a commercial or recreational site. Arnould et al., (1998) posit, “Even servicescapes that emphasize authenticity, ranging from zoological flight cages and safari parks to ‘Universal Studios’, ‘Earthquake’ or ‘Backdraft’ attractions are, after all, contrived, (p. 90).

Communicative staging in servicescape refer to a method of transcending sense into service provision to end users. Communication moves back and forth between clients and service providers until a point where both parties absorb meaning of servicescape. Communicative staging involves the when, who, where what and how, 4W1H’s model of analyzing the success of a strategy. Lastly, some aspects of substantive staging could also be critical in formulating a desirable servicescape program. The staging classifies communicative levels according to degree of need. However, “Previous research has stressed substantive staging of the servicescape over communicative staging,” (Arnould et al., 1998, p. 91).

The ‘physical’ presence of service marketing, servicescape is unique because services are intangible but there is a practical experience of utility in servicing. Environmental state of a business premise either motivates or discourages consumption of services. Environmental perception of physical location of a services is a mindset that according to Rao, (2010), “Psychologists begun to study during the early 20th century the human perception of environmental stimuli such as light, sound, weight, and pressure,” (p. 261). In addition, the author adds that studies on the interdependence of the physical environment and behavior of humankind were a boost to the establishment of environmental psychology, (Rao, 2010). Designing a servicescape requires caution as needs of a diverse cultural patterns