An expanded servicescape perspective

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to put forth an expanded servicescape framework that shows that a perceived servicescape comprises physical, social, socially symbolic, and natural environmental dimensions. Design/methodology/approach - This conceptual paper offers an in-depth literature review on servicescape topics from a variety of disciplines, both inside and outside marketing, to advance a logical framework built on Bitner's seminal article (1992). Findings - A servicescape comprises not only objective, measureable, and managerially controllable stimuli but also subjective, immeasurable, and often managerially uncontrollable social, symbolic, and natural stimuli, which all influence customer approach/avoidance decisions and social interaction behaviors. Furthermore, customer responses to social, symbolic, and natural stimuli are often the drivers of profound person-place attachments. Research limitations/implications - The framework supports a servicescape paradigm that links marketing, environmental/natural psychology, humanistic geography, and sociology. Practical implications - Although managers can easily control a service firm's physical stimuli, they need to understand how other critical environmental stimuli influence consumer behavior and which stimuli might overweigh a customer's response to a firm's physical dimensions. Social implications - The paper shows how a servicescape's naturally restorative dimension can promote relief from mental fatigue and improve customer health and well-being. Thus, government institutions (e.g. schools, hospitals) can improve people's lives by creating natural servicescapes that have restorative potential. Originality/value - The framework organizes more than 25 years of servicescape research in a cogent framework that has cross-disciplinary implications.