Designing the Service Setting
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved What Is a Service Setting? A service setting, sometimes called a servicescape, includes all aspects of the physical environment in which the service provider and customer interact.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved Key Considerations in Designing the Service Setting The Duration of the Service Setting Service Setting as an Operational Tool Service Setting as a Service Identifier Service Setting as an Orientation Tool The Appeal of the Service Setting Service Setting as the Workers’ “Home Away from Home”
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved People and Setting Decisions Who will deliver the product frontstage / backstage? What physical assets (facilities and equipment) need to be dedicated or shared? When will the people and assets be required? Where will the people and assets be needed?
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved Approach-Avoidance An approach environment is a setting in which the customer feels comfortable and wishes to spend time. An avoidance environment is a setting that the customer finds undesirable and uninviting.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved The Service Setting as a Marketing Tool Managing Tangible Evidence Carefully consider potential impact of even the smallest physical element. Frontstage Versus Backstage Decisions Frontstage area of a service setting is always on display to customers Backstage is concealed from their view. Experimenting with the Service Setting Allows managers to try out new setting features on a limited basis before embracing them on a full scale.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved Cyberspace as a Service Setting A cyberspace setting is any web site on the Internet. It is subject to all of the principles and concepts used in a conventional service environment.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved Cyberspace Businesses are Service Businesses Cyberspace businesses Interact with their customers electronically, primarily via the Internet. Part of the telecommunications industry. Primary Challenge: Bridging the distance/time between the customer and the organization. Creating an electronic “drama” bridges the distance/time in an interactive, engaging fashion.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved Dynamics of Cyberspace Theater
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved Adapting Service Theater to Cyberspace Setting & stage The computer screen and the artificial reality it creates Actors The organization and sometimes the computer user Audience The computer user Performance Interaction between the computer user and the organization, including the influence of the organization’s software
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved Unlike most dramas, the actors and audience have a broader range of roles: The computer user mentally enters the setting and participates in the performance. The computer user is a passive audience member observing the computer screen. Varying Actor/Audience Roles