Physical Evidence

What Are the Options for Delivering Our Service? What physical and electronic channels can we use? Should we offer customers a choice? What physical evidence should our facilities present? When and where should our service be available? Is it feasible to shift from high-contact to low- contact delivery? What options exist for using third-party intermediaries?

Methods of Service Delivery Availability of Service Outlets Interaction between Customer and Firm Single siteMultiple sites Customer goes to firm Theatre Bus service Barber Fast-food chain Firm comes to customer Lawnmowing Mail delivery Pest control Auto club road service Arm’s length transactions Credit card co. Broadcast network Local TV station Telephone company

Place vs. Cyberspace Place - customers and suppliers meet in a physical environment – Required for people processing services – Live experiences, social interaction, food services – More emphasis on eye-catching servicescape, entertainment Cyberspace - customers and suppliers do business electronically in a virtual environment created by telephone and internet linkages – Ideal for information-based services – Saves time – Facilitates gathering information about customers – May use express logistics service to deliver physical core products

E-Commerce: Factors that Attract Customers to Virtual Stores Convenience (24-hour availability, save time, effort) Ease of obtaining information on-line and searching for desired items Better prices than in bricks-and-mortar stores Broad selection

Factors Encouraging Extended Operating Hours: Economic pressure from consumers Changes in legislation Economic incentives to improve asset utilization Availability of employees to work nights, weekends Automated self-service

Physical Evidence The environment in which the service is delivered and where the firm and the customer interact. Any tangible commodities that facilitate performance or communication of the service.

Physical Evidence of the Servicescape Impressions created on senses by physical environment of delivery Includes style, appearance – exterior, interior architecture – furnishings, décor, color – employee uniforms – lighting, music, scents Influences buyer behavior: – attracts attention – communicates message – creates or heightens interest

Importance of Physical Evidence Services are intangible and customers frequently rely on physical, tangible cues to learn about the service and to form their initial expectations. Because physical evidence of a service can effect any phase of the service evaluation process it is critical to service marketers.

Managing Physical Evidence Attention-creating medium – Differentiate services from competitors – Attract customers from target segments Message-creating medium – Use symbolic cues to communicate distinctive nature and quality of service Effect-creating medium – Employ colors, textures, sounds, scents, spatial design – Create/heighten appetite for goods/services/experiences

Elements of Physical Evidence

Examples of Physical Evidence from the Customer’s Point of View

Typology of Service Organizations Based on Variations in Form and Use of the Servicescape

Roles of Servicescapes Package – an external image of what is inside. – conveys expectations – influences perceptions Facilitator – facilitates the flow of the service delivery process provides information (how am I to act?) facilitates the ordering process (how does this work?) – Aids the performance of persons in the environment. facilitates service delivery Socializer – Helps to convey the expected roles. – facilitates interaction between: customers and employees customers and fellow customers Differentiator – Differentiates a firm from its competitors and signals the market segment its intended use.

Describe and give an example of how a McDonald’s servicescape plays each of the following roles: 1.Package 2.Facilitator 3.Socializer 4.Differentiator

How can an effective physical evidence strategy help to improve service quality?

Successful Servicescape Strategies: Match service design to customer expectations. The appearance of the facility and related tangibles will communicate things about the nature of the service and the level of quality customers expect.

Consumers and employees should be included in the framework for understanding servicescape effects on behavior Source: M. J. Bitner, “Servicescapes: The Impact of Physical Surroundings on Customers and Employees,” Journal of Marketing 56 (April 1992), 57–71.

Physical Evidence Guidelines Recognize the Strategic Impact of the Physical Evidence Map the Physical Evidence of the Service Clarify Roles of the Servicescape Assess and Identify Physical Evidence Opportunity Be Prepared to Update and Modernize the Evidence Use a Multifunction Team Approach