Service Marketing Lecture Notes

Dr. Amit Kundu

PHYSICAL EVIDENCE IN SERVICE MARKETING

1.1 PHYSICAL EVIDENCE

Physical evidence is everything that a company physically exhibits to the customer. It

includes the physical environment of the service outlet, the exterior, the interior, all
tangibles like machinery, furniture, vehicles, stationery, signboards, communication
materials, certificates, receipts, service personnel, and so on. Physical evidence
provides tangible cues to customers to develop service quality expectations. The
physical environment facilitates performance of service by the service provider as well
as the service customers.

1.2 SERVICE SCAPE

A service represents the physical environment designed in a service outlet. Research

studies have proved that the design of the service scape influences customer’s choice,
expectations, satisfaction and other behaviour. The nature of the service activity and
service consumption experience sought by consumers will influence the design of a
service scape. The basic principle that guides the design is user friendliness. Therefore,
service companies should first identify the users of the service scape.

Based on usage, service scape can be classified into three types- self service,
interpersonal service and remote service.

Self- service – In a self- service environment, the customer performs most of the
activities and very few employees are involved. ATMs, fast-food centres and movie
theaters are examples of self-service environment. If the service firm is focusing on a
self-service environment, it has to attract the right market segment and offer easy-to use
facilities.

Interpersonal services - In this type of service scape, both employees and customers will
be given adequate importance. In the case of hospitals, educational institutions and
banks, the service scape must be planned to attract, satisfy and facilitate both
employees and customers simultaneously. The service scape should contribute to social
interactions between and among customers and employees.

Remote Service- In some services, the customer’s physical environment in the service
scape may be little or even absent. Mail order services, consultancy services,
telecommunications and the like can be provided without the customer ever seeing the
service facilities. In such service scape designs, only employees’ needs and preferences
will be considered. The goal of the service scape is to keep employees motivated and to
facilitate productivity, team work and operational efficiency.

The design of a sevice scape has a lot of implications on organizational performance.

the service scape is the appearance of the organization. It will have a critical role to play
in forming initial impressions and in setting up customer expectations. A well –designed
service scpe can make the service easier for both customers and employees to achieve
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their respective goals. It facilitates the smooth flow of service processes, speedily and
efficiently. it also makes work pleasure to perform for both. The socialization process for
both employees and customers can also be achieved through the service scape as it
helps to convey expected roles, behaviours and relationships. Service scape can also be
used as a differentiator to position the service in the market as against competition.

1.3 SERVICE SCAPE EFFECTS ON BEHAVIOUR

A service scape design influences human behaviour..Psychologists have established

relationship between human beings and built environments. Two kinds of behaviours
can be observed in a service scape: approach and avoidance.

Approach behaviours are positive ones which are reflected in the desire to stay, explore,
affiliate, commit and carryout plan. Avoidance behaviours reflect the opposite- not to
stay, not to explore, not to work or not to affiliate.

1.4 SERVICE SCAPE DIMENSIONS

The figure represents a list of service scape dimensions that will influence the behaviour
of people involved in the service process.

1.5 Physical evidence: Behavioural Impact

The physical environment will have an impact on the behaviour of both customers and
employees. Three kinds of internal responses get generated in them. They are: cognitive
responses, emotional responses and physiological responses.

Cognitive responses are influenced by beliefs, the way in which the individual
categorizes the stimulation and the symbolic meanings he develops for the stimuli.
Emotional responses are influenced by the mood of the individual and the attitude he
has developed against the service firm. Physiological responses include pain, comfort,
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movement and physical fitness, the interplay of these factors finally result in customer
response or employee response.

Social interaction is an important dimension of physical environment. The service scape

influences the nature and quality of customer-employee interactions. Environmental
variables such as physical proximity and seating arrangements have an influence on
customer-employee interactions and also customer-customer interactions.

1.6 Role of evidence in Services Marketing

The role of evidence in service marketing is to support the marketing programme of

service firms by making possible to manage intended and unintended exposures and
thereby influence perceptions of customers as well as employees. Parasuraman, et. al
identified six specific roles of evidence. The roles are:

 Shaping first impressions

 Managing trust
 Facilitating quality of service
 Changing the image
 Providing sensory stimuli
 Socializing employees

1.6 Guidelines for developing Physical Evidence Strategy

The following are the guidelines for developing physical evidence strategy:

1. Identify the strategic requirement of physical evidence

The evidence strategy must be linked clearly with the organization’s overall goals
and mission. The goals of the organization should be clearly understood so as to
determine the kind of support that can be built through evidence strategy.

2. Decide the kind of physical evidence required

It is necessary to decide what kind of physical evidence is required and what its role
in services marketing is. Accordingly it is possible to design service scape.

3. Clarify roles of employees and customers in the service scape

The identification and definition of the roles to be played by the employees and
customers, machines and other elements in the service scape will aid in identifying
opportunities and deciding who needs to be consulted in making decisions.
4. Identify and assess physical evidence opportunities
All services need to look for possibilities of introducing changes and improvements in
the forms of evidence and the roles of the service scape.

5. Update and modernize evidence

Some aspects of evidence require frequent updating and modernizing. Service firms
should be prepared to introduce changes as per the requirement of the market. The
orientation to change makes the service firms innovative and capable of influencing
the perceptions of the customers much better than the competitors.