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CHAPTER 10:
PHYSICAL EVIDENCE AND THE SERVICESCAPE
CHAPTER TOPICS
Physical Evidence
Types of Servicescapes
Strategic Roles of the Servicescape
Framework for Understanding Servicescape Effects on Behavior
Guidelines for Physical Evidence Strategy
Technology Spotlight: Virtual Servicescapes: Experiencing Services through the Internet
Global Feature: McDonald’s Adapts Servicescapes to Fit the Culture
Strategy Insight: Strategic Positioning through Architectural Design
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
1. Explain the profound impact of physical evidence, particularly the servicescape, on customer
perceptions and experiences.
2. Illustrate the differences in types of servicescapes, the roles played by the servicescape, and the
implications for strategy.
3. Explain why the servicescape affects customer and employee behavior, using a framework based in
marketing, organizational behavior, and environmental psychology.
4. Present elements of an effective physical evidence strategy.
LECTURE TIPS & AIDS
1. To supplement the class lecture on the topic of physical evidence, student teams could be asked to
“produce” a short (4 to 5 minutes) video segment related to a specific servicescape. Although the
assignment could include a local business, it probably could be done on most college campuses by
looking at such servicescapes at a campus dining hall, a student recreational center, the library, the
business building, etc. (Many universities have facilities that will loan out video equipment at
minimal or no charge for such purposes.) Each video segment might address the following questions:
1. What is done well in this servicescape? Use the video to point out specific examples.
2. What are the important issues in designing/maintaining this servicescape so that it will be a
positive influence on customer expectations?
3. What part(s) of the servicescape could be improved or altered to positively influence the
service experience? Use the video to point out specific examples.
4. Do any of the following characteristics (color, lighting, shapes, sound, and smell) influence
the customer’s experience? Explain.
5. Which roles (package, facilitator, socializer, and differentiator) does this servicescape play?
Explain.
Student groups can be assigned completely different services, or several groups may be assigned
different aspects of one provider’s servicescape. For example, several student teams could be
assigned the university golf course, but each might be responsible for a different aspect of the
servicescape (e.g., parking lot, club house, driving range, or the course itself). Alternatively, a
different approach might be to make comparisons between providers who essentially provide the
same service. In this case, students could compare and contrast the university golf course’s
servicescape with (if available) the servicescape of a municipal golf course, a resort golf course,
and/or a private country club golf course. Each course is likely to have a very different servicescape
which, in turn, is likely to have a different effect on its customers. Once the video segments have
been “produced,” they can be shown to the entire class. The instructor can stop the videos to
elaborate on various points and ask the video’s producers questions. A major objective of the
assignment is to illustrate how the servicescape can influence the customer’s service experience.
2. An alternative to creating a video segment would be for the entire class to take a “field trip” to
compare and contrast two local service providers. This exercise can be used to demonstrate the
differences in competitive formulas of two service firms who are providing the same core benefit.
Students could be asked to compare a fast food franchise (e.g., McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Hardees, etc.)
with a full-service restaurant (e.g., TGI Fridays, Ruby Tuesdays, etc.). Ideally, two providers located
next to each other should be selected to allow students to go easily from one to the other. As part of
the learning experience students might be asked to answer the following questions:
1. For each provider, what is done well in this servicescape? Elaborate and point out specific
examples.
2. For each provider, what aspects of this servicescape have a positive influence on customer
perceptions of the overall service experience? Similarly, what aspects of this servicescape do
not necessarily have a positive influence on customer perceptions of the overall service
experience? Explain.
3. Which of the following characteristics (color, lighting, shapes, sound, and smell) in each
servicescape influences the customer’s experience? Explain.
4. What other aspects (besides the servicescape) of physical evidence are present?
5. How does each provider (fast food and full-service) use the servicescape as a differentiator?
In their positioning strategy? To appeal to their target segment(s)? To facilitate service
delivery?
6. How does each provider (fast food and full-service) use physical evidence (other than the
servicescape) as a differentiator? To enhance the customer’s experience? To facilitate service
delivery?
7. What suggestions would you make to improve the servicescape and other physical evidence
for each provider (fast food and full-service)?
To conclude the instructor might have all of the students come together at the same time at each
provider’s facility and relate their observations. A discussion about physical evidence is much more
vivid when the students actually can observe it and instructors can elaborate easily on observations
made by the students. If the field trip is carefully scheduled, the service providers’ management may
serve as “guest speakers” on physical evidence issues.
3. Once again, to illustrate the influence of physical evidence, students could be turned to for their
expertise in the educational service delivery. Once the instructor has covered the major concepts
from the chapter, or even while the concepts are being covered, students might be asked about the
servicescape of where your particular class is being delivered. Questions could focus on the
advantages or the positive aspects of a servicescape, as well as what might be done to improve the
servicescape here in this setting. Additionally, students might also be asked about other aspects of
physical evidence that they use in order to evaluate the service being delivered by the instructor. (Care
should be taken in bringing up the servicescape in the classroom, particularly in older rooms. In
particular, an instructor should try to avoid creating an atmosphere that leads to a gripe session by the
students.)
QUESTIONS TO USE WITH CHAPTER OPENING VIGNETTE
Chapter 10: Marriott International, Inc.
1. Discuss the importance of the servicescape in positioning each of Marriott’s 18 hotel brands.
2. Why does Marriott go to such great lengths to mesh hotel design with employee selection and training
to match brand strategy, operational brand standards, and specific customer segments?
3. Look online for pictures of the Marriott brands “Moxy Hotels” and “Gaylord Hotels.” Using only
visual information about their physical evidence and servicescapes, describe their respective target
customer segments in terms of demographics, needs, benefits desired, etc. How effective is Marriott
at positioning its brands just on the basis of physical evidence?
ACTIVE LEARNING ACTIVITIES
1. This exercise requires a field trip by each group to observe a local service business. The instructor
and/or the class will identify a type of service business that has many local competitors so that
different types of service delivery options are available (specialty coffee houses, automobile oil
changing services and hair salons are ideal for this assignment). Small groups of students will then
visit a service business of their choice within the designated industry (e.g., every group must visit a
hair salon). The exercise consists of the following activities:
With your group, visit the service business you have chosen. Observe the business in enough
detail so that you can describe both the servicescape and the tangible commodities that
facilitate performance or communication of the service.
Describe your observations in a short paper (3-5 pages), and discuss what (if anything) the
business could do to improve the physical evidence aspects of its service delivery.
You may want to supplement your text with a photographic and/or traditional blueprint (as
described in Chapter 8).
This paper will be submitted for a team grade (i.e., one paper per team).
[Note: This exercise may also be combined with Exercise 1 at the end of Chapter 10 for a more
comprehensive team project.]
2. Select a retail store to visit. You will be observing the store to see if you can identify its
“personality.” (Just as people have personalities, so do stores. And just like your personality probably
turns some people off and others on, a store’s personality attracts some customers and repels others.)
Components of a store’s personality included: atmospherics (the ambiance of the store -- created by
what you hear, see, smell and intuitively sense inside a store); service personnel; and other customers.
You will be gathering the following information to use in a class discussion on this topic:
Record the name and address of the store.
Describe the physical environment, the customers, and the employees.
How do you feel in the environment?
What is the target market? How do you think people in this group feel in the store?
Does the environment consistently convey the image desired by the store? If yes, how? If
no, why not and what should be changed?
3. The instructor will divide the class into pairs and assign each pair a set of service businesses to
observe for this exercise. Student pairs should be assigned two businesses with similar offerings
(e.g., Pair 1 would visit two hair salons, Pair 2 would visit two fast food restaurants, Pair 3 would
visit two doctor’s offices, etc.). Spend approximately 30 minutes in each business. Carefully but
unobtrusively observe the business while you are there and make brief written notes outside each
business following your field observation. Answer the following questions for each business
separately:
Describe the “atmosphere” of the establishment (store layout, colors, sounds, smells, etc.).
How crowded was the business? How did the atmosphere make you feel?
Describe the customers. How were they dressed, and how did they act? Were they shopping
alone or with others? Can you make any inferences regarding customers’ lifestyles or
incomes? Why or why not?
Describe the customer contact personnel. How were they dressed, and how did they behave?
Describe the general demographic characteristics of the employees (gender, age range,
ethnicity, etc.). Can you make any inferences about whether the business is a “good” place to
work based on the employees’ behaviors?
Sum up in a few words your impressions of the store’s “culture.”
4. Have students find a clip from a current film that visually depicts elements of physical evidence in
service businesses. Show the clips to the class and provide a brief analysis of how the physical
evidence is used in the film setting to enhance the scene and its impact on the actors and the audience.
(Examples of this include the scene in Pretty Woman where Julia Roberts tries unsuccessfully to buy
clothes in a very posh establishment and the scene in Father of the Bride where Steve Martin, his
wife, and his bride-to-be daughter are in the caterer’s office ordering a wedding cake. Many of the
clips students bring to class are fun as well as an effective way to demonstrate the importance of
physical evidence.)
POTENTIAL VIDEO CLIPS TO USE IN ILLUSTRATING CHAPTER 10 CONCEPTS
“Wild Things” – Fairly early in this movie, one of the main characters is speaking with
another man who indicates that the first one needs a lawyer. This man then drives up to a lawyer’s
office (next to a pawn shop in a rundown outdoor strip center) and goes inside...the atmosphere does
not suggest a high-class law firm. Before the clip is shown, students could be asked to describe the
servicescape in a typical law office; this clip can be used to illustrate what would probably NOT be
expected in the servicescape of a reputable law firm.
“Father of the Bride” – After agreeing to hire a wedding coordinator, George Banks (Steve
Martin), his wife, and his bride-to-be daughter are in the coordinator’s office discussing potential
wedding plans and the ordering of a wedding cake. The clip can be used to illustrate how the
servicescape and other types of physical evidence (specifically, a book with pictures of wedding
cakes) can influence the customer’s experience.
“Daddy Day Care” – In one scene, Charlie (Eddie Murphy) and his wife Kim visit a very
impressive preschool in a very nice, elegant building—a service provider with an impeccable
servicescape. Although the cost of the preschool is very high, they decide to send their five-year-old
son there. A few minutes later in the movie they realize they cannot afford this preschool any longer,
so they look at three other (less elegant) preschools. The servicescape in two of these other
preschools is enough to turn them off before finding out anything about the actual quality of the
service being provided, and therefore they immediately decide not to use these service providers.
“Ghostbusters” – for a different, fun activity, a clip from this movie could be used to have
students identify aspects of the servicescape and other physical evidence. In particular, a new
business opens called Ghostbusters. Starting with the scene where a sign is being put up on the
outside of a building, this five-minute clip (where a customer comes in and looks around) includes
lots of elements that could be identified. Students might even be asked to suggest which elements of
physical evidence might be changed or altered to improve a first-time customer’s impressions.
“National Lampoon's European Vacation” (1985). Clip 1-start 17:47, stop 19:42, clip 2-start
19:43, stop 20:35. (clip 1 length 1:55, clip 2 length 52 seconds). The Griswold family, who won
a European vacation from a game show, is in London, England. They are staying at the Royal
Imperial Windsor Arms Hotel. The family arrives at the hotel and the wife, Ellen, is quick to judge the
hotel because of what she sees. Then the couple walks into their assigned room where they find that
the room does not match what the brochure showed. Illustrates physical evidence (The 3 P's) and
provider gap 2.
“Caddyshack” (1980); First Scene (7:52-8:56); Second Scene (9:14-9:58). The first scene
starts with the owner of the golf course pulling into the country club enraged due to the fact that his
greens keeper was not preventing gophers from coming into the country club from a nearby
construction site. The gophers were acting as a nuisance while destroying the putting greens and
fairways. The owner of the golf course threatened to "get a new greens keeper" if the problem was
not fixed immediately! As a result the greens keeper said he would get his best man to fix the
problem, right away. The second scene begins with the greens keeper telling his "best man," Carl, to
kill all gophers on the course. However, initially there was a miscommunication between them until
Carl finally understood why a gopher problem is so significant and agreed to take care of the issue.
Illustrates the service-scape and tangible cues.
POSSIBLE WEB SITES FOR CHAPTER 10
Company Location
Apple Retail Stores www.apple.com/retail/
Build-A-Bear Workshop www.buildabear.com
British Airways www.britishairways.com
Marriott International www.marriotthotels.com
Mayo Clinic www.mayoclinic.com
NASCAR www.nascar.com
PetSmart www.petsmart.com
Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) www.rei.com
Starbucks www.starbucks.com
Washington Mutual Bank www.wamu.com
Yellowstone National Parks (virtual servicescape) www.yellowstone.net/onlinetours
APPROPRIATE CASES FOR CHAPTER 10
From previous Zeithaml, Bitner, and Gremler Services Marketing texts:
People, Service, and Profit at Jyske Bank [included in the sixth edition of this text: Zeithaml,
Bitner, and Gremler (2013) Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm,
New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies]
Giordano: Positioning For International Expansion [included in the fifth edition of this text:
Zeithaml, Bitner, and Gremler (2009) Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm,
New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies]
Shouldice Hospital Limited (Abridged) [included in the fifth edition of this text: Zeithaml, Bitner,
and Gremler (2009) Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm, New
York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies]
Hong Kong Disneyland [included in the fifth edition of this text: Zeithaml, Bitner, and Gremler
(2009) Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm, New York, NY:
McGraw-Hill Companies]
easyCar.com [included in the fourth edition of this text: Zeithaml, Bitner, and Gremler (2006)
Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm, New York, NY: McGraw-Hill
Companies]
Starbucks: Delivering Customer Service [included in the fourth edition of this text: Zeithaml,
Bitner, and Gremler (2006) Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm,
New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies]
Virgin Atlantic Airways [included in the third edition of this text: Zeithaml and Bitner (2003)
Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm, New York, NY: McGraw-Hill
Companies]
Northwest Airlines and the Detroit Snowstorm [included in the third edition of this text: Zeithaml
and Bitner (2003) Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm, New York,
NY: McGraw-Hill Companies]
From other sources:
Carnival Cruise Lines [Harvard Business School Case 9-806-015, 2005]
Golden Arch Hotel: McDonald’s Adventure in the Hotel Industry [American Graduate School of
International Management (Thunderbird) Case, A02-05-0017, 2005]
