Trade show boothscapes.

Trade shows continue to be second only to personal selling in business-to-business promotion. Exhibitors around the world seek to attract the proper attendees into their booths (stands), but design advice for accomplishing exhibitor goals is lacking. Designs intended to appeal to attendees indiscriminately only crowd booths with nonbuyers. Given the diversity of exhibitor goals, attendee motives and potential booth designs, exhibitors need to carefully weigh competing design elements. The theoretical underpinnings of retail atmospherics, service escapes and prior trade show research are juxtaposed with observations from a very large international industrial trade show. A variety of observations and interviews with marketing managers provide data from small to large exhibitors. A framework is proposed linking various design elements to specific exhibitor goals and attendee roles. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]