Exploring internal mechanisms forming customer servicescape experiences

Purpose - The aim of this paper is to explore customer interactions with servicescapes and to explain in more depth the internal mechanisms that form the customer service experience. Design/methodology/approach - The paper draws on an empirical study of customers using Swedish public transport systems. Data collection is based on a micro-ethnographic approach, using think-aloud protocols and video documentation. Findings - The results from the empirical study contribute with a framework of three constellations of activities and interactions: namely, identifying, sense-making, and using, which, depending on the empirical context, form two main customer process practices – navigating and ticketing. These constructs are theoretical and have implications for service research in the sense that they explain how customer experiences are formed. Practical implications - Managers should focus on making the servicescape design intuitive, meaningful and easy to use for their customers and, depending on the empirical context, support the customer processes of finding one’s way and ticketing. Limitations/Future research - While the conceptual framework is arguably applicable also to other servicescape processes and thus has the capacity to explain how a wide range of customer experiences are formed, the study is based on one industry. Consequently, it would be worthwhile to verify our framework in different service settings. Originality/value - The study is novel by applying a micro-ethnological research approach in order to provide a systematic empirical analysis of how constellations of activities and interactions in servicescape processes create customer responses and thus form the customer’s service experience.