The Service Setting PDF

The Service Setting Servicescape (Cornell& Manzano, 2022) The servicescape (service setting/environment) is the actual physical environment where the act of service is performed, delivered, and consumed. It is the area where the service team and the guest interact, so a constant examination of how i...

The Service Setting Servicescape (Cornell& Manzano, 2022) The servicescape (service setting/environment) is the actual physical environment where the act of service is performed, delivered, and consumed. It is the area where the service team and the guest interact, so a constant examination of how it affects the organization is needed. An example of a servicescape is the hotel's front desk, the entire grounds of a theme park, the client rooms of a spa, the dining room of a restaurant, and the cabins in an airplane. Planning the servicescape is critical as it contributes to the overall mood of the guests while they are experiencing the product and service of a tourism organization. Theme Many companies use a theme to create a feeling that guests are somehow immersed in another place and time to provide guests with extraordinary experiences. Theming refers to giving a specific ambiance or programming to an organization's service setting. It uses an overarching concept to create a holistic and integrated organization of the guest experience. It includes the use of one concept or a group of concepts, such as the paints used on the walls of a travel agency, sounds played at the hotel lobby, dishes served in a restaurant, and their design elements such as the lines, textures, forms, and colors used. In theming, it is crucial to be consistent with the three (3) components of the guest experience (service product, service setting, and service delivery system). For instance, when an environment serves an integral part of the dining experience, the theme of the setting within which the meal is presented needs to be consistent with the food served. An example is a Medieval-themed restaurant that transports guests to an eleventh-century feast and tournament, where knights joust on horseback and dinner is eaten without utensils, creating a feeling within the guest that every part of the restaurant's environment is an accurate representation of that historical period. The following are the advantages when applying a theme in a tourism and hospitality organization: It creates a first impression that sets the guest's expectations for its products and services. It gives the guests something to talk about after they have gone home. It is an opportunity for the organization to add "wow" to the experience by providing more than the guests expect. It enhances the guest's experience and makes it memorable. It creates an emotional connection with the experience. The details of the environment and employees should be carefully themed, organized, and presented around a unifying idea to create the feeling within the guest that every part of the environment accurately represents what the guest might expect with their experience. Paying attention to a tourism and hospitality organization's servicescape is essential because it influences the guest's expectations, creates and maintains a mood, and positively affects the employees. It also serves as an indirect way of service given to the guests since this usually is a part of how their experience will become memorable. One way of ensuring that guests' experiences will become noteworthy and positive is by following the principles of designing tourism hospitality establishments. Principles of Design for Tourism Establishments (Ford et al., 2019) The following are the principles on how to design establishments for both guests and employees effectively: Everything should have a purpose. All areas of the land and spaces that a company occupies should be with function, including natural elements (water areas, plants), forces of nature (wind, sun, rain) and structures (buildings, utility areas, walkways). Although each part is individual, no element can function without each other. There should be relationships (each element is planned with one another) in planning the servicescape for the guests and employees. The design should be for both employees and guests. It is essential to consider the physical strengths and weaknesses of the site when planning allocations of the servicescape. One must consider checking if the design is for the guest's wants and needs or what the organization thinks the guest needs. There should be a balance between the personal (guest) and impersonal (establishment) needs. For example, during the allocation of spaces for an airport, the area intended to be the airport lobby with a glass roof must not be placed in the direction of the sun to avoid too much heat. Function and aesthetics should be present. Function refers to the technical aspects of the operation, such as the height of a chair to a table during a travel consultation between an employee and client. It also includes the quality of material used in making that chair and the comfort it gives to the guest or employee. Aesthetics is defined as the concern for the appreciation of beauty (Britannica, 2023). For instance, wooden chairs may be pleasant for outdoor dining, but these may not withstand the sun, wind, and rain. Designing for guests and employees means considering functionality, beauty, and appeal simultaneously. It means that guest satisfaction and operational profitability go hand in hand. Set up a substantial experience for the guests and employees. A service setting should have a holistic view of what an organization wants guests to experience. It is usually done by answering the guests' questions, "What is in store for me?" or "What is the reason I am here?" To set this up correctly, follow up with the guests about their experiences with the products and services consumed, which is also a way of directly determining what they want. Set up an appropriate experience for guests and employees. It answers the "Why is it there?" part of the guest experience wherein the elements of the site should fulfill their specific use in the environment and not just be there without any reason. Design elements must be appropriately positioned in reference to the type of place (resort, hotel, travel agency, and leisure facility). It is done by checking the physical characteristics of the site and its inventory to see whether the elements fit where they are designed. For example, if a natural resource (beach, sand dunes, rock formations, and trees) is present in the area, it should be highlighted. If the intended users of an eco-park are children, then the surroundings should be secured, and safety precautions must be in place. Adhere to technical requirements. To function properly and serve its guests and employees, a facility must adhere to local laws and obtain permits such as permits to operate, sanitary permits, and other related permits. For designated protected sites and attractions, the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) oversees and monitors the activities and facilities within them. Comply with needs at the lowest possible cost. It means getting the lowest price for an amenity or equipment that does the work and maximizing their use, resulting in a profitable tourism organization. For site designers, this is considering the development and maintenance costs. It is essential to have a "make-or-buy" decision for tourism and leisure establishments to check on the overall expenditures that may incur. For instance, in a restaurant, a basic exhaust can be purchased at a lesser price than an efficient hood designed to operate with less exhaust. However, a more efficient design would help reduce energy costs for the building. Hence, in several years, energy savings would easily pay for the more expensive hood.  Establish design with less supervision. A concept that minimizes supervision and costs states that proper design can encourage good behavior while discouraging bad behavior. It means that when designing, it is crucial to put in concepts that discourage users (guests and employees) from doing wrong or untoward things. For example, planting moss ferns and vines on outdoor walls as a solution to vandalism. Another example is removing walls and partitions in production areas to allow supervisors to oversee the areas efficiently. Implementing these principles together will lead to guests patronizing the tourism and leisure business longer. The servicescape perceptions are essential in the decision process of a guest, which is why tourism companies should create environments that encourage more extended visits, resulting in better profitability. How the Service Environment Affects the Guests (Ford et al., 2019) The guest relies on the tourism organization to create an environment that is safe and easy to use and understand. The environmental features must be such that the guest can quickly and safely enter, experience, and leave without getting lost, hurt, or disoriented. Figure 1 shows how environmental influences affect the guest. Figure 1. Guest Responses to Environmental Influences Source: Managing hospitality organizations: Achieving excellence in the guest experience (2019), p. 97 The five (5) environmental components comprise the service setting guests perceive. Consciously and subconsciously, each guest selects the combination of elements that comprises the servicescape. Each guest will respond differently to the individual elements of that servicescape, depending on their characteristics. The responses will not only be different, but they may be diverse within any or a combination of three (3) general response types: physiological, cognitive, or emotional. Finally, the guest's overall response to the setting will cause them to want to come and stay or avoid it. Environment Ambient conditions in the environment that affect the nature of the guest experience are ergonomic factors such as temperature, humidity, air quality, smells, sounds, physical comfort, and light. The romantic feel of dimly lit restaurants with soft music, comfortable chairs, and tempting smells is an example of considering ambient conditions. Use of Space refers to how the equipment and furnishings are arranged in a tourism and hospitality service setting, the size and shape of those objects, their accessibility to the customers, and the spatial relationships among them. Guests must feel they are moving effortlessly through the service setting, and employees must have sufficient space, traffic routes, and short distances to travel to provide timely service to guests. For example, a restaurant with too many tables and seats at the cost of a smaller kitchen will result in slower service productivity since there will be less workforce involved due to the small space. Functional congruence refers to how well something with a functional purpose fits into the environment in which it serves that purpose. The equipment's functioning, the building and service environment, and the layout of the physical landscape must be congruent with what the guest expects to find in that environment. Entrances should be where guests would expect them, function rooms should be large enough to house expected meetings and seminars, and restrooms should be large enough to accommodate the expected demand during food exhibits. Signs, Symbols, and Artifacts. Signs are the explicit physical representations of information the organization thinks guests might want, need, and expect to find. These must be easy to read, clear, and located in prominent places where they can direct and teach people how to execute the service easily. Symbols are representational icons that can replace any specific language. These are signs to convey messages and are important in the tourism industry since guests come from many nations, cultures, and linguistic backgrounds. Artifacts are physical objects representing something beyond their functional use. These are symbols mostly used by themed restaurants to convey the theme. Other people refer to other individuals within the environment with the guest, such as the employees, other guests, or other creations that they think of as real people. Guests want to see other people within the establishment to have a positive experience. Happiness and satisfaction are contagious, and guests of tourism organizations expect to see other people also enjoying the experience since many service settings would feel depressing and lonely without other guests and employees. Servicescape Perceived service environment is the general perception or whole picture that the guest draws from countless individual environmental factors (temperature, smells, sounds, lights, signs, physical structures, furnishings, and open space). Since each guest perceives different environmental elements, each of the guest's servicescape is also different, making it difficult for tourism and hospitality organizations to satisfy each consistently. Individual Moderators The guest's reaction to the perceived servicescape is affected by their moderating factors (mood, personality, expectations, and demographic characteristics). Although tourism organizations usually provide the same servicescape elements for everyone, they should never forget that guests are unique, and the factors that moderate their responses will vary. For example, a shy female who enters a bar by mistake will react differently from an accustomed male who spends his evening there. They may also have different moods and expectations of the bar experience too. When people are upset or angry, they may not be able to perceive any environment as positive (fun), and regardless of how good the service is and how exciting and pleasant the environment are, the diner is likely to leave as unhappy as when that person arrived. Responses to the Servicescape The guest will respond to a service setting in one or more of the following factors: Physiological responses are the body's automatic reactions to different stimuli. It happens when people are under stress or danger, whether real or imagined. It is how the body reacts to an emotion (Fritscher, 2020). For instance, an individual excited to participate in a ride at a theme park typically gets a faster heart rate. Cognitive responses refer to how an individual interprets emotions and thinks about the situation. Below are the types of cognitive responses: Expectations and the servicescape. These depend on the knowledge the guest brings to the experience. Guests enter every tourism experience with expectations based on what they have seen,  heard, and done before. The human tendency is to seek points of similarity between what they have done, seen, or experienced before and what they will encounter in the new situation. Suppose a customer enters a buffet restaurant like the one they have visited. In that case, their behavior will be scripted to perform the tasks necessary to eat by the familiar cues in the environment (arrangement and uses of the plates and utensils; the food set up based on their appearance if they are an appetizer, main entrée, dessert or beverage; and the beginning of each line based on the flow of the other diners going to the next station). Nonverbal cues and communication. These are the aspects of the environmental setting that evoke a cognitive response where the designers of the guest experience communicate what the experience is and teach the guest how to enjoy it. Servicescape layout and content tell the guest what to expect from the experience. If a guest sees an array of cues, such as white linen tablecloths in a hotel or restaurant, they may link that information to the type of restaurant and price range. Emotional responses refer to an individual's emotional tie or degree of familiarity with the servicescape. It has two (2) distinct elements: the degree of arousal and the degree of pleasure. The emotional response that tourism organizations seek to create should have these two elements to gain the guests' emotional interests resulting in them being engaged and having a personal attachment to the environment. Guests would want to spend time and money in pleasurable environments and those that create high levels of arousal. Good tourism organizations should learn to use arousal cues effectively, such as during the morning, when guests are flooding a theme park, they might hear upbeat music, and employees would greet guests in strong, enthusiastic voices to sustain positive feelings and a high level of energy with which guests come into the park. Outcomes The three (3) response factors operate together to lead the guests to choose between becoming patrons (come and stay) or looking for other businesses (stay away). Based on their experience of the service environment, the guest will decide whether it is positive or negative. Servicescape perceptions can encourage the guest to stay longer and come again or to go and stay away. Hospitality organizations must work hard to create environments encouraging longer stays and repeat visits, which lead to increased revenues. Each element in the service setting can have infinite variation, which can be combined in infinite ways. It means that each guest's experience of the setting is unique to that guest and that particular time and place. Guests change from one service encounter to another, and how they perceive at one time can also change. Hence, a tourism and hospitality organization must be ready to adapt and consistently innovate the service environment. References: Arenas, C. (2022). Quality service management in tourism and hospitality. Edric Publishing House. Cornell, D. & Manzano, R. (2022). Quality service management in tourism and hospitality. Rex Bookstore. Encyclopedia Britannica (2023, April 7). Aesthetics. Retrieved May 17, 2023, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/aesthetics Ford, R., Sturman, M., & Heaton, C. (2019). Managing hospitality organizations: Achieving excellence in the guest experience. Sage Publications. Fritscher, L. (2020, November 1). Are phobias triggering a physiological response? In Very Well Mind. Retrieved May 17, 2023, from https://www.verywellmind.com/physiological-response-2671635 Goetsch, D. & Davis, S. (2022). Quality management for organizational excellence. Pearson Goldstein, S. & Schroeder, R. (2021). Operations management in the supply chain (8th Ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Education.