Construct Definition

Clarifying exactly what a scale intended to measure is ‘deceptively obvious’ (DeVellis, 2003, p. 60) but as Spector (1992, p. 7) notes, it is in this very step that ‘scale efforts go astray’. If a construct is ill-defined it is possible that peripheral items are included or items of interest are omitted (Worthington and Whittaker, 2006). For this reason, conceptualising the construct is one of the most important steps in scale development (Netemeyer et al, 2003). To aid in defining the servicescape a comprehensive literature

Construct Definition

Generation of an Item Pool

Determine the Format of the Measure

Review the Initial Pool

Administer Items to a Development Sample

Evaluate Items

Optimise Scale Length

review was conducted. Tracing the literature from Mehrabian and Russell’s (1974) and Kotler’s (1973-1974) work to the present day work of Bitner (1992; 2000), Wakefield and Blodgett (1994; 1999), Hightower (2002) and Reimer and Kuehn (2005) and others.

Drawing on the literature reviewed in Chapter One and for the purposes of instrument design, the servicescape was defined here as ‘the environment in which the service is delivered which encompasses both tangible and intangible atmospheric cues’ (Bitner, 1992; Bitner, 2002). As this research intends to portray the servicescape as a second order factor structure in which the various dimensions of the servicescape can be explained by six first-order factors there is also a need to define each of the dimensions of the model. Each of these factors will be measured using their own sub-scales which are modelled as distinct constructs. As outlined in Chapter One these dimensions are: Ambient conditions, Design Elements, Space and Layout, Equipment, Hygiene and Social Factors. Each of these are defined in turn in Table 2.2 below.

Table 2.2: Servicescape Dimensions Dimension Definition

Ambient Conditions

Ambient conditions are temporal variables which generally impact upon the five senses.

Items to be included under this construct are: music, lighting, scents and temperature.

Design Design elements relate to all those aspects of the servicescape that contribute to the aesthetic appeal of the service environment. Evaluative items pertaining to interior design and décor fall under this category. This dimension also includes all those stimuli that facilitate consumers with the task at hand, such as signage materials.

Space &

Layout

This pertains to the arrangement of furnishings within the environment and whether their arrangement facilitates the free-flow of customer traffic through said environment.

Equipment This dimension encompasses both the appearance and functionality of electronic or mechanical equipment that the customer may use or observe during the service experience.

Hygiene Hygiene factors refer to the appearance of cleanliness both within and outside the store.

Social Social factors can be defined as including the appearance and friendliness of both other customers and service delivery staff.

70 2.5.2 Generation of an Item Pool

Based upon the above dimensional definitions, the literature was further reviewed so that items could be generated. From this review a complete list of all servicescape items were compiled and categorised according to their similarities with one another (these can be viewed in Appendix 2A).

One of the key objectives of this research was to measure the servicescape as comprehensively as possible. To meet this end, Bitner’s (1992) servicescape dimensions were scrutinised so that each aspect of the servicescape proposed by her was included in the item pool. In addition to this, authors such as Wakefield and Blodgett (1994; 1996;

1999), Baker (1987; 2002) and Hightower (2002) were also analysed. From these studies a relatively large item pool was generated. It must be noted that items pertaining to the friendliness of employees was also included. In Bitner’s (1992) original work on servicescapes she proposed that environmental stimuli influence the behaviours of customers and employees alike. However, Baker et al’s (2002) and Reimer and Kuehn’s (2005) work include the employees as environmental stimuli. Given this discrepancy in the literature, it was decided to include employees as a servicescape element as the majority of studies have taken this approach.

It is recommended that the item pool includes as many items as possible so as to achieve redundancy (DeVellis, 2003). Redundancy allows the phenomenon of interest to be revealed in many different ways thus increasing reliability, while any irrelevant redundancies will cancel out when the items are subjected to factor analysis (DeVellis,

2003). In addition to the items taken from the literature, a number of items were also written by the author and added to the item pool to ensure the servicescape concept was adequately captured. Using the researcher as a source of items is common practice in scale development studies and should not cause validity problems (Netemeyer et al, 2003). Using DeVellis’s (2003) recommendations, the approach that was taken was to generate additional items but tap into the construct in an alternative way. Care was taken not to generate exceptionally lengthy or difficult items. A number of negatively worded items were written to avoid acquiescence and agreement bias (Spector, 1992).

The final item pool covers each of the above environmental stimuli with multiple items from each. The complete list of these items and their origin is listed in Table 2.3. Upon examination of the items listed below it becomes obvious that the scale development items are slightly different to those used in the final service station study. The reason for this is that the original context of this dissertation was to be dental services.

Unfortunately gaining access to a dental surgery was not possible. A number of dentists were contacted and asked to participate in the study, however, all dentists contacted declined the offer. This called for an unexpected re-examination of the chosen industry which ultimately led to an entire change of service context. The scale developed below was altered slightly to suit the final service context which was service stations. The rationalisation for this change in context is discussed in greater detail in Chapter Four as it is in this chapter that the dimensionality of the servicescape is tested using structural equation modelling.

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Table 2.3: Servicescape Item Pool

Servicescape Items Authors

Ambience Music

I found the music at the dental surgery bothersome The background music was pleasant

The employees were neat and tidy in appearance I found the employees at the dental surgery friendly I found the employees at the dental surgery unhelpful The employees were helpful

I found the dental surgery very clean The surgery was very unhygienic

The bathroom facilities were clean and tidy I found the physical facilities very unclean

The other patients at the surgery were neat and well

The brochures and other communications material were visually appealing

There were appropriate reading materials to read in the waiting room

I found the signs used (e.g. bathroom, enter, exit, ) helpful to me

Reimer and Kuehn, 2005 Self developed

Hightower et al, 2002

Design & Décor

The physical facilities were visually unappealing I found the interior design visually appealing The waiting room was attractive

I found the physical facilities of this dentist surgery to be superior to others

Self developed

Reimer and Kuehn, 2005 Self developed

Hightower et al, 2002

The colour schemes were pleasant The style of the interior was fashionable The materials used were of high quality The exterior of the dentist’s was appropriate The architecture of the surgery was attractive The parking facilities were satisfactory The waiting room was comfortable

The seating in the surgery was comfortable I found the physical facilities comfortable

The dental equipment was modern looking The electronic equipment was of high quality The electronic equipment was excellent The dental equipment was of poor quality

Wakefield and Blodgett, 1999

I found the dental surgery easy to find The flooring was appropriate

I found my way around the surgery quite easily The interior layout was pleasing

The surgery had a poorly organised layout

Hightower et al, 2002 phenomenon. Likert scales employ declarative statements to which the subjects’ level of agreement with each statement used as the response choice. This scale format is widely used in the marketing literature to measure opinions, beliefs and attitudes and are thus a suitable measure for the current context. Due to the widespread use of Likert scales, most respondents are quite familiar with this format and thus find these questions relatively easy to fill out. For these reasons, Likert-type scales are the most commonly used scale format in the marketing literature (Cox, 1980). Likert scales are also preferable to other scaling formats such as semantic differentials, because the resulting data from Likert