The important role of the environment in service experiences is well established and accounted for in the marketing literature. Several theoretical frameworks and concepts have been suggested such as the servicescape. So far, the empirical studies have mainly focused on the effects of single variables, like music, scent or signage. Consequently, further empirical and conceptual research is needed with a holistic view. This paper contributes to this knowledge gap by building on a recent conceptualization of the experience room model. The aim of the study is to further explore design dimensions of an experience room. We examine the role of the experience room dimensions in the processes that result in the cocreation of value-in-use, while investigating their relative importance.

The aim of this paper is to identify and describe important dimensions of the service process as defined by customers, and to compare the results from a specific use context with the recent conceptualization of the experience room. Public transport travellers were provided with a public transport travel diary and were encouraged to make detailed notes about their service experience during their journey. The diaries were than transcribed and coded in NVivo8 using a constant comparative method. The qualitative analysis of the public transport travel diaries revealed six emerging themes of service experience: customer processes, other customers, physical environment, contact personnel, provider processes and wider environment. The interplay between these themes is what forms the service experience of customers. The inductive analysis of the empirical material contextualizes the experience room model in a utilitarian and facility-driven service. This deductive analysis of 100 customer experiences shows that the dimensions customer involvement, customer placement and physical artefacts are most important for the customer's service experience in this context. This paper offers a set of important empirically based customer experience dimensions with public transport. The paper also provides a contextualization of a theoretical model, the experience room model. The contribution results show the importance of interactions with other customers and the physical environment for the customer's experience

It is argued that favorable customer service experiences are crucial for the success of a company’s offering, and research on the subject is growing rapidly. However, instruments for measuring service experience are not readily available. This study applies and validates the Satisfaction with Travel Scale (STS) for measuring the service experience in public transport. The results confirm that service experience is multidimensional, consisting of a cognitive dimension related to service quality and two affective dimensions related to positive activation, such as enthusiasm or boredom, and positive deactivation, such as relaxation or stress.

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.

The importance of the servicescape is well established in the marketing literature. The prevailing view focuses on the effect of the servicescape on customers. Recently, the traditional view on servicescapes has been challenged by a view that conceives services and servicescapes as an issue for interaction and interactive value formation. The interactive view highlights resource integration and the knowledge and skills of customers. Yet, to date, empirical studies on this subject are still scarce. By applying a microethnographic research approach in a study of public transport customers and drawing on script theory, this paper identifies four types of customer scripts: generic, incongruent, rigid, and transformative scripts. Their role in resource integration activities of customers, as well as the customer experience, is discussed in this article.