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Hello Class and Professor.
In their article, "Atmospherics, service encounters and consumer decision making: An integrative perspective", Hoffman and Turley hypothesize that the U.S. economy is moving to an experience economy. Use a drug store, a middle-of-the-road department store, and a home improvement warehouse that you have purchased from to generate at least five recommendations for improving the atmospherics of each of those businesses.
Before we can generate recommendations we need to understand exactly what the definition of "atmospherics" is. "Kotler (1973) coined the term "atmospherics" to describe the intentional control and manipulation of environmental cues" (Hoffman, & Turley, 2002, p. 34). Basically, this means exterior, interior design, lighting, tangible elements (the building, carpeting, fixtures, point of-purchase decorations) and intangible elements (colors, music, temperature, scents) (Hoffman, & Turley, 2002). All of these things need to be considered when designing a business's environment. "The responses of employees and customers to the set of stimuli are influenced by three basic emotional states: pleasure-displeasure, arousal non-arousal, and dominance-submissiveness" (Hoffman, & Turley, 2002, p. 34). This means we must understand how each element will effect each of these emotional states. "Ideally, firms should build environments that achieve a balance between two primary objectives: (1) develop environments that appeal to consumer pleasure and arousal states while avoiding atmospheres that create submissiveness; and (2) construct environments that facilitate the operational ease and efficiency of the firm" (Hoffman, & Turley, 2002, p. 34).
The article talks about the four ways a consumer can be influences by the elements of the environment. "(1) a desire to stay (approach) or leave (avoid); (2) a desire to further explore and interact (approach) or a tendency to ignore it (avoidance); (3) a desire to communicate with others (approach) or to ignore (avoid); and (4) feelings of satisfaction (approach) or disappointment (avoidance) with the service experience" (Cited in Hoffman, & Turley, 2002, p. 34). For example, an attractively designed entrance does not "cause" people to enter; however, the probability that people will enter is greatly enhanced by the "welcoming environment" that it creates (Hoffman, & Turley, 2002). This is also true of an unattractive entrance to the business. That is, it will not cause people to avoid the business, but the probability that they will avoid the business is greater with the unattractive entrance. Basically, the attractiveness of a store will affect the perceptions the consumers have of the store image.
The consumers perception of store image is essentially their expectation of that store and the products they offer. Considering what I have learned about atmospherics I have decided to make recommendations for Walgreens (drug store), Home depot (home improvement warehouse), and JC Penny (department store).
1. My first recommendation to each of these stores is to change their in store lighting to utilize as much natural light as possible (rather than artificial light). "Wal-Mart found that sales were higher in areas of a prototype store lit in natural daylight compared to the artificial light in its regular stores" (Solomon, 2011, p. 361-362). Basically, I think the same result will occur for each of these stores the way it worked for Wal-Mart.
2. My second recommendation to each of these stores is to have appropriate background music playing at the correct times of day in each store. The music played can affect consumer desires to affiliate with the employees and purchase the products because it can enhance their moods as they listen to it. The music should be something that is cheerful to ensure an upbeat mood, yet relaxing to reduce any anxiety they feel, but it should also be something that does not come off as annoying to the customer.
3. My third recommendation to each of these stores is that the employees in each of these stores should wear an appropriate uniform that represents each business in a professional manner. "Employees who wear uniforms further influence perceptions by being perceived as more intelligent, more competent, and more interactive" (Hoffman, & Turley, 2002, p. 38). Basically, if the customer feels that they are being helped by a professional store representative, then they will feel more confident in the purchase of the product they are there to buy. " From a managerial perspective, creating an atmosphere that enhances the delivery of a product can have can have a tremendous effect on how consumers perceive that product" (Hoffman, & Turley, 2002, p. 39). That is, a more knowledgeable and professional staff can increase sales for those businesses.
4. My fourth recommendation for these stores is to make sure the layout of their stores flow in such a way that consumers do not get confused about where to find something, and that products are appropriately labeled and priced. From my personal experiences shopping in these stores I have (on multiple occasions) not been able to find the product I was looking for. This can discourage a customer and cause them to leave the store. I also personally hate it when products are not labeled especially with the price. I personally get very annoyed when items are not priced and tend to not purchase the products because of it.
5. My fifth recommendation for these stores is to make sure they have an appropriate ambient smell in their locations. Nothing is worse than walking into a store and being put off by a smell that might not have been intended for the environment. Of course each of these stores would want to use different smells because of the nature of the products they offer. For example, Home Depot would want to have a fresh outdoorsy smell that compliments the idea of working outside in the spring time. JC Penny would want something more along the lines of a relaxing vanilla smell, and Walgreens might want to use something like a soothing honey smell.
What it all comes down to is that our shopping experiences have become a creation of a series of compelling experiences to entice us to make a purchase."Managers should review the atmosphere in which these encounters occur to make sure that information sought out during the pre-purchase stage is present, that the atmosphere supports and encourages consumers to interact with service personnel during the consumption stage, and that the environment will contribute to meeting consumers expectations and leading to satisfaction" (Hoffman, & Turley, 2002, p. 40). If the consumer is not satisfied during any point in their purchasing experience, they may abandon the purchase altogether.
References
Hoffman, K. D., & Turley, L. W. (2002). Atmospherics, service encounters and consumer decision making: An integrative perspective. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 10(3), 33-47. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/212206542?accountid=32521
Solomon, M.R., (2011). Consumer Bahavior (9th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. ISBN-10: 0-13-611092-4
-Matthew
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