Customer response to intangible and tangible service factors

This research investigates the question: Does the physical environment of service delivery settings influence customers' evaluations of the service experience and subsequent behavioral intentions? Theoretical and empirical data from environmental psychology suggests that customer reactions to the tangible physical environment may be more emotional than cognitive, particularly when involving hedonic consumption. This article integrates environmental psychology into SERVQUAL (a current measure of service quality) to enable a fuller assessment of the role of the tangible aspects of service delivery. Based on consumer surveys in three leisure service settings, the findings are that the tangible physical environment plays an important role in generating excitement in leisure settings; excitement, in turn, plays a significant role in determining customers repatronage intentions and willingness to recommend. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.