Purpose As firms increasingly adopt experience-driven differentiation, the design of servicescapes becomes essential in shaping brand identity and consumer engagement. However, a persistent challenge remains: bridging the gap between intended experiences and their execution in physical environments. This study investigates how servicescapes are developed in retail and hospitality settings. Grounded in the assemblage theory, this study aims to propose a framework that traces the formation of expression intent and its translation into physical spaces. Design/methodology/approach Using a qualitative multimethod approach, the authors integrate nonparticipatory observations (n = 14), a photographic corpus (n = 86) and semistructured interviews (n = 11) with designers and managers. This methodological triangulation captures both strategic intent and its material realization. Findings The analysis conceptualizes expression intent along two analytical continua and identifies six interrelated design mechanisms through which servicescapes are assembled. It further examines component-to-assemblage and assemblage-to-assemblage relationships across micro-, meso- and macrolevels and develops an integrative framework that explains how expression intent guides successive design choices, thus leading to coherent servicescape configurations. Research limitations/implications The findings bridge the literature on servicescape design (Bitner, 1992; Rosenbaum and Massiah, 2011; Alexander and Cano, 2020) with assemblage theory (Deleuze and Guattari, 1980; DeLanda, 2016) to show that service environments are active and adaptive systems shaped by continuous negotiations between strategic vision and environmental constraints. This challenges the reductionist stimulus–response paradigm (Turley and Milliman, 2000; Kumar et al., 2020), which tends to isolate cues in a linear cause–effect logic, and it nuances holistic perspectives by proposing a more dynamic understanding of how elements are orchestrated to serve a narrative. Practical implications The framework enables the clarification of expression intent and translates it into coherent servicescape configurations through six interrelated mechanisms, while accounting for contextual constraints. It also emphasizes the need to situate servicescape design within a broader network of interconnected assemblages across levels. Social implications The findings suggest that the most successful servicescape implementations are those that maintain narrative coherence across all six dimensions – spatial-functional, sensory, immersive, educational, socio-interactive and offer-related. Each mechanism carries specific affordances and limitations, and their interaction shapes the overall experience. Therefore, managers should not only deploy them deliberately but also orchestrate their interdependencies to sustain emotional engagement and behavioral alignment. Originality/value This study introduces an assemblage-based reconceptualization of servicescape design, emphasizing the relational and processual nature of how service environments are intentionally assembled.
Valentini et al. (2026) studied this question.