Servuction Model

Servuction model is a model used to illustrate the factors that

influence the service experience, including those that are
visible to the consumer and those that are not. In general this
model consists of four factors that directly influence
customers service experiences:

The Servicescape (visible)

Contact personnel/service providers (visible)
Other customers (visible)
Organizations and systems (invisible)

The first three factors of the servuction model are plainly

visible to customers. In contrast, organizations and systems,
although profoundly impacting the customers experience,
are typically invisible to the customer 1. The servuction model
can be presented in the following figure:

Other
Customers

Servicescape

Customer

Invisible
Organizations
and Systems

Contact
Personnel/
Service
Providers

Source: Adapted from E. Langeard, J. Bateson, C. Lovelock, and P. Eiglier,

Marketing of Services: New Insights from Consumers and Managers,
Report No 81-104, (Cambridge, MA: Marketing Sciences Institute, 1981).

1.

Servicescape
It refers to the use of physical evidence to design
service environments. Due to the intangibility of
services, customers often have trouble evaluating the
quality of service objectively. As a result, consumers rely
on the physical evidence that surrounds the service to

2.

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help them from their evaluations. Hence, the

servicescape consists of following factors:
a. Ambient Conditions: such as room temperature
and music;
b. Inanimate Objects: that assist the firm in
completing its tasks, such as furnishings and
business equipment; and
c. Other Physical Evidence: such as signs, symbols,
and personal artifacts such as family pictures and
personal collections.
The use of physical evidence varies by the type of
service firm. Service firms such as hospitals, resorts,
and childcare centers often use physical evidence
extensively as they design facilities and other tangibles
associated with the service. In contrast, service
operations such as express mail drop-off locations use
limited physical evidence. Regardless of the variation in
usage, all service firms need to recognize the
importance of managing the servicescape, because of
its role in:

Packaging the service

Facilitating the service delivery process

Socializing customers and employees

Differentiating the firm from its competitors

Contact Personnel/Service providers
Another important aspect of the customers experience
involves the contact personnel and service providers
that directly interact with customer.
a. Contact personnel Technically speaking, contact
personnel are employeesother than the primary
service providerwho briefly interact with the
customer. Typical examples of contact personnel
are parking attendants, receptionists, and hosts
and hostesses.
b. Service providers: They are the primary providers
of the core service, such as a waiter or waitress,
dentist, physician, or college instructor.
Unlike the consumption of goods, the consumption of
services often takes place where the service is produced
(e.g., dentists office, restaurant, and hairstylist) or
where the service is provided at the consumers
residence or workplace (e.g., lawn care, house painter,

M o d e l s

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janitorial service). Regardless of the service delivery

location, interactions between consumers and contact
personnel/service providers are commonplace. As a
result, service providers have a dramatic impact on the
service experience.
Service personnel perform the dual functions of
interacting with customers and reporting back to the
internal organization. Strategically, service personnel
are an important source of product differentiation. It is
often challenging for a service organization to
differentiate itself from other similar organizations in
terms of the benefit bundle it offers or its delivery
system. For example, many airlines offer similar bundles
of benefits and fly the same types of aircraft from the
same airports to the same destinations. Therefore, their
only hope of a competitive advantage is from the
service levelthe way things are done. Hence, the
factor that often distinguishes one airline from another
is the poise and attitude of its service providers.
Singapore Airlines, for example, enjoys an excellent
reputation due in large part to the beauty and grace of
its flight attendants. Other firms that hold a differential
advantage over competitors based on personnel include
the Ritz Carlton, IBM, and Disney Enterprises.
Other Customers
Ultimately, the success of many service encounters
depends on how effectively the service firm manages its
clientele. A wide range of service establishments such
as restaurants, hotels, airlines, and physicians offices
serve multiple customers simultaneously. Hence, other
customers can have a profound impact on an
individuals service experience. Other customers are the
customers that share the primary customers service
experience.
The presence of other customers can enhance or
detract from an individuals service experience. The
influence of other customers can be active or passive.
Examples of other customers actively detracting from
ones service experience include unruly customers in a
restaurant or a night club, children crying during a
church service, or theatergoers carrying on a
conversation during a play. Some passive examples
include customers who show up late for appointments,
thereby delaying each subsequent appointment; an

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exceptionally tall individual who sits directly in front of

another customer at a movie theater; or the impact of
being part of a crowd, which increases the waiting time
for everyone in the group.
Though many customer actions that enhance or detract
from the service experience are difficult to predict,
service organizations can attempt to manage the
behavior of customers so that they coexist peacefully.
For example, firms can manage waiting times so that
customers who arrive earlier than others get first
priority, clearly target specific age segments to
minimize potential conflicts between younger and older
customers, and provide separate dining facilities for
smokers and customers with children.
Organizations and Systems
Organization and systems are invisible. They are that
parts of a firm that reflect the rules, regulations, and
processes upon which the organization is based. As a
result, although rules, regulations, and processes are
invisible to the customer, they have a very profound
effect on the consumers service experience.
The invisible organization and systems determine
factors such as information forms to be completed by
customers, the number of employees working in the
firm at any given time, and the policies of the
organization regarding countless decisions that may
range from the substitution of menu items to whether
the firm accepts identification cards for senior citizens
discounts.

Hoffman, K.D. and Bateson, J. E. G. (2008). Ibid., pp. 9-13.