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This paper seeks better to conceptualise, operationalise and subsequently to test a multi‐dimensional and more social view of servicescape and the direct and moderated linkages with loyalty intentions.

A survey research method was used to study servicescapes in the context of UK restaurants.

In furtherance of conceptualisation efforts, a model is developed to evaluate the linear influences of nine servicescape variables on customers' loyalty intentions. Additionally, the model appraises the impact of personal and environmental factors which moderate the servicescape‐loyalty intentions relationship. Analysis of survey responses finds a number of significant associations with loyalty intentions.

The results of the study indicate that practitioners should reflect carefully on a range of servicescape variables and judiciously manage such factors to improve the extent to which consumers are likely to foster positive intentions to be loyal.

The paper contributes a multi‐dimensional and more social framework of servicescape that is subsequently operationalised and tested. It also supplies a measure of servicescape that future researchers may find useful.

The purpose of this study was to examined the health effects of raw and cooked aqueous and methanol extracts of Vigna unguiculata on kidney function in Wistar rats.

Thirty-six Wistar rats (weighing 160 ± 10 g) were randomly assigned into nine (9) groups (n = 4). Group I (control): no extract. Groups II and III (aqueous extract of the cooked 350 mg/kg and 550 mg/kg). Groups IV and V (methanol extracts of cooked 350 mg/kg and 550 mg/kg). Groups VI and VII (methanol extracts of raw 350 mg/kg and 550 mg/kg). Groups VIII and IX (aqueous extract of raw 350 mg/kg and 550 mg/kg). After the seventh day of the trial, the rats were euthanized with chloroform, and blood samples were collected for biochemical analysis.

Results showed that the doses applied for cooked and raw V. unguiculata significantly (p < 0.05) enhanced kidney functions by increasing the body weight, glucose level, concentration of serum urea, creatinine, total protein, potassium and chloride in test groups compared with control. The packed cell volume and haemoglobin concentrations of raw aqueous extract at 550 mg/kg (36.5 ± 5.1; 12.3 ± 2.8) were significantly (p = 0.001) higher (29.8 ± 11.8; 10.3 ± 3.9) than the 350 mg/kg dose of the same extract, and cooked aqueous extract at 350 mg/kg dose was significantly (p = 0.001) higher (28.0 ± 10.1; 9.3 ± 3.4) than that of 550 mg/kg (25.8 ± 4.9; 8.8 ± 3.9) dose of the extracts.

The nutritional content of V. unguiculata potentially can augment the nutritional content of a diet and to a large extent, the regular consumers’ health. Essentially, V. unguiculata is composed of both macro and micronutrients capable of promoting normal kidney function.

Previous research on the relationship between service environments and customer emotions and service outcomes has focused on the physical environment. Among studies exploring the social environment, the emphasis has been on service employees, ignoring the impact of other customers. Recent research has further called for the need to include displayed emotion within the social environment. Therefore, this study aims to develop and test a more comprehensive model that focuses on the relationship between the social environment (employee displayed emotion and customer climate) and the physical environment (ambient and design factors) and resulting customer emotion and service outcomes.

Based on past research, a theoretical framework was developed to propose the links between social/physical environments and customer emotion/perceptions. Extant research from various academic fields, including environmental psychology, was reviewed, deriving 11 hypotheses. Data collected from fashion apparel retailers, using both observation and customer survey methods, was examined through structural equation modeling (SEM).

Results show that both social and physical environments have a positive influence on customer emotion and satisfaction, which in turn affect behavioral intentions. The physical environment exhibited more influence on customer emotion and satisfaction than social environment.

This research explains how both social and physical environments affect customer emotion and perceptions. Future research directions are discussed, with an emphasis on incorporating customer characteristics, industry attributes, and cultural variables to better understand the influence of service environments in different service settings.

Social and physical environments influence customer emotional states within the service delivery context, which in turn affect customer service evaluations. Therefore, both social and physical service environments should be emphasized by service firms.

This research represents an early attempt to develop a more comprehensive model explaining how both social and physical environments affect customer emotion and perceptions. This study also represents the first empirical study of service environment research to include employee displayed emotion as part of the social environment.

Rapport between service employees and customers has been suggested to be an important determinant of customer relationship management, yet existing marketing literature still lacks a sufficient understanding of how service employees’ nonverbal communication affects customer-employee rapport development in service encounters. The purpose of this paper is to fill this research gap by proposing and testing a model that explores how service employees’ nonverbal communication (employee affective delivery and behavioral mimicry) influences customer positive emotions and customer-employee rapport. The mediating role of customer positive emotions and the moderating role of store atmosphere in the process of customer-employee rapport development were also assessed.

Using an observational methodology in conjunction with a customer survey, multi-source survey data collected from 303 customer-employee pairs in the apparel retailing industry was examined through structural equation modeling and regression analysis.

Results showed that employee nonverbal communication positively influenced customer positive emotions and customer-employee rapport. The partial mediating role of customer positive emotions and the moderating role of store atmosphere in the process of rapport development were also confirmed.

Service firms should train and motivate employees to use nonverbal communication to develop and strengthen customer-employee rapport. The importance of customer positive emotions in the service process should be addressed in the customer-employee rapport development process. Moreover, service managers should also allocate firm resources to create a well-designed store atmosphere for target customers.

This research represents one of the earliest studies to explore and empirically test the influence of employee nonverbal communication on customer-employee rapport development in service encounters. The partial mediating role of customer positive emotions and the moderating role of store atmosphere on the relationship between employee nonverbal communication and customer-employee rapport were also proposed and confirmed.