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The purpose of this paper is to examine the relations between the concepts of service quality, perceived value, satisfaction and intention to pay in the context of theatrical services in the city of Medellín, Colombia.

Quantitative research was carried out on a sample of 274 individuals who had attended the theatre at least once in the previous year. The information was gathered in October 2014 using an online survey. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the validity and reliability of the measurement scales, and a structural equations model was developed to test the hypotheses.

Satisfaction with overall service and with the central service (i.e. with the performance itself) was the major predictors of consumer intention to pay.

Future research could replicate the analysis presented here for other cultural services and different geographical contexts.

Theatres should focus their efforts on offering a basic service (a theatrical presentation) that meets the cultural and artistic expectations of the public, but should also bear in mind that audiences expect to be treated well when they go out and want to feel comfortable.

This paper contributes to understand the factors that influence theatre clients’ intention to pay by taking into account the factors that affect satisfaction and perceived value of the theatregoing experience. It also contributes to academic reflections on the cultural consumption in the field of the theatrical arts in the Latin American region, where this is a new field of research.

El propósito de este artículo es analizar las relaciones entre los conceptos de calidad del servicio, valor percibido, satisfacción del cliente e intención de pago, en el contexto de los servicios teatrales de la ciudad de Medellín, Colombia.

Se hizo una investigación cuantitativa en la que se contó con una muestra de 274 personas que hubieran asistido al menos una vez a teatro en el último año. La información fue recopilada a través de un cuestionario en línea en octubre del 2014. Para el análisis de validez y fiabilidad de las escalas de medida se desarrolló un análisis factorial confirmatorio y para la contrastación de las hipótesis se probó un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales.

Tanto la satisfacción con el servicio general como la satisfacción con el servicio central (relacionado con la obra), son los principales predictores de la intención de pago de los consumidores.

Estudios futuros pueden replicar el análisis de las relaciones planteadas en otros servicios culturales y para diferentes ámbitos geográficos.

Los esfuerzos de las salas de teatro deben concentrarse en ofrecer un servicio básico (obra de teatro) que cumpla con el objetivo cultural y artístico que esperan los espectadores, pero, a su vez, considerar que estos esperan tener un trato amable y un espacio agradable donde puedan sentirse cómodos.

Este artículo permite una mejor comprensión de los factores que inciden en la intención de pago de los asistentes a las salas de teatro, entendiendo los conceptos que afectan la satisfacción y el valor percibido con la experiencia. Además, contribuye a la reflexión académica alrededor del consumo cultural en el sector de las artes escénicas en la región, donde la investigación enes aún incipiente.

Hygiene theater is a new phenomenon that has emerged from the ongoing Coronavirus (Covid-19) global pandemic. The authors propose and test the concept of hygiene theater – comprised of purposeful and visible dynamic performance and static staging cues – on customers' approach-avoidance intentions in the retail environment. The authors explore the underlying process and show when environmental conditions such as human crowding dilute the positive effects of hygiene theater.

Across three experiments, participants evaluated a video or scenario related to a shopping experience in a retail store. Sequential mediation and moderated sequential mediation using PROCESS were performed.

The results show a positive and direct effect of hygiene visibility on approach responses, due to a reduction in perceived risk and increased psychological comfort. This positive effect is diluted when crowding in the retail environment is high.

As society adapts to a new normal, this study offers contributions to improve theoretical knowledge of the impact of hygiene theater on customer approach responses, helping retailers to develop and implement health and safety policies, better equipping them to manage similar situations going forward. The authors provide insights for academics and practitioners alike.

This paper aims to demonstrate the applicability of a theatrical framework for improving the effectiveness of the knowledge transfer of service research findings to practitioners.

A case study approach is adopted. The operation of a practitioner-oriented seminar is examined through a theatrical lens to establish the extent to which direction, audience participation and creativity, emotions and visual aesthetics can contribute to bridging the academia-practitioner divide.

Planning a practitioner-oriented seminar performance is as important as planning the program content. Effective knowledge transfer requires active audience engagement, activation of favorable audience emotions and an enjoyable learning process. The lack of these requirements can render written dissemination by journal papers relatively ineffective in reaching and engaging practitioners.

Findings are based on one case study: a seminar delivered to practitioners on “service theater”.

In addition to face-to-face seminars, contemporary dissemination methods (webinars, podcasts) can apply the theatrical lessons introduced and evaluated. Practitioners do not respond positively to only written declarative information, through academic papers and/or PowerPoint slides, from academicians.

The article recognizes that dissemination of service research findings is, itself, a service, requiring depth of thought and understanding.

This article provides a framework for the development of a dramatic script for a service (retail) organisation. It is argued that such a script can lead to an agreed experiential goal that the organisation can use to achieve positive holistic service experiences for customers. It draws on techniques from practical theatre and is being tried, evaluated and refined in conjunction with employees of a UK multiple retail organisation. The process of dramatic script development with employees is demonstrated through the identification of the drama, the creation of the playtext and the exploration of subtext. It can be employed by any organisation where the nature of the business requires that face‐to‐face interactions take place between employees and customers.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the value of improvisation training, as used in schools of acting, in preparing front‐stage service employees perform their roles when interacting with customers as cabin crew in Aer Arann, a regional Irish airline.

To discern the relevance and impact of improvisation training, a case study methodology was employed. The subjects of the investigation were seven recently hired cabin crew personnel for Aer Arann. Data for the case study were collected from the new hires at three different times.

The study shows that participants both enjoyed the improvisation training and found it to be very valuable as preparation for their roles in the airline. A key finding was that the new hires strongly recommended that improvisation training be incorporated into the airline's regular induction training programme. Specifically, participants felt the improvisation training improved their confidence, effectiveness, ability to adapt, spontaneity and comfort in successfully handling unique situations.

As with many case studies, the study presented here focuses on a single company for its data generation. Further, because of the realities of commercial life, the subject pool is quite small, i.e. due to the demands of their position, only seven new hires were available for the 12 hours needed to conduct the training, as well as the subsequent assessment activities. Nevertheless, the case study enabled the authors to gain meaningful insights into the utilisation of improvisation training in a real‐world setting.

The research makes several key contributions. First, it links theory and practice by demonstrating in a real world context the efficacy of framing service as theatre. Second, based on the service theatre literature, the paper details the utility of improvisation training as a means of preparing front‐stage service employees for the rigours of their jobs. Finally, the research presents new, empirically based insights regarding the value and contribution of improvisation training in the services sector.

Retailers are using the term retail theatre (theater) to imply a service offer that is different and special. An important component of the offer is an increased opportunity for consumers to interact and participate within the overall experience. This article compares consumer participation in retail theatre with audience participation in actual theatre. It draws on ideas from Bertolt Brecht, a playwright who is widely recognised for his application of radical and innovative methods to engage his audiences in all aspects of a performance. A detailed examination of Brecht’s methods is structured around his management and development of the roles and performances of actors, his techniques for providing planned opportunities for audiences to influence performances, and his arrangement of staging and mechanics to stimulate audience participation. Implications for retailers, of the comparison, relate to both human resource management and operational considerations, and challenge conventional practice. It is advocated that the actual theatre is a rich source of ideas for retailers wishing to offer different and engaging “experiences” to consumers.

Brands are increasingly considering the use of chatbots to supplement, or even replace, humans in service interactions. Like humans, chatbots can follow certain service scripts in their encounters, which can subsequently determine the customer experience. Service scripts are verbal prescriptions that seek to standardize customer service interactions. However, while the role of service scripts is well documented, despite the increasing use of chatbots as a service mechanism, less is known about the effect, on consumers, of different service scripts presented during chatbot service encounters.

An experimental scenario was developed to test the research hypotheses. Respondents were randomly allocated to scenarios representing a 2 (service interaction: human, chatbot) × 2 (service script: education, entertainment) design. A total of 262 US consumers constituted the final sample for the study.

The findings indicate that when employing an education script, a significant positive effect occurs for human service agents (compared to chatbots) in terms of both satisfaction and purchase intention. These effects are fully mediated by emotion and rapport, showing that the bonds developed through the close proximity to a human service agent elicit emotion and develop rapport, which in turn influence service outcomes. However, this result is present only when an educational script is used.

This paper contributes to the emerging service marketing literature on the use of digital services, in particular chatbots, in service interactions. We show that differences occur in key outcomes dependent on the type of service script employed (education or entertainment). For managers, this study indicates that chatbot interactions can be tailored (in script delivered) in order to maximize emotion and rapport and subsequently consumer purchase intention and satisfaction.

This paper aims to contribute to understandings of the dynamics of marketplace exclusion and explore the benefits of a performative approach to knowledge production.

Interactive documentary theatre is used to explore the pressing issue of marketplace exclusion in a deprived UK city. The authors present a series of three vignettes taken from the performance to explore the embodied and dialogical nature of performative knowledge production.

The performative mode of knowledge production has a series of advantages over the more traditional research approaches used in marketing. It is arguably more authentic, embodied and collaborative. However, this mode of research also has its challenges particularly in the interpretation and presentation of the data.

The paper highlights the implications of performative knowledge production for critical consumer learning. It also explores how the hitherto neglected concept of marketplace exclusion might bring together insights into the mechanics and outcomes of exclusion.

While theatrical and performative metaphors have been widely used to theorise interactions in the marketplace, as yet the possibility of using theatre as a form of inquiry within marketing has been largely neglected. Documentary theatre is revealing of the ways in which marketplace cultures can perpetuate social inequality. Involving local communities in the co-production of knowledge in this way gives them a voice in the policy arena not hitherto fully addressed in the marketing field. Similarly, marketplace exclusion as a concept has been sidelined in favour of marketplace discrimination and consumer vulnerability – the authors think it has the potential to bring these fields together in exploring the range of dynamics involved.

This paper aims to identify the influence of dimensions of movie theater service on customer behavior intention, comparing linear and nonlinear methods.

With a sample of 345 cinema customers, the analysis compares penalty–reward contrast analysis (PRCA) and multiple linear regression analysis (MLR).

This research demonstrates that PRCA brings a better identification of the antecedents of customer behavior intention than MLR, showing that a nonlinear analysis can bring superior decision information to movie theater managers. Also, this study shows that superior performance of aspects related to the client's feelings leads the consumer to a tendency to return and recommend the cinema (behavior intention). This study also confirms that successful recovery actions can compensate for failures.

Although the nonlinear antecedents of customer satisfaction have been studied in the scientific literature, there is a gap of studies applying methods to identify nonlinear antecedents of customer behavior intention (tendency to return and recommend), particularly in the industry of movie theater services. The findings of this research may allow movie theaters to improve the service provided, confronting the great challenges of online movie-watching alternatives.

This chapter bridges theories of product development in tourism destinations with the analytical concept of genius loci (‘the spirit of a place’) used in writings on architecture and design. Assuming that spatial and symbolic uniqueness are critical ingredients to create attractive tourism experiences, the chapter proposes a schematic process for atmospheric interventions. Atmospheric interventions are presented as a technique which, first, understands the essential role of atmospheric contexts for tourism experiences; second, conceives transformations of atmospheres in a manner that take their complex nature into account; and third, sees value in respecting and enhancing the traditioned character of places and their atmospheres. Overall, this chapter suggests preference for a humble and careful approach of atmospheric interventions over decontextualised attempts to redesign atmospheres from scratch.