The purposes of the study were to review previous researches on the working environments of coffee shops and to understand how the servicescape including the social environments such as differentiated working staff and other customers affect the emoti...
The purposes of the study were to review previous researches on the working environments of coffee shops and to understand how the servicescape including the social environments such as differentiated working staff and other customers affect the emotional reactions and the behavior intentions of the customers.
By comparing the sales of the brand coffee shops, the study selected the four most achieving brands (Starbucks, Caffe Bene, Coffee Bean and Angel-in-us Coffee) as research participants. From June 24, 2013 to June 29, 2013, the study personally conducted a survey targeting customers visiting the shops of the four coffee brands, Starbucks, Caffe Bene, Coffee Bean and Angel-in-us Coffee, in the downtown in Daegue. Each brand answered a total of 100 copies of the survey which had helped the study conduct an empirical investigation. With those copies unfaithfully responded excluded, a total of 384 copies were used for the final analysis work and what the customers have answered in the survey was analyzed by SPSS 21.0 and AMOS 21.0 for the frequency analysis, the exploratory factor analysis, T-test, ANOVA, the bivariate correlation analysis and the path analysis.
The results of the study are summarized as follows.
First, according to the results of the exploratory factor analysis on the servicescape of the coffee shops, the servicescape was observed to consist of six factors such as the aesthetic, the convenience, the amenity, the visible aspect and the behavioral aspect of other customers and the image of working staff in the shops. Such finding confirmed that as far as the customers understand, the social environments, the staff and other customers as well, should be a part of the servicescape.
Second, in terms of the relation between the servicescape factors and the emotional reactions, the aesthetic, the amenity, the visible aspect of other customers and the image of the staff turned out to have a significant, positive influence on the pleasure while the visible aspect of other customers was found to have significant, positive concern with the arousal. What has been learned here argued that, when it comes to the customers’ using the coffee shops, the attractive interior decorations and ornaments, the appearances and the clothes of the staff and the visible aspect of other customers would be related to the emotional reactions of the customers.
Third, in the relation between the servicescape factors and the behavior intentions, the amenity and the image of the staff were determined to have a significant influence on the behavior intentions.
Fourth, both the pleasure and the arousal were proved to be significantly related to the behavior intentions, which argued that how necessary it is for the coffee shops to improve the emotional level of the customers first before they try to enhance return visits, word of mouth and intention to recommendation of the customers.
Based on the above-mentioned results, the study learned that the coffee shops are considered as a place in which not only do people drink beverages but also pursue various purposes including relaxation as they experience many different emotions at a time. In that regard, the study suggested that the owners and the staff of the coffee shops should make sure that they clearly understand the servicescape which would influence the emotional reactions of the customers and that they take the characteristics of the customers into consideration when they decorate the shops, which would be regarded as one of their strategies to improve the behavior intentions of the customers. In conclusion, the coffee shops should do their best to keep the images of their staff tidy and favorable in order to make desirable changes in the emotional reactions of their customers.