Interactive Experience of Physical Servicescape and Online Servicescape: A Review and Future Research

Abstract

Businesses should be able to distinguish themselves in the ever-growing service market by providing an interactive experience to customers to remain competitive amidst market turbulence. The interactive experience allows businesses to provide unique experiences to their customers through physical and online servicescapes, influencing consumer behavioural outcomes. However, existing research models have not fully captured critical attributes that drive the interactive experience of physical and online servicescapes for long-term business revenue growth. Therefore, similarities and differences in attributes for both contexts must be elucidated to pinpoint gaps for future investigations. Additionally, although interactive marketing scholars have devoted considerable effort to determine the effects of servicescapes on consumer behaviour, information on an up-to-date systematisation of theoretical and empirical findings remains scarce. This chapter aims to critically review the interactive experience research for physical and online servicescapes within a 10-year period (2012-2022). The review highlights the importance of this emerging area of interest by considering previous research on the interactive experience in the literature. An agenda for research was developed, serving as a foundation for future studies into this essential yet often neglected aspect of the interactive experience of online and physical environments. Also, understanding this interactive experience for both contexts is essential for practitioners to respond to consumers’ actions, behaviour, preferences, expectations, and demands quickly and appropriately.