Impact of Korean Highway rest area Servicescape on the intention of Purchase

Transcription

1 Volume 118 No , ISSN: (printed version); ISSN: (on-line version) url: ijpam.eu Impact of Korean Highway rest area Servicescape on the intention of Purchase Hyunsoon Jang 1 and Yen Yoo You 2 1 Doctoral Student, Dept. of Smart Convergence Consulting, Hansung University, 116, samseongyo 16gil, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul Metropolitan Government,,02876, Korea lawfirm07@hanmail.net 2 Corresponding Author, Professor, Dept. of Smart Convergence Consulting, Hansung University, 116, samseongyo 16gil, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul Metropolitan Government,,02876, Korea. threey0818@hansung.ac.kr January 27, 2018 Abstract Background/Objectives: The Korean Expressway has grown rapidly to be 9th country in the world with 38 lines and 4,323km. The expressway rest area also has grown from 4 in 1970 to 185 in 2012 and now its sales is 14 trillion Korean dollars. And express rest area is very important factor for customer satisfaction to use the express way. However, this premise has not been validated in a scientific manner so far. Despite several study of expressway rest area, there exist scant literature analyzing the role of servicescape on the customer satisfaction, the staying time and the buying intention, for example, what servicescapes drivers to use for

2 the expressway rest area service, how much are they satisfied on the expressway rest area servicescape, and what are the purchasing effects of the expressway rest area service. Methods/Statistical Analysis: The main purposes of this dissertation are two folds. First, this dissertation investigates the determining factors of the service expressway customers satisfaction. Based on the servicescape approach, this dissertation tests how much drivers are satisfied with the servicescape of the expressway rest area. The second purpose of this dissertation is to understand the effects of the customer satisfaction and staying time on the purchasing intention. Findings: Based on the servicescape approach, the first research model examined the effect of servicescape, i.e., the facility s exterior, interior and signal & symbol, on the customer satisfaction and staying time of the expressway rest area. This dissertation analysed how each factor influences customer s satisfaction and behavioral intentions to purchasing. The research model based on the theoretical arguments of servicescape theory and customer satisfaction theory. Data were obtained from a sample of 500 drivers from 7 expressway rest area in yongdong-line to sokcho. The results showed that two servicescape have a significant influence on the drivers satisfaction, which in turn influenced the purchasing intention. Another key finding was that the servicescape influence the staying time, but the staying time did not influence positively on the purchasing intention. Improvements/Applications: For further research, it will be a meaningful research in practice if try to clarify the relationship between the servicescape and customer satisfaction according to the characteristics of customers. Key Words : Public Service, Service Quality, Customer Satisfaction, Trust to Public Sector, Government Financing Project 1 Introduction The Korean Expressway, which has become the driving force of economic development by linking the whole country with the daily life of the country and the nation s balanced development, opened

3 a total of 38,703 km (including 6 private lines) of 38 lines at the end of 2012 and 18,870 thousand cars has been registered and also has grown to the ninth largest motorway in the world. As of October 2013, 210 rest areas are installed on the expressway, but most of them are limited to simple rest and convenience facilities, therefore, the use of rest area is limited for simple rest facilities. However, due to the recent changes of demand for highway users, the highway rest area has evolved from a simple resting place to a place with sights. As the concept of usage changes, the highway rest area performs functions of shopping mall and also possible to purchase regional products or foods without visiting local stores via rest area. As the result, the rest areas, via linking with nearby facilities, are changing as a place where can be vitalized the local economy by attracting tourists. Recently, it has been recognized that the time spent in the rest area of users, is closely related to the sales growth of the highway rest area. As result, recent rest areas are selecting specific themes and also changing exteriors as park to maximize the stay time of the visitors. However, the relationship between stay time of highway rest area visitors and sales growth has not been verified through systematic research. Therefore, this research attempts to analyze how the servicescape of highway rest area affects user s purchase activity and also try to analyze the mediating effects of user satisfaction and stay time on the relationship between the servicescape and user s purchase activity. 2 Materials and Methods 2.1 Status of highway rest area and necessity of service The highway rest area on the highway, which is designed for highspeed driving and long-distance driving, is an indispensable crucial element that must be provided for the driver s safety and comfortable traveling, such as relieving fatigue of the driver, preventing drowsiness. It is classified as a regular rest area and a simple rest area depending on whether a restaurant or a gas station is installed. The regular rest area is equipped with comprehensive facilities for

4 people and vehicles. The simple rest area is mainly installed for safe driving by solving the physiological needs of the driver. Therefore, it can be said that resting area must need the facilities for restoration of accumulated fatigue in a short time. 2.2 Servicescape A conceptual term for servicescape is a compound word that combines a scape behind a service like a seascape or landscape. Servicescape means not only the internal and external design facilities of the service, but also the physical environment including additional factors such as temperature, noise, and fragrance. Servicescape affects the perception of customers through human senses such as visual, auditory, olfactory, and tactile senses in terms of the specific physical and spatial aspects of the environment surrounding the consumer. Every physical element that can be directly perceived by the customer in the place where the service occurs is called as servicescape. Baker (1987, 1994) categorized physical environments by including tangible clues such as customers or employees as well as artificial and physical environments within the service space and also categorized ambient factor, design factor and social factor. On the other hand, Bitner (1992), defined the servicescape is the artificial physical environments created by humans in contrast to the natural and social environment in the service industry and classify surrounding elements, spatial arrangement and functionality and Signals, Symbols and Sculptures as 3 factors. Background environment such as temperature, lighting, noise, music, views and scents affect human s five senses. Affects human perceptions, beliefs, and emotions of a specific place, and also affects the length of time that customers and the service industry spend in the physical environment of services and employees. Milliman (1986) and Spreng (1996) have researched the effects of ambient conditions that based on the effects of background music on shopping behaviors. 1,2,3,4,5 The arrangement of furniture and equipment creates a visible and functional space for service delivery. This space allows us to sense the order and efficiency of employees and customers, chaos and uncertainty. In self-service activities, functionality and ease of use are important factors that help customers to act on their own

5 Bitner (1992) suggested that spatial placement and functionality in a self-service physical environment have a very large impact. Space layout and functionality become more important when the tasks to be performed are complex or time contracts exist. For example, when a customer with extreme time pressures arrives at the airport for departure, if the space layout and function of the airport is properly designed, the customer will be satisfied and the perception of the service will increase. Davis (1984) stated that there are many elements in the physical environment that act as signals to implicitly or explicitly inform the customer s code of conduct. An explicit sign of No Smoking tells the rules of action, and recycling leads to participation in recycling activities. Many elements within the physical environment play an explicit and implicit communication role through the signals, symbols, and sculptures attached to the interior and exterior of the environment where they are located. Bitner (1992) states that environmental psychologists respond to people s overall environment and Individuals perceive separate stimuli, but determining their response to the environment is an overall form of stimulation. 3,6 2.3 Customer Satisfaction The concept of customer satisfaction is widely used and widely defined in academia and general companies but the definition can be different depending on whether value the result or the process. The result of customer satisfaction is the view that customer satisfaction is the product that shows the result of consumption experience and cognitive status of the consumer as to whether it has been properly compensated for the price paid by the consumer (Howard & Sheth, 1979). On the other hand, when considering the process of evaluating satisfaction, it is estimated that the consumption experience is at least as good as expected (Hunt, 1977). Oliver (1980), based on the expectation discrepancy hypothesis, satisfaction means that emotions are caused by the inconsistency between customer expectations and actual experiences. Also for customer who are visiting highway rest area for short time, the customer satisfaction is determined by the cognitive judgment and the emotional reaction felt in the process of contact with resting place facilities or employees. 7,8,

6 2.4 Time of stay Time is associated with all aspects of human behavior, which is a very important variable in understanding consumer behavior (Jacob, Szybillo and Berning, 1976). Therefore, companies have begun to pay attention to their time of stay, especially time in the servicerelated field is an important factor closely related to the quality evaluation of service and consumer satisfaction. 10 The residence time refers to how long to stay in a certain space. The highway rest area is a service environment with a short time to stay in the facility compared to other similar services such as theme parks. In order to extend the stay time of customers, it means that there should be a lot of factors such as attractions and enjoyment in the space. In the case of such a service having a long stay time, the service quality perceived is greatly affected by the servicescape. In addition, the customer s stay time is related to the customer s spending behavior and the amount of spending. 2.5 Purchasing Intention Time is associated with all aspects of human behavior, which is a very important variable in understanding consumer behavior (Jacob, Szybillo and Berning, 1976). Therefore, companies have begun to pay attention to their time of stay, especially time in the servicerelated field is an important factor closely related to the quality evaluation of service and consumer satisfaction. 10 The residence time refers to how long to stay in a certain space. The highway rest area is a service environment with a short time to stay in the facility compared to other similar services such as theme parks. In order to extend the stay time of customers, it means that there should be a lot of factors such as attractions and enjoyment in the space. In the case of such a service having a long stay time, the service quality perceived is greatly affected by the servicescape. In addition, the customer s stay time is related to the customer s spending behavior and the amount of spending

7 2.6 Study Model and Hypothesis Study Model In this research, we try to analyze the impact on customers purchase intention when the servicescape affects customer satisfaction and stay time of customer. In addition, we hypothesized as shown in figure 1, to verify the impact on stay time when the servicescape affects customer satisfaction. Figure 1. Research Model In this study model, the reason for setting Fairness of Personnel Evaluation as the parameter is that, owing to the presence of work motivation and the desire for individuals to be evaluated under identical conditions Employee Loyalty is deemed to have a very important role. Following this, with Fairness of Personnel Evaluation defined as the parameter for this study model, it can be expressed that there is a large discrepancy between this study and precedent studies Hypothesis Hypothesis 1(H1): The servicescape will have a positive impact on customer satisfaction. Hypothesis 1-1(H1-1): The surrounding environment will have a positive impact on stay time. Hypothesis 1-2(H1-2): The area function will have a positive impact on stay time. Hypothesis 1-3(H1-3): The signal and symbols will have a positive impact on stay time

8 Hypothesis 2(H2): The servicescape will have a positive impact on stay time. Hypothesis 2-1(H2-1): The surrounding environment will have a positive impact on stay time. Hypothesis 2-2(H2-2): The area function will have a positive impact on stay time. Hypothesis 2-3(H2-3): The signal and symbols will have a positive impact on stay time. Hypothesis 3(H2): The customer satisfaction will have a positive impact on stay time. Hypothesis 4(H2): The customer satisfaction will have a positive impact on purchase intention. Hypothesis 5(H2): The stay time will have a positive impact on purchase intention Research Tools and Operational Definitions of Variables The population is the customers using the rest area of Korean Road Corporation and the sample was surveyed and analyzed by the users of the 7 resting places of Yeongdong Line to Sokcho(Yongin, Dukpyoung, Yeoju, Munmak, Hoengsung, Pyeongchang, Kangreung) by time-based. The time and method of the survey were Self-Administered, in which the respondents directly filled out the questionnaire through structured questionnaires for a total of four days from February 27 to March 2, A total of 500 copies of the questionnaire were distributed and 450 copies were collected. 44 samples have been rejected due to un-suitable or unnecessary sample for analysis and 406 copies were selected for the analysis. The collected questionnaires were analyzed by statistical packages, SPSS and AMOS. The questionnaire for substantiative analysis was composed as follows. The questionnaires were reconstructed according to the purpose of this research based on existing literature research. The questionnaire consisted of 6 sections, and the composition of the questionnaire items is as follows. First, the questions about the servicescape of the highway rest area are, composed by 17 questions which are about surrounding environments (5 items), area functionalities (6 items) and symbols and signs (6 items) and the Likert 7 point scale was used. Second,

9 customer satisfaction was measured as overall service satisfaction and composed of 1 item. Third, in the research of Jeon Byeonggil (2002), Time in the service sector is an important factor in evaluating service quality and determining consumer satisfaction. 11 In this research, the definition of stay time is defined as total time spent from the time visitors arrived and leave and the person who participated in the questionnaire set the method of directly entering the stay time. Fourth, for question about purchase intention, the person who participated in the questionnaire set the method for the the number of purchases purchased at highway rest area. Finally, 7 items were composed for demographical and general usage characteristics and measured for nominal scale. 3 Results and Discussion As a result of analyzing the general characteristics of resting place customers who responded to the questionnaire of this research, male was 234 (57.9%) and female was 170 (42.1%). The target rest areas were, Yongin (55, 13.5%), Deokpyeong (49, 12.1%), Yeoju (28, 6.9%), Namseong (154, 37.9%), Hoengseong (47, 11.6%), Pyeongchang (24, 5.9%)and Kangnung (49, 12.1%). By age group, there were 89 people in the 20s (22.3%), 30s were 122 (30.5%), 40s were 109 (27.3%), 50s were 69 (17.3%) and over 60s were 11 (2.8%). By type of vehicle group, largest proportion was passenger cars (89.7%), bus was 3.7% and truck was 4.9%. In terms of usage, 8.4% are alone, 45.6% are family members, 11.8% are couples, 28.1% are friends, and 3.5% are others. The number of accompanying passengers was 33.3% for 2 persons, 24.4% for 3 persons, 21.5% for 4 persons and 10.3% for 1 person. For the purpose of traffic on the highway, tourism is the most distributed with 69.7%, business 16.6%, visiting by 6.1%, and others by 7.6%. The exploratory factor analysis and the reliability test were conducted to examine whether the variables included in this research model are divided into three independent dimensions of servicescape. The single item factors have been excluded and the result of the analysis are shown in [Table 1]

10 Table 1. Exploratory Factor Analysis and Reliability Analysis of Servicecape Measures The Principal Component Model was applied to the factor analysis and Varimax rotation was used as the factor rotation method. As a result of the factor analysis, three factors such as surrounding environment, spatial function, signal and symbol were extracted. Originally, 17 items were examined, but the 5 items with the problematic factor analysis were removed and a total of 11 items were used. The internal consistency was verified through the reliability test using Cronbach alpha and the cumulative variance that can be explained by the three factors was % of the total variance. To test the appropriateness of the research model, structural equation analysis was used and AMOS statistical software was used for this purpose. The maximum likelihood (ML) was used for the analysis of the measurement model and the model was evaluated through the fitness indexes. The results of the analysis of the measurement model are shown in < T able2 >. The fit indices were X 2 = , df = 68, p = 0.000, GFI = 0.861, IFI = 0.847, NFI = 0.829, CFI = 0.846, RMR = and RMSEA = Therefore, except for some indices, we can see that most of them are satisfied

11 with the recommended level. Ttable 2. Analysis of total measurement model Figure 2. Research model and path coefficient for causal analysis The path coefficient is a normalized coefficient * p <.05, ** p <.01, *** p <0.001, indicating a significant path coefficient Causal effect through covariance structure analysis As a result of the hypothesis test, 6 of the 9 hypotheses were adopted and 3 hypotheses were rejected. Details of the results are shown in [Table 3]

12 Table 3. Hypothesis Verifivation result through structural equation model 4 Conclusion 4.1 Study Results and Implications To accomplish the purpose of this research, a theoretical model consisting of five hypotheses is presented based on previous researches. The survey results were analyzed for 500 customers at each highway rest area (Yeongdong Line, To Sokcho) and the following results were obtained. Firstly, the servicescape has a positive impact on customer satisfaction. The surrounding environment and spatial function of service had statistically significant positive impact, but signals and symbols did not. The main purpose of users of the highway rest area is to use the restroom, to eat, to use simple food and beverage, and it seems that emotional signals and symbols are not important, unlike the surrounding environment and space functions. Therefore, in order to increase customer satisfaction, it is important to maintain the ambient temperature, noise, and cleanliness in the surrounding environment and also convenience of the moving lines in the store or relaxed moving space, visual convenience of the

13 signs related to stores and products, and convenience of use of the counter are necessary. Second, as a result of verifying the relationship between the servicescape and stay time, the spatial function, the signal and the symbol have a statistically significant positive effect on the residence time. However, the surrounding environment was not affected by the stay time. Which could mean, in order to increase the stay time of customer, concern on the kindness of human services, the appearance of buildings, and the selection of themes, which are components of signals and symbols and the importance of space functions. Third, customer satisfaction directly positive affects the stay time of highway rest area. Customer satisfaction for servicescape has been shown to have a positive effect on the length of stay at highway rest areas. Fourth, customer satisfaction has a statistically significant positive effect on purchase intention. It shows that the previous researches which about the customer satisfaction affects customer s behavioral intention also applies to customers of highway rest area. Fifth, staying time did not have a statistically significant positive effect on purchase intention. This shows that the purchase intention of the store does not directly affect the stay time of the highway rest area. In other words, the entertained rest area of highway impact on the length of stay time of customers, but it does not have relationship with purchase intention. Therefore, in order to increase purchase intention, it is not possible to see the actual effect by only selecting the theme and implementing the theme such as nature, region, and uniqueness and also means that it should be done together with a plan to induce customer to purchase. Finally, as a result of verifying the mediating effects of the relationship between customer satisfaction and stay time of the servicescape and purchase intention, the servicescape has weakened its effect on purchase intention when controlled the effect of the customer satisfaction and time of stay. Therefore, customer satisfaction and stay time have a partial mediating effect on the relationship between servicescape and purchase intention

14 4.2 Improvement This research has several limitations as follows. In this section, we will present limitations of research and future research directions to improve it. First, in this research, the servicecape of highway rest area is divided into surrounding environment, spatial function, signal and symbol then the relationship between purchase intention and customer satisfaction and residence time was investigated. Further research on the relationship between stay time and customer satisfaction may be meaningful. The second limitation is, this research is not considering difference in the characteristics of visitors. Depending on the purpose of using the highway and the time of use (long distance and short distance), the important factor of the servicescape for could be different. However, in this research, we tried to clarify the relationship between the servicescape and customer satisfaction without considering characteristics of customers. For further research, it will be a meaningful research in practice if try to clarify the relationship between the servicescape and customer satisfaction according to the characteristics of customers. 5 Acknowledgment This research was supported by the research fund of the Graduate School of Hansung University. References [1] Baker, J. (1987). The role of the environment in marketing Service: The consumer perspective in The services challenge: Integrating for competitive advantage. Chicago. IL.: American Marketing Association, [2] Taylor, S. A., & Baker, T. L. (1994).An Assessment of the Relationship Between Service Quality & Customer Satisfaction in the Formation of Consumer Purchase Intention. Journal of Retailing, 70(Summer)

15 [3] Bitner, M. J. (1992). Servicescapes: The Impact of Physical Surroundings on Customers and Employees. Journal of Marketing, 56(1), [4] Milliman, R.E. (1986). The influence of background music on the behavior of restaurant patrons. Journal of Consumer Research, 46(3) [5] Spreng, Richard A. Scott B. MacKenzie, & Richard W. Olshavsky(1996), A Reexamination of the Determinants of Consumer Satisfaction, Journal of Marketing, 60(3), [6] Davis, V. (1984), The Influence of the Physical Environment in Offices,Academy of Management Review, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp [7] Howard, J. A., & J. N. Sheth(1969),The Theory of Buyer Behavior, Newyork: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. [8] Hunt, K. H. [1977]. Customers Satisfaction /Dissatisfaction- Overview and Future Directions, in Hunt, K.H. Conceptualization and Measurement of Customer Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction, Marketing Science Institute, Cambridge, MA, pp [9] Oliver, R. L. (1980). Processing of the satisfaction response in consumption: A suggested framework and research propositions. Journal of Consumer Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction and Complaining Behavior, 2, 1 6. [10] Jacob Jacoby, George J. Szybillo and CarolKohn Berning(1976). Time and Consumer Behavior: An Interdisciplinary Overview, Journal of Consumer Research, 2(4), [11] Jeon Byeong-gil (2002). The Effect of Musical Tempo on Restaurant Patrons Responses, Graduate School of Hotel Management, Gyeonggi University, p

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