Exploratory study of salient attributes of servicescapes in the context of Irish branded motor dealerships

Purpose: The study explores variables of branded car dealerships’ servicescapes, set in the Dublin area and specifically seeks to uncover which attributes millennial consumers find important and which of these attributes contribute to approach behaviours and which to avoidance behaviours. Context: Shopping environments and their respective stimuli need to be subjects of continuous research as consumers change their preferences and desires. Millennial consumers demand a more multi-sensory shopping experience from servicescapes in motor retailing and so this area deserves more attention from researchers as the organizations need to understand their consumers to deliver a hedonic shopping experience. Literature: Existing literature has mostly focused on examining the influence of individual atmospheric variables on shopping behaviours, especially in the context of approach and avoidance behaviours. There is a consistent agreement that certain elements of a servicescape can be manipulated to induce a desired behaviour among shoppers, however a lack of studies devoted to the investigation of what consumers deem as the salient atmospheric variables and how these affect them in the context of motor retailing servicescapes. Methodology: This research is of exploratory nature and an inductive qualitative approach is used. In-depth interviews were carried out with 8 participants who fitted the research criteria and a thematic analysis was used to uncover salient themes relevant to the research objectives. Findings: The study highlights several servicescape attributes that millennial consumers deem important and suggests which of these attributes contribute to approach behaviours and which lead to avoidance behaviours. Originality: Whilst there is a body of research dedicated to studying the impact of various atmospheric stimuli in retail settings, research attempting to discover salient servicescape attributes is limited and research into servicescape attributes of motor dealerships is scarce