Therapeutic servicescapes, COVID stress, and customer revisit intention in the hospitality industry post-lockdown

Oluwatobi A. Ogunmokun, Eastern Mediterranean UniversityFollow
Juliet E. Ikhide, Eastern Mediterranean UniversityFollow

Abstract

As the post-pandemic era gradually dawns upon us, the hospitality industry seems to be slow in recovery, partly due to the continuous stress over being infected in public and hospitality places. Scholars have recommended that hospitality establishments seriously consider the potential benefits of artificial intelligence, social distancing, and cleanliness to fast-track the industry’s recovery post-lockdown. This study contributes to that stream of research by proposing and testing a model that demonstrates that through alleviating COVID stress, therapeutic servicescapes at hospitality establishments could promote customers’ revisit intention post-lockdown. We argue that therapeutic servicescapes have potential marketing and strategic benefits that could fast-track the hospitality industry’s recovery while promoting customers’ well-being. This is because servicescapes at hospitality establishments can be designed in such a way that it delivers transformative health-related benefits. Findings from the analysis of data collected from 213 relaxation bar customers support the study’s hypotheses; that reflective second-order therapeutic servicescape is positively related to customers’ revisit intention to relaxation bars through its negative effect on COVID stress. This study theoretically contributes to the literature by empirically demonstrating that a blend of social and physical settings to form therapeutic servicescapes with restorative potentials do occur in commercial hospitality settings. Practically, the findings of the study suggest that managers should seek to blend the restorative potential of the natural environment with relational resources to enhance the therapeutic potential of their place of business. As customers emerge from social isolation experienced during the lockdown, relational resources in hospitality establishments could go a long way. This would not only deliver health-related benefits to customers, but it would also provide marketing and strategic benefits to hospitality establishments.

Keywords

therapeutic servicescapes, COVID stress, revisit intention, social distancing, post-pandemic, S-O-R theory

Chinese Abstract

后封锁时代酒店业的治疗性服务环境、COVID压力和客户重访意愿

随着后疫情时代的来临，由于在公共场所和酒店等场所持续存在被感染的压力，酒店业复苏缓慢。学者们建议酒店机构认真考虑人工智能、保持社交距离和清洁等的潜在好处，以快速推动后封锁时代的复苏。本研究提出并测试了一个模型，表明通过减轻COVID压力，治疗性服务环境可以促进顾客在后封锁时代重返酒店的意愿。我们认为治疗性服务环境具有潜在的营销和战略优势，可以在促进顾客福祉的同时，加速酒店业的复苏。这是因为酒店的服务环境可以设计成能够提供变革性健康相关福利的方式。对来自213名酒吧顾客的数据分析结果支持了本研究的假设：反思性二阶治疗性服务环境通过其对COVID压力的负面影响与顾客重返意愿呈正相关。本研究在理论上通过实证研究证明了社会和物理环境的混合形成具有恢复潜力的治疗性服务环境确实存在于商业酒店环境中。在实践上，研究结果表明管理者应该寻求将自然环境的恢复潜力与相关资源相结合，以增强他们营业场所的治疗潜力。随着顾客从封锁期间经历的社交隔离中走出来时，酒店业中的关系资源将会起到很大的作用。这不仅能够为顾客提供健康相关的益处，也可以为酒店提供营销和战略方面的好处。

关键词：治疗性服务环境，COVID压力，重访意愿，社交距离，后疫情时期，S-O-R理论

ORCID Identifiers

Oluwatobi A. Ogunmokun: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0095-1522

Juliet E. Ikhide: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5300-1096

DOI

10.5038/2640-6489.7.2.1191

Recommended Citation

Ogunmokun, O. A., & Ikhide, J. E. (2022). Therapeutic servicescapes, COVID stress, and customer revisit intention in the hospitality industry post-lockdown. Journal of Global Business Insights, 7(2), 109-121. https://www.doi.org/10.5038/2640-6489.7.2.1191