Social Capital in the Digitised Servicescape

Abstract

Digitalisation has placed retail stores under re-examination due to the changing servicescape (i.e. the shopping environment) and social interactions with store personnel and other customers that are experienced across both online and offline stores. This interdisciplinary dissertation seeks to fill a research gap in the marketing literature concerning the servicescape and the sociological theory of social capital, including how interpersonal relationships and social networks constitute the service experience and how the digital–physical servicescape facilitates trust, human contact and communities. The research, which applies both qualitative and quantitative methods, seeks to provide a holistic picture of customer experience creation in the digitalised servicescape. This study was conducted in three phases, which were published in separate papers and are included in this dissertation. The quantitative studies utilised consumer surveys that were analysed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) for testing the hypothesised associations between examined constructs. Quantitative studies were completed via a content analysis of focus group interviews. The findings of this dissertation illustrate how retail stores serve as a setting for networks of non-commercial exchange and how social interaction can be an end in itself for consumers who visit them. The combination of online and offline stores facilitates social capital formation by providing a platform for a broader variety of human contact and social networks than what a single channel could offer. In this digital–physical servicescape channel, integration enhances the co-creation of the service experience by providing convenient access to social resources. The affective state of the service experience is especially associated with trust and commitment towards the relationship with the retailer. This study has implications for both retailers and service providers who aim to diversify and develop lasting customer relations in a digitised consumer society.