Servicescapes: The role that place plays in stay‐at‐home mothers’ lives

Abstract

Over the past decade, increasing attention has been paid to gender‐related consumption behaviour. However, a relative gap in our knowledge still exists when it comes to understanding the changes that occur as a result of motherhood and how this may influence their interactions in the retail environment. The purpose of this article is to explore stay‐at‐home mothers’ experiences in the servicescape to gain a better understanding of how they associate with servicescapes during this transitional period, how they use retail space to suit their needs, and how they use retail space to negotiate their role as a stay‐at‐home mother. Five stay‐at‐home mothers with children younger than 5 years were provided with disposable cameras and asked to photograph servicescapes that they visited regularly. Over a 1‐year period, they were interviewed several times, and photo‐elicitation techniques were used throughout the interviewing process. The results of this study suggest that when consumers undergo role or identity changes, certain places can be used to smooth this process. Not only can the retail environment be used as a coping mechanism for stay‐at‐home mothers, it can also be viewed as a “second place” as opposed to a “third place”, thus enabling isolated consumers to feel connected with the outside world. Last, this study highlights the temporal dimensions of place. Throughout one's lifetime, one will form attachments to and patronise different places, which will evolve and change as individuals, accordingly, take on different roles and identities. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Influence of Perceived Risk Dimensions on e-Shopping Behavioural Intention among Women—A Family Life Cycle Stage Perspective

“…Several studies have found the influence of FLC stages on shopping behavior in the offline context. Literature shows that as people move from one FLC stage to the next the frequency of shopping trips and enjoyment [86], time spent in shopping [87,88], purchase involvement and wise buying [89], out-shopping behavior [90], shopping styles, information use and decision making [91], spending behavior [92], consumer preference [93,94], expenditure patterns [95] and brand loyalty [76] change. Various shopping-related issues including arranging money for shopping, patronage patterns, and preference for proximity and convenience to reach the store have also been found to be affected by FLC stages [88].…”

Liminal mothers’ negotiation of conflicting service consumption

“…Thomson and Sorensen (2006) have considered an expanded consumer culture more explicitly. Johnstone and Todd (2012) explore the role of servicescapes, in the form of retail environments, in the lives of mothers. Davis-Floyd (2004) considers midwifery care as a commoditised service within consumer culture and Bailey (1999) reflects upon the leisure activities of pregnant women.…”

Exploring the everyday retail experience: The discourses of style and design

“…Shopping has been seen as an emotional activity guided by pleasure‐seeking motives, in which the consumer often seeks multisensory, imaginative and emotional satisfactions (Babin et al ., ; Arnould and Reynolds, 2003; Carù and Cova, ). Apart from this, shopping has been seen as a way of socializing (Bloch et al ., ; Rosenbaum, ; Johnstone, ; Johnstone and Todd, ). Social interaction among and between customers and retail staff is considered important today (van Marrewijk and Broos, ), as postmodern consumers are looking for the ‘linking value’ in products and services (Cova, ; Aubert‐Gamet and Cova, ).…”

“…Most early studies adopted a behavioural approach and explored consumer responses to the physical stimuli in retail stores (Aubert‐Gamet, ; Aubert‐Gamet and Cova, ; Turley and Milliman, ). However, the stimulus‐response approach is nowadays commonly considered insufficient because it considers the consumer as a passive object rather than an active participant (Johnstone and Todd, ). The emphasis on behavioural approaches left gaps in our understanding of the holistic nature of consumers' spatial retail experiences and failed to take into account the social components of the environment (Baker et al ., ; Bitner, ; Aubert‐Gamet and Cova, ; Turley and Milliman, ).…”

“…Indeed, for today's consumers, commercial spaces are places not only for doing necessary routine shopping (Addis and Holbrook, ) but also for spending their leisure time and enjoying themselves (Holbrook and Hirschman, ; Bloch et al ., ; Falk and Campbell, ; Jones, ; Sherry et al ., ; Kozinets et al ., ; Kozinets and Sherry, ), for socializing and being around with other people (Aubert‐Gamet and Cova, ; Bloch et al ., ; Johnstone, ; Johnstone and Todd, ; Rosenbaum, ).…”