The Metaverse is an immersive, interactive, and collaborative shared virtual 3D environment where people are represented by avatars and interact in real-time. The Metaverse is still an unexplored phenomenon that has recently become interesting to researchers. In general, there is scarce literature regarding the Metaverse, and when it comes to the servicescapes and esports industry, it is much scarcer. Knowing that the video game industry and esports (competitive video gaming), a business that attracts millions of people, are significant parts of the Metaverse, this qualitative research aims to analyze and explain how the Metaverse as a servicescape for esports is understood from the perspective of esports actors. The Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to analyze eight semi-structured interviews with experienced professionals within the esports industry. It was found that the Metaverse platform could serve as a servicescape for not only the esports industry but potentially for other industries as well. Even though the Metaverse phenomenon is considered to be surrounded by uncertainty and is still developing, it has a great potential for businesses to expand their marketing and business practices online in an immersive, engaging, and innovative way. The findings of this research will contribute to the literature by opening a window to understanding the complexity of the Metaverse platform as a servicescape and esports industry. In addition, these findings can be used to further research the Metaverse platform as a servicescape for marketing and business practices online.

Denna undersökning utgår ifrån Mary Jo Bitners servicescape-modell om hur fysiska miljöegenskaper formade efter en berättelse eller tema påverkar serviceverksamheter. För att sedan implementera modellen i en digital miljö. Resultatet av att nyttja teorierna kring servicescapes på exempelvis serviceverksamheter ger besökare möjlighet att fly undan vardagen, medvetet eller omedvetet, genom en kombination av olika sinnen. I undersökningen såg vi att besökarens självmedvetenhet kunde jämföras med Mihaly Csikszentmihalyis teorier om ”flöde”, där medvetandetillståndet hos en individ blir uppslukat av individens aktivitet. Ur denna jämförelse kunde förutsättningarna och kriterierna för ”flöde” nyttjas. Undersökningen påvisar att anpassning av servicescape i en digital miljö leder till en förlust av sinneskombinationer i jämförelse med fysiska servicescapes. Detta ändrar dock inte det faktum att besökaren upplever ett mervärde av platsen då tillämpning av servicescapes i skapandet av fysiska som digitala miljöer öppnar upp för besökare att inte bara bevittna respektive berättelse utan även delta i den. / This study is based on Mary Jo Bitner’s servicescape-model of the physical environment, shaped by a story or a certain theme, towards adapting the model into a digital environment. The result of applying the theories surrounding servicescapes to where a service process takes place, gives visitors an opportunity to escape from the everyday life, consciously or unconsciously, through a combination of the human senses. The study found that the effect, a lesser amount of self-awareness, could be compared with Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s theories of "flow", a mental state where an individual becomes fully immersed in the process of the activity. The conditions for "flow" could therefore be used as a foundation in the creation of “digital servicescapes”. The adaptation of servicescape towards a digital environment led to a loss of possible combinations of senses in comparison with physical servicescapes. Though this did not result in removing all the added value of adapting the servicescape-model into a digital environment, for it is still expanding the opportunity for visitors to interact with the story respectively, instead of being idle observers.

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The meaning of a first impression is a thesis that aims to create a design for a hotel lobby, which can accommodate the needs of both the guests and the personnel in the best way possible. This study is based at the Scandic Park hotel in central Stockholm, were the lobby today appears to lack function. The desired effect of the design is to make the lobby area more enjoyable for the guest, and at the same time improve the flow of people through it. A detailed and thorough study of the lobby over different times and with different techniques suggests that the lobby is not a place where the guest wants to spend more time than necessary, it’s main function today appears to be as a transit hallway from the entrance of the hotel to the hotel rooms. The results of this study are used to create a design for an improved environment that not only welcomes the guest but that also shows them the identity that the Scandic Park’s management wishes to communicate. The creation and development of this design is also based on a study of relevant literature that includes, among others, theories of Spatial Design, Environmental Psychology, Servicescapes and Cognitive Psychology. The empirical data and the theories have helped me to create a design proposal that I believe conveys what Scandic Park stands for, while at the same time helping the guest to perceive and utilize an increased functionality in the lobby area. Hopefully this design will better accommodate the needs and wants that appear to be missing today, and at the same time promote the accessibility and the flow through the lobby.

Titel: Här idag- borta imorgon. En kvalitativ fallstudie om vilka möjligheter och risker pop-up butiker kan medföra för ett varumärkes image och identitet.   Författare: Amanda Andersson och Frida Andersson   Handledare: Leif Rytting Examinator: Kaisa Lund Kurs: Kandidatuppsats 15hp. Företagsekonomi III - Marknadsföring. Detaljhandel och Service Management, Linnéuniversitetet, VT 2019. Syfte och forskningsfrågor Syftet med studien är att undersöka på vilket sätt pop-up butiker kan stärka ett varumärkes image och identitet samt vilka risker konceptet kan medföra ur ett varumärkesperspektiv inom detaljhandeln.   Forskningsfrågor: ·     Varför väljer Företag att öppna pop-up butiker? ·    Vilka möjligheter och risker finns det med att öppna pop-up butiker utifrån ett varumärkesperspektiv? ·     På vilket sätt kan pop-up butiker bidra till att stärka befintliga relationer mellan varumärken och konsumenter? Metod I studien tillämpades en kvalitativ fallstudie av inredningssektorn. Det empiriska materialet baseras på åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer av personer med kunskap om pop-up butiker.       Slutsatser Pop-up butiker kan stärka ett varumärkes och identitet image genom att det ger varumärket en fysisk närvaro där de får chansen att förtydliga sitt varumärke. Den största risken ligger i om var pop-up butikerna inte följer varumärkets övriga helhet samt om varumärken öppnar överallt vilket kan urvattna varumärket. / Title: Here today- gone tomorrow. A qualitative study about the opportunities and risks the affect of pop-up stores have on a brands image and identity. Authors: Amanda Andersson och Frida Andersson Tutor: Leif Rytting Examiner: Kaisa Lund Subject: Bachelor thesis 15 credits. Business administration III - Marketing. Retail and Service Management, Linnaeus University, Spring 2019. Purpose and research question The purpose of this study is to investigate in which way brands can strengthen their image and identity and the risks the concept can entail from a brand perspective.   Research questions ·    Why do companies open pop-up stores? ·    What are the opportunities and risks for opening a pop-up store from a brand perspective? ·    In what way can pop-up stores help strengthen existing relationships between a brand and customer?   Method This study is based on a qualitative case study in the furnishing industry. The empirical material are based on eight semi structured interviews with people with knowledge about pop-up stores.      Conclusion/Findings Pop-up stores can strengthen a brands image and identity by giving the brand a physical attendance to explicate the brand. The risk is if the brands pop-up stores doesn’t follow the themes with the other channels, or if they open pop-up stores everywhere can result in  brand overexposure.

[pt] Desenvolvido como estudo fenomenológico-hermenêutico, o trabalho que se passa a apresentar busca ampliar a compreensão acerca das experiências interativas sócio- técnicas que têm os participantes dos encontros de serviços com a iluminação ambiental oferecida pelos cenários das empresas. Para tanto, conduziu-se uma revisão bibliográfica focada na visão das lojas de serviços como construções espaciais de uma representação na qual o ambiente físico da empresa constitui o cenário de um espetáculo teatral em que a luz torna-se um elemento primordial. Seguindo uma perspectiva simultaneamente interdisciplinar e transdisciplinar, recorreu-se às disciplinas da Biologia, da Medicina, da Óptica Física, da Física Quântica, da Psicologia Ambiental, da Antropologia, da Semiótica, da Arquitetura e das Artes Cênicas para acessar as principais construções teóricas acerca da luz e para empreender esforços no sentido de responder à desordem de pesquisa. Realizou-se também um estudo de campo em lojas temáticas de serviços, nas quais foram realizadas observações e entrevistas de base qualitativa junto àqueles que experimentaram o fenômeno que se estava examinando. Em acordo com os preceitos da análise de conteúdo e da análise interparticipante, os depoimentos foram interpretados, classificados e utilizados para gerar proposições, as quais foram submetidas a um grupo de cinco informantes-chave e, posteriormente, oferecidas como possibilidades de se chegar a uma melhor compreensão das experiências dos participantes dos encontros de serviços com a luz. / [en] Taking up a phenomenological-hermeneutical approach, this dissertation seeks both to widen as well as to improve the ways through which people participating in service encounters interact with environmental lighting. In this sense, the literature review focussed servicescapes as spatial representations whereby the physical environment of a service firm supports a drama where light is a crucial element. According to a standpoint which is both inter- and transdisciplinary, contributions from several disciplines - e. g. Biology, Medecine, Optical Physics, Quantic Physics, Environmental Psychology, Anthropology, Semiotics, Architecture and Scenic Arts - have been brought about to give access to the most relevant theories about light as well as to start filling up some extant research gaps. The field study was developed in thematic service stores. Both direct observation and qualitative interviews allowed to collect information from participants who had experienced one or more interactions as conceived in this study. Following basic principles from Content Analysis and Interparticipant Observation, the interviews were interpreted, classified and then used to generate several research propositions. The propositions were then analysed by 5 referees in order to be finally presented as propositive guidelines to a better understanding of lighting experiences during service encounters.

As many buying decision are made in retail stores, it is interesting to investigate which factors, such as noise, lighting, music, colour, layout or visual communication have a significant influence on customers’ behaviour in a supermarket. Since only a few studies have been conducted among customers in Sweden, this paper examined their behaviour in the supermarket. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of the various environmental factors in the supermarket as well as how the perceived servicescape influences customers’ behaviour in the store. The research approach used was that of a single case study, based on survey instrument (personal interviews and electronic collection) in order to collect data on facets in regards to the perceived servicescape and customers’ behaviour in the supermarket. A supermarket chain – the ICA group, precisely ICA MAXI in Jönköping was used for this purpose. The collected data was analysed with the means of factor analysis and multiple regression methods in order to obtain factors that can influence customers’ behaviour in the supermarket. The conducted study showed that lighting, noise, colours, signs and symbols as well as space/function conditions such as layout and equipment are the factors that create emotionally pleasant environment in the supermarket. Thus, these factors influence customers’ moods, attitudes or certain beliefs about the supermarket. Moreover, customers may feel happier, more satisfied or relaxed in the supermarket, which lead to arousal – stimulation or excitement. Furthermore, the environmental factors explain the approach behaviour such as exploring the supermarket, spending more time on browsing the products which, consequently, refer to an increased number of items bought.

Abstract. This thesis project analyzes how the principles and methods of service design, design thinking, and human-centered design research can be utilized to re-imagine a county-level parks department, specifically Allegheny County Parks. Allegheny County Parks is a system of nine parks that have suffered for 30+ years from deferred maintenance, funding cuts, and other shortages. Boyce Park, one of the nine County parks, includes a broad range of prototypical park activities. My previous employment and established relationships made Boyce Park an excellent service design case study. To begin the project, I employed exploratory research methods (e.g., literature reviews, observations, participation in services, surveys, and interviews) to understand the design space. Then, generative research methods (e.g., affinity diagrams, personas, stakeholder maps, and service blueprints) led to the identification of key service improvement areas: organizational structure, increase revenue, infrastructure, user-centered park policies and communications. The area of communications was chosen for further exploration, due to its potential as a first step in transforming the parks and affecting the other service improvement areas. Another round of communications-centered exploratory and generative research (e.g., benchmarking and speed dating) was completed, resulting in a new service ecology and communications system proposal for Allegheny County Parks. A portion of the new communications system, specifically a responsive website design for mobile, tablet and desktop platforms, was prototyped. The responsive design, which showcased an activity finder and reservation system, was evaluated through paper prototyping sessions. The feedback from these sessions was implemented within a final HTML prototype.

The notion of community remains an important concern, for individuals, in urban planning practice, and more recently in consumer research. This thesis research explores community at the junction of these areas, through a grounded study of the consumption practices of a place based consumer tribe that exists within an inner city suburb undergoing urban renewal. The process of urban renewal is positioned as a means to revitalise under-utilised inner city areas, and broaden opportunities for city residents and visitors to experience an inner city lifestyle. It can also be seen as a standardising project that commodifies diversity and devalues existing communities and is associated with gentrification. Both perspectives can obscure the possibility that consumption practices can be used to build community like connections. This thesis applies a framework of literature from marketing and consumer research to an urban renewal context, to explore this area of ambiguity. The result of this exploration is a grounded theory of assuming a 'local' identity through consumption experiences in servicescapes. This thesis argues that consumers seek out individual servicescapes for the value experiences that they offer, which can be identity defining. In particular the interaction generated through these experiences can work to build tribal connections to, and within, that servicescape. These consumption experiences can also be used to make assumptions regarding the identity of others; both of the businesses themselves, and the individuals encountered within them. The tribal connections these experiences may generate can have individual benefits in that they can build into existing social networks, but through repetition and shared experiences, may also link an individual to a broader place based community. This thesis also proposes that servicescapes can work to encourage this process, by encouraging identity defining consumption experiences. Like individuals, businesses can come to be assumed to be tribe members and this 'localness' can become a symbolic operant resource that is valued by the tribe. As key sites in which members of the 'local' tribe reinforce their commitment to the tribe, locally owned businesses may benefit by being more likely to be chosen over their 'non-local' competitors. However, as an element of their tribal membership these businesses have a moral responsibility to reinforce the collective ethic of the tribe and assist in integrating new tribe members. In this way they can become ambassadors for the identity of the community, communicating the shared values of the tribe to members and non-members alike. Such a place based tribe is primarily based on public interaction, thus the servicescapes and public spaces that link them can come to work as a theatre in which the tribe is manifested and its rituals performed. As the experience of a sense of shared value is repeated across a range of geographically united servicescapes, this shared experience can be displaced from any one servicescape and generalised into a localness experience that is grounded within the geographic community. It is here that the physical and ideological aspects of the community combine, and the experienced value of a shared identity that originated in a servicescape based consumption experience can come to symbolise the values of the greater community itself. These research findings have implications for inner city urban renewal developments, suggesting that the increased availability of consumption activities that are associated with urban renewal may also be considered as an increased opportunity to build place based consumer tribes. This thesis proposes ways of encouraging this process.