The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the influence of a component of the service environment, namely music, on consumers' judgments and behaviors. More specifically, we were interested in the underlying mechanisms of pleasure effects. We proposed, based on theories from psychological environment and scene perception, that the pleasure induced by background music first influences the overall attractiveness of the service atmosphere, which in turn, has the ability to influence the attractiveness of the persons found in this environment, specifically the service personnel. Finally, these two dimensions of the service environment (i.e., the atmosphere and the personnel) are antecedents of consumers' judgments and behaviors. / The first study was designed to recreate, in a three-minute video-based scenario, a segment of a banking service experience. The video was filmed so to mimic the viewpoint of an actual customer waiting to be served. Three pre-tested background music selections were added as part of the ambient soundtrack. One hundred and fifty-three participants were thus exposed to music high to low in liking and were subsequently asked to complete a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed to assess participants' perception of the service environment, of the personnel, and of the overall service quality. Results showed that music-induced pleasure has a positive influence on the perception of the atmosphere, which was found to impact the perception of the personnel and together these two perceptual dimensions (atmosphere and personnel) were both found to impact overall quality perceptions. / The second study was designed to recreate as faithfully as possible an actual service experience in the controlled environment of the laboratory. One hundred and seventy-three participants were asked to browse an Internet catalog of house and kitchen gadgets and were asked to find a product that they would want to give to their best friend. After making a preliminary choice, they were guided to participate in an online chat session with a consultant. On a between-subject basis, participants were exposed during the browsing and chatting portions to two different lounge music selections that were pre-tested to provide two levels of pleasure---high and moderate. A control condition with no ambient music was also used. To assess the impact of different modes of perceptions, the music was delivered either through speakers hidden in the room or through speakers connected to the computer. This second study confirmed the positive impact of music-induced pleasure on the perception of the environment and of the personnel and their mediating role on the perception of the company and on future behavior. This study also revealed some of the negative consequences of lesser-liked ambient music, especially in consumption contexts where it can be the focus of customers' attention. / The results point to the complexity of music as an atmospheric stimulus and the difficulty of manipulating it for commercial purposes. The results should be useful to managers and designers who must engineer the various elements of the service environment.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.85024 |
| Date | January 2004 |
| Creators | Morin, Sylvie |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Faculty of Management) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002177364, proquestno: AAINR06328, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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