Social servicescape effects on post-consumption behavior The moderating effect of positive emotions in opera-goers

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to determine the role played by the social servicescape and positive emotions in the post-use in terms of response - satisfaction, perceived value and consumer loyalty - in hedonic services. Design/methodology/approach - A quantitative study was conducted to gather data from 867 opera-goers through e-mail with a link to a questionnaire. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling based on partial least squares. The effects of the social servicescape and emotions as moderators were examined using interaction techniques. Findings - The paper provides empirical support on the multidimensional configuration of the social servicescape composed by both characteristics and interactions of employees and customers. The results demonstrate significant relationships between the social servicescape and positive emotions in perceived value, satisfaction and loyalty of consumers. Positive emotions are a moderating variable, intensifying the relationship between the social servicescape and perceived value. The opposite effect in the relationship between the social servicescape and loyalty is found. Research limitations/implications - Further research is required to generalize the findings to other hedonic services. Practical implications - Knowledge on both social servicescape and emotional effects on consumer behavior may enable cultural managers to improve the consumption experience of performing arts attendees. Originality/value - This paper fulfills a research gap in the area of social servicescape as well as the effects of emotions in hedonic services. It makes two main contributions. First, it provides knowledge on social servicescape conceptualization and measurement. Second, the moderation, by interaction effect, of emotions and social servicescape in consumer behavior are confirmed.