The impact of servicescape on customer behavioral intention a study of apartment leasing service in HCMC

Questionnaire...40 REFERENCESAP PEND IX... Figure1:Conceptualmodel...17 Figure2:CFAresult...27 Figure3:SEMresult...32 LISTOFTABLES Table1:Descriptivestatisticsofsample...20 Table2:Measur

Acknowledgement

IwouldliketoexpressmydeepestgratitudetoISB’scommitteemembers,tomysupervisor,Dr.PhamNgocThuywhohavebeensupportiveeverystepofthisr e s e a r c h Dr.PhamNgocThuyhelpedmepursuetherouteandthetopicsofmyi n t e r e s t s andmadethewholeprocessenjoyable.Shegavemeguidancewithdetailsw h e n Iencounteredproblems.ShegavewordsofencouragementandshowedtremendousunderstandingwhenIcouldn’tbreakthrough.Herknowledgeandexperiencehelpedmesetthecourseandmadeitpossibleformetocontinuemyr e s e a r c h

Ialsowouldliketosendmanythankstomyfamilywhomotivatemealotduringresearchperiod,tomyclients,myfriendsandcolleagueswhoparticipatedintheinterviewandsurveyforthisresearch.Theyalsogavemeusefulthoughtsandc o m m e n t s onmyresearch.Theircontributionsmakemyresearchpossible

Thisstudyexaminestherelationshipbetweeneveryaspectofservicescape,serviceexperienceevaluation,andcustomerbehavioralintentions.Basedondataderivedfrom304customerswhohaveleasedapartmentsinHoChiMinhCity(HCMC),alinkwasfoundbetweenboththesubstantiveandcommunicativeaspectsofthes e r v i c e s c a p e reliablypredictedcustomers’evaluations.Thisresearchalsofoundthatam o r e favorableserviceexperienceevaluationpositivelyrelatedtobehavioralintentions.Theoreticalcontributionsofthisresearchareelucidated.Moreover,managerialimplicationsrelatedtoservicescapedesign,promotionstrategiesands e r v i c e experienceenhancementarediscussed

Keywords

Servicescape,substantivestagingofservicescape,communicativestagingofs e r v i c e

s c a p e , customerbehavioralintentions,leasingservice,serviceexperienceevaluation

TABLEOFCONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTABSTRAC

T

TABLEOFCONTENTS

L I S T OFFIGURESLIS

TOFTABLES

1 Introduction 6

2 Literaturereview 9

2.1 ApartmentLeasingServiceincondominiums 9

2.2 Servicescape 9

2.2.1 SubstantiveStagingofServicescape 11

2.2.2 CommunicativeStagingofServicescape 13

2.3 Serviceexperienceevaluation 14

2.2.Behavioralintentions 16

3 Method 17

3.1 Procedureandsampling 17

3.2 Measurementscales 20

4 Dataanalysisandresults 23

4.1 Measurementvalidation 23

4.2 ConfirmatoryFactorAnalysis(CFA) 25

4.3 Hypothesestesting 30

4.4 Structuralequationmodel(SEM)results 31

5 Discussions 33

5.1 Implications 34

5.2 Conclusion 35

5.3 Limitationsandrecommendationsforfutureresearch 36

6 Supportinformation 37

6.1 Resultofpilotresearch 37

6.2 Questionnaire 40

REFERENCESAP PEND

IX

Figure1:Conceptualmodel 17

Figure2:CFAresult 27

Figure3:SEMresult 32

LISTOFTABLES Table1:Descriptivestatisticsofsample 20

Table2:Measurementscales 22

Table3:ComparisonbetweenCFAthresholdvaluesandCFAresults 26

Table4:Measurementscalevalidityandreliabilitytestingresult 29

Table5:Means,standarddeviations,andstandardizedCFAloadingsofitems 29

Table6:Structuralpathsinthemodel 31

Table7:Findingsofpilotresearch 37

Table8:Therespondent’snationality 40

Table9:Thenameofcondominiums 41

1 Introduction

Bitner(1992)introducedtheconceptof"servicescape"ascombinationofserviceandl a n

d s c a p e thatdenotesthephysicalandmentalenvironmentinwhichcustomerexperiencesarecreated.Servicescapeiswhereaserviceproviderprovideservicestoitscustomers.Servicescapeisnotonlyacuefortheexpectedservicequality,butalsoinfluencescustomers'evaluationsofotherfactorsdeterminingperceivedservicequality(Reimer&Kuehn,2005).NilssonandBallantyne,2014statedthatas e r v i c e s c a p e doesnotsimplyimpactcustomerperceptionsofservicefunctionsands e r v i c e quality,butmoresubtly,alsoimpactsonthemeaningsacustomerdrawsfroma lotofintangible,contextualandsymbolicelementsofaservice.Servicescapeoratmosphericshavethemeansofprovidingtheevidencethatassistsconsumersinmakingsubjectiveevaluationsofserviceproducts(Hoffman&Turley,2002).Therefore,servicescapehasadirectandanindirecteffectonperceivedservicequality,butdifferentfromservicequality,servicescapehasahighoveralleffect

Servicescapehaswelldevelopedtheorywhichhavebeensuccessfullytestedinm a

n y servicecontextssuchasleisureservicesetting(Wakefield&Blodgett,1996),hotelindustry(Countryman&Jang,2006),retailservice(Hooperetal,2013),themep a r k service(Dong&Siu,2013),etc.Moreover,numerousstudieshavehighlightedvariousaspectsofservicescape,suchascolorandlight,backgroundmusic,aswellasodors(Reimer&Kuehn,2005).InVietnam,somemasterthesesstudiedaboutthee f f e c t ofservicescapetocustomerloyaltyinrestaurantsorincoffeeshop.However,s e r v i c e s c a p e ofapartmentleasingserviceincondominiumshasnotbeenpaidadequateattention

Leasingserviceisacommonserviceincondominiumsorresidentialbuildingsrequiringalargeamountofcapitalofinvestors.Itisnotahighriskinvestmentbutitc a n beahighreturninvestmentiftheinvestorsbuytherightproperties.Intheworld,roundly40%ofpopulationlivesinrentalhousing(Malpezzi,ascitedinAmenyah&F l e t c h e r , 2013).InHoChiMinhCity(HCMC),recently,alargenumberofc o n d o m i n i u m s cameintothemarket.In2015,thetotalsupplywasapproximately4 , 3 7 0 apartmentsfrom83projects,increasing6

%year-on-year(YoY).From2016to2018,morethan67,000unitsareexpectedtoenterthemarketwhichprovidingaround2 , 2 0 0 apartmentsforleasing(Savills,HoChiMinhCityMarketBriefQ12016).Witha highgrossdomesticproduct(GDP)growthrateandbeingconsideredasthemostd y n a m i c cityinVietNam,in2015,HoChiMinhCityattractedUS$3billioninforeigndirectinvestment(FDI),up129%

(YoY).IncreasingFDIinflowhasp o s i t i v e l y affectedthedemandforleasingapartments.Theincreasingofsupplyandd e m a n d isaphenomenoncreatingadynamicleasingapartmentmarket

Nevertheless,therapidincreasinginsupplyofleasingapartmentserviceinthec o m i

n g yearspushesthecompetitionamonginvestors,developersmoreandmorei n t e n s e Thelesseesnowadayshavestrongbargainingpositionduetomanychoicesofl e a s i n g apartments.Furthermore,therequirementsofthelesseestohaveastabler e s i d e n c e ismoreandmorestringent.Theydonotonlyrequiretohaveaniceinteriordecoration,highqualityhomeappliancesandfurniture,etc.whichareprovidedinsidetheapartment,theyalsorequiretohaveabeautifulview,peacefulandcleanarea,goodfacilities,freshair,orhowpeoplemanagethecondominium,howsafeands e c u r i t y itis,etc.whicharerelatedtothelandscapeofserviceorthephysicaland

mentalenvironment.Generally,location,surroundingdevelopmentandscenicbeautya r

e commondeterminantsofthedemandforcondominiumproperties(Zarin&Bujang,1999).Thelesseesnormallyprefersleasingapartmentincondominiumstoothertypesofpropertyduetotherental,convenience,safety,environment,location,etc.Thelessorswhoinvestforleasingservicenormallylookforlongtermleasecontractsandpremiumrentalsleadingtoprofitableinvestments.Accordingly,tomeett h o s e requirementsandencouragelesseestocontinueusingservice,thedevelopersaswellaslessorsneedtobuildtheirpropertieswithattractiveservicescapetohavemorecompetitiveadvantages.Servicescapeisconsideredasfuture’sformofintensec o m p e t i t i o n inserviceenvironment(Ishaq,Bhutta,Hamayun,Danish&Hussain,1995).Miles,MilesandCannon(2012)statethatservicescapeisapartofcompetitivea p p r o a c h thatshouldbepromotedandemphasized.Forthosereasons,thispapercontributestotheliteratureonservicescapebyexaminingtheimpactofServicescape

o n behavioralintentionsofleasingserviceinHCMC.Tobemorespecific,thispaperisarmedtoexamine:

- Therelationshipsbetweensubstantivestagingandcommunicatives t

a g i n g ofservicescapeandserviceexperienceevaluationofcustomersleasingapartmentsinHCMC

- Therelationshipbetweencustomers’serviceexperienceevaluationandtheirbehavioralintentiontocontinueusingapartmentleasingservice

2 Literaturereview

2.1 Overviewofapartmentleasingserviceincondominiums

Acondominiumisabuildingorastructurewhichhastwoormorestoriesconsistingo f parcels,ownedand/

orusedseparatelybyindividualsandremainingportionofthepropertybeingownedbytheownersofindividualunitincommon(Gajanayake,asc i t e d inAriyawansa&Udayanthika,2012).Therearelow-risecondominiumwithbelowfivestories,medium-

risecondominiumwithbetweensix-totwelve-storiesandhigh-mingYip,Chin-oh&Tzu-

risecondominiumincludingclusterofbuildingsoverthirteenstoriesorabove(Ngai-yingHung,2007).Theservicescapeinc o n d o m i n i u m referstoexteriorattributes(suchasbuildingexterior,signage,parking,w a i t i n g areas,admissionoffice,andlandscape),interiorattributes(suchasdesign,layout,equipmentanddecoration),ambientconditions(suchasthemusicandtemperature)andthepeoplewhoworkforprovidingtheservice(suchas

a d m i n i s t r a t o r s , receptionists,securityguard,cleaners…).Overtheyears,researchersf o c u s e d moreonlessees’satisfactioninspecificsettings.Somestudiedpropertys p e c i f i c characteristicssuchashigh-rise,multifamily,orowner-

occupiedandothersf o c u s e d oncharacteristicsofneighborhoodandenvironment,e.g.schools,climate,ortransportation(Brouwer,2015).Brouwer(2015)alsomentionedthattheconstructsofl e a s i n g serviceisquitedifferentfromotherservices,servicesinleasingapartmentm a y bebetterexpressedusingvariablesrelatedtomaintenanceandcleanliness

2.2 Servicescape

Althoughtheterm“servicescape”isprobablythemostpopulartermtorefertotheinfluenceoftangibleandintangiblecuesonconsumers,theotherterms

h ofpsychologyhasbeenknownasenvironmentalpsychology.

Kotler(1973)pointedoutthatthephysicalenvironmentinwhichaproductisp u r c h

a s e d isanimportantpartofthetotalconsumptionpackage.In1974,Mehrabiana n d Russelldescribedenvironmentalpsychologyas“thedirectimpactofphysicalstimulionhumanemotionsandtheeffectofphysicalstimulionavarietyofb e h a v i o r s , suchasworkperformanceorsocialinteraction”.In1992,Bitnerdevelopedatmosphericsfurtherbycreatingaconceptualframeworkforservicesettingsandb e g a n usingthetermservicescapetodescribethephysicalenvironmentinwhichs e r v i c e s occur.Bitner’sconceptualframeworkwhichisusedinnumerousresearchesiscomprisedofthethreeenvironmentaldimensions:

1 ambientconditions(i.e.weather,temperature,airquality,noise,music,odors);

2 spatiallayoutandfunctionality(i.e.thewayinwhichequipmentandfurnis

hingsarearranged,andtheabilityofthoseitemstofacilitatec o n s u m e r

s ' enjoyment);and

3 Signs,symbolsandartefacts(i.e.signageanddecorusedtocommunicatea n denhanceacertainimageormood,ortodirectcustomerstodesiredd e s t i n a t i o

n s )

Arnould,PriceandTierney(1998)statesamorecomprehensivedefinitionofs e r v i

c e s c a p e AccordingtoArnouldetal.,servicescapeislikenestedproductofmanagerialstrategiesandcustomerinputs.Itwasproducedthroughsubstantiveandc o m m u n i c

a t i v e staging,andcanhavehighorlowlevelofsubstantivestagingc o m b i n e d witheitherhighorlowlevelsofcommunicativestaging.Thesubstantives t a g i n g ofservicescapereferstothephysicalcreationofcontrivedenvironmentwhichwasstressedinmostofpreviousrelatedresearches.Thecommunicativestagingofs e r v i c e s c a p e referstothewaysinwhichenvironmentispresentedorinterpreted.Thisp a p e r adoptsthedefinitionofArnouldetal.(1998)whichdescribesfairywellthes e r v i c e s c a p e atcondominiums

2.2.1 Substantivestagingofservicescape

Substantivestagingrefersto“thephysicalcreationofcontrivedenvironments”(Arnouldetal.,1998).Someservicesrequireasimpleservicescapewithafewe l e m e n t s andspacessuchasself-

service(onlycustomer)orremoteservice(onlyemployee),someothersrequirecomplexservicescapeandalotspaceswhichinteractbothcustomersandemployeessuchasinterpersonalservices(Bitner,1992)

Apartmentleasingserviceisoneofinterpersonalservicesbecauseittakesplaceinc o n d o

m i n i u m s withmanyfloors,apartments,gardens,facilitiesandequipment,etc.T h e substantivestagingofservicescapeishighlightedbyBitnerintheresearchofs e r v i c e marketingbecomesapopulartheoryofservicescape

Theimplicationsofpreviousresearchsuggeststhatorganizationsneedtobea c u t e

l y awareofhowtheymanageawiderangeofinternaldesignissuesbecausetheya p p e a r toaffecttheperceptions,emotionalstateandbehavioralintentionsofbothemployeesandcustomers.Overtheyears,thedifferentstudieshavebeenconductedindifferentindustries.In2002,HoffmanandTurley(2002)emphasizethatbothtangiblee l e m e n t s (thebuilding,carpeting,fixtures,andpointof-

purchasedecorations)andintangibleelements(colors,music,temperature,andscents)areessentialincreatings e r v i c e experiences.In2006,CountrymanandJanghasastudyofhotelindustrys t a t i n g thatservicescapehasasignificantrelationshiptocustomers’impressionofthehotellobby.Recently,inthecontextofthempark,DongandSiu(2013)confirmthatvisitorssatisfywiththesubstantivestagingofaservicescapepositivelyrelatestheirs e r

v i c e experienceevaluation.Similarly,inthecontextofapartmentleasingservice,theservicescapeinfluencecustomerexperiencewiththesamedirectionascustomeru s i n g hotelservice,themeparkservice,etc.Therefore,hypothesis1isproposed:

H1:Substantivestagingofaservicescapeispositivelyrelatedtoservicee x p e r

i e n c e evaluationofcustomerusingapartmentleasingservice.

2.2.2 CommunicativeStagingofServicescape

Communicativestagingoftheservicescapereferstohowtheserviceenvironmentispresented andinterpreted.Itinvolvesthetransmissionbothofmeaningdirectlyrelatedtoservicedeliveryandofmeaningtranscendingtheinstrumentalcontext(Arnouldeta l , 1998).Communicativestagingofservicescapeinvolvesthetransmissionofs e r v i c e s c a p e meaningandmovesservicescapemeaningfromserviceprovidertocustomer,betweencustomersandpotentiallyatleastfromcustomerstoproviders

AccordingtoArnouldetal

(1998),“Communicativestagingispatternedthroughthew h o , what,howandwhenofcommunication”.ServiceprovidersandcustomerinteractionsareoneofimportantingredientofCommunicativeStaginganditisthep r i m a r y sourceofcompetitivedifferentiation.Bitner(1992)acknowledgedthoughherf o c u s wastoconceptualizethemanufacturedandphysicalstimulithatconstitutes e r v i c e s c a p e , bothcustomersandemployeesarealsoaffectedbysocialandnaturalstimuli,whicharealsohousedwithinservicescape(Rosenbaum&Massiah,2011)

Communicativestagingincludesthepersonnelandculturalelementsofas e r v i c e setting.Whenthecustomersenteraservice,theysometimesreadthesigns,thea n n o u n c e

m e n t orasktheemployeesforhelporexplanations…

Thepersonnelaspects,a s serviceemployeesserveasthemajorchannelforcommunicationwithcustomers,theyplayanimportantroleincustomers’evaluationsofserviceperformance( G w i n n e r , Gremler,&Bitner,1998).Culturalelementsareanothermajoraspectofas

e r v i c e s c a p e ’ s communicativestaging.Indeed,theycanbeofcriticalimportancein

m a n y typesofservicesettings,especiallyforexperientialserviceswherecustomersare

e x p e c t e d tointeractcomprehensivelywiththesetting.Culturalatmosphericsare

thendesignedtoinfluencecustomers’psychologicalfeelingstowardtheservicee n c o u

n t e r andthusshapetheirserviceexperienceevaluation(Dong&Siu,2013)

Inapartmentleasingservice,thecommunicativestagingofservicescapeistheinteractionbetweenthelesseeandpeopleworkingatcondominiumsuchasreceptionist,managingpeople,securitypeople,etc.Thelesseeswillevaluateservicethroughperformance.Bothemployee’sbehavior(i.ebeingcustomerorientedandcredible)andtheirimage(i.ethecompetenceandphysicalattractiveness)influencethelessees’perceptions.Thephysicalattractivenessoftheservicepersonnelattheinterfacewithcustomerscan"greatlyenhancetheserviceexperience"(Baker,ascitedinHarris&Ezeh,2008).Thesignificanceofstaffbehaviorasaproductofmarketorientationisrelatedtoorganizationalculture(Harris&Ezeh,2008).In2008,HarrisandEzeh(2008)statethegreatercustomers'evaluationofstaffbehavior,staffimageandstaffphysicalattractiveness,thegreatertheintentionsofcustomerstobeloyal.Theresearchofthemepark,DongandSiu(2013)alsoprovethatvisitorssatisfywiththecommunicativestagingofaservicescapepositivelyr e l a t e s theirserviceexperienceevaluation.Hence,thehypothesis3isproposed:

H2:Communicativestagingofaservicescapeispositivelyrelatedtos e r v i c e experienceevaluationofcustomerusingapartmentleasingservice.

2.3 Serviceexperienceevaluation

Serviceexperiencehasitsrootsinmanydisciplinesincludingeconomics,psychology,s o c i

a l psychology,managementandmarketing(Philipp"Phil"Klaus,&Maklan,2012).In2014,Tusuggestedthatcustomerexperienceisimportantinbuildingup

bothcustomersatisfactionandlonger-term"loyalty".Totalserviceexperienceisd e f i n e d asauniquecognitiongeneratedbytheindividual,basedonaserviceencounter,combiningthefactors(inputs)suchasexpectation,disconfirmation,perceivedservicequality,during-

consumptionemotions,andpostconsumptionemotions.Consistentwiththeexperientialemphasisoftheservice-

dominantlogic(Berry,Wall&Carbone,2006)pointoutthatcustomers’evaluationofaservicerelyo n bothrationalandemotionalcluesembeddedinthetotalexperience

Ferguson,PaulinandBergeron(2010)emphasizeemotionalcluesaredescribeda s eithermechaniccomingfrominanimateobjectsandthephysicalaspectsoftheintangibleservice,orhumanic,comingfromthebehaviorandappearanceofserviceproviders.Mechaniccluescouldbedescribedasoriginatingintheservicescapeandh u m a n i c cluesfromtheinteractionsorrelationswiththeservicepersonnel

Organizationscanmanagethecluesinacustomerexperiencethatevokeattitudesofc o m m

i t m e n t thatbuildsloyalty(Berry&Carbone,2007).Customers’perceptionsoftheserviceexperienceisimpactedbyatmosphericsofservice.Servicesettingdesignc a n stronglyinfluenceindividualandsocialbehaviorwithinthatsettinginwaysthatconstrainorsupporttheserviceexperienceofcustomersandstaffatafunctionallevela n d insymbolicways.Whatisinterestingisthatcustomersandindeedstaffmaynota l w a y s beattentivetohowtheservicescapedesignimpactstheirsenseofwell-

being( N i l s s o n &Ballantyne,2014).Sandstrom,Edvardsson,KristenssonandMagnusson(2008)haspointedoutaserviceexperienceisthesumtotalofthefunctionalandemotionaloutcomedimensionsofanykindsofservice

Inthecurrentstudy,acustomer’sserviceexperienceevaluationwastheindividual’suniquecognitiveandaffectiveimpressionsaboutanexperiencebasedontheirinteractionswithsubstantiveaswellascommunicativeelementsofthes e r v i c e s c a p e Theevaluationwasassumedtoencompasstheirevaluationoftheentires e r v i c e process,theoutcome(enjoymentorotherwise),andtheirpositiveornegativememoriesofaspectsoftheserviceexperience.IntheresearchofSchembri(2006)s t a t e s thatserviceexperienceisakeydeterminantofconsumers'servicequalityevaluation.Customer-

perceivedvalueintheserviceexperienceinvolvesbothcognitiveandemotionalresponses(Berryetal.,2006;Edvardsson,2005;Fergusoneta l , 2010).Customerswillbemostlikelytocherishafavorableserviceexperiencefora n extendedperiodoftimeiftheyfeelthattheexperiencehasbeenexclusive,andpleasing.Inthehealthservicecontext,thefindingofFergusonetal

(2010)showsthatalldimensionsofthetotalserviceexperienceareassociatedwithpositiveword-of-m o u t h intentions.InthecontextofaUKuniversitygraduationceremony,Koenig-

L e w i s

andPalmer(2014)findtheresultspost-experiencepositiveemotionshadagreatereffectonbehavioralintentionthansatisfaction.Fromtheabovediscussion,hypothesis3isproposed:

H3:Serviceexperienceevaluationispositivelyrelatedtobehaviorali n t e n t i

o n s ofcustomerusingapartmentleasingservice.

2.4 Behavioralintentions

Behavioralintentionsaresignalsfortheactualpurchase,andhence,itisimportantthatitismonitored(Zeithaml,Berry,&Parasuraman,1996).Behavioralintentions

Substantive Staging of

Servicescape

H1

H3 Service Experience Evaluation Behavioral Intentions H2

Communicative Staging of Servicescape

includepurchaseintentionandwillingnesstopayforpremiumprice,andthishasc r i t i c a leffectsonbrandandorganizationalperformance.Particularly,Zeithamletal

(1996)suggestedthatfavorablebehavioralintentionsareassociatedwithaserviceprovider’sabilitytogetcustomerstosaypositivethingsaboutserviceandrecommendittootherconsumers,remainloyaltothem,spendmorewiththecompany,andpaypricepremiums.Therefore,MalhotraandMcCort(2001)arguethatgeneratingagreaterunderstandingofconsumerbehavioralresponsescontinuestobeaprimaryc o n c e r n formarketingresearchers

wereinterviewedaboutapartmentleasingserviceattheirlatestapartmentwhichtheyh a v

e leased

depthinterviewstoobtainmoreinsightabouttheconstructsunderinvestigation

Inthepilotstudy,individualswhohaveleasedapartmentswasinvitedtoattendin-Afterthataquantitativestudybyconductingasurveywithasampleoffivelesseesbyfacetofaceinterviewstopreliminarilytestthemeasuresbeforelaunchingamains u r v e y ThepilotstudywasusedtomodifyandrefinethescaleitemsbyusingofCronbach’salphareliabilityandexploratoryfactoranalysis(EFA)

Inthemainsurveystudy,respondentswereapproachedtoanswerthesurveyquestions.Inordertotesttheabove-

proposedmodel,anationalonlinesurveywasu s e d tocollectdataforempiricaltestingbyusingconvenientsampling.Wedistributedthelinkthroughthesurveywebsitehttps://

mailtofollowthislinktothesurvey,w h i c h tookapproximately10-

docs.google.com.Theonlinelesseeswereinvitedbyreceivingtheinvitationletterviae-15minutestofinish.Thecollecteddatafromthemains u r v e y wasusedtovalidatethemeasuresbyconfirmatoryfactoranalysis(CFA)andtotestthestructuralmodelbystructuralequationmodel(SEM).Conveniences a m p l i n g wasusedforthemainsurvey

AccordingtoHair,Black,Babin,andAnderson(2010),ageneralrule,thes a m p l e sizeshouldbe100orgreaterandtheminimumsampleshouldhaveadesiredratioof5observationspervariable.n>100andn>=5k(k:numberofvariables).Inthisp a p e r , wehave4constructs:Substantivestagingofservicescape(10items),c o m m u n i c a t e stagingofservicescape(8items),serviceexperienceevaluation(6

items),andbehavioralintentions(5items).Totally,thereare29itemssothenecessarys a m p

l e sizewillbe29x5=145samples(Hairetal.,2010)

RegardingEFA,ComreyandLee(2013)suggestedarangeofminimums a m p l e sizes,from50(verypoor)to1,000(excellent).Gorsuch(1974)characterizeds a m p l e sizesabove200aslargeandbelow50assmall.Fromtheabovesuggestionwedecidetohaveatleast200participantstomakesurethatthepaperhaveadequates a m p l e size.Inthisresearch,wecollectedthedatafrom304respondentswhichissufficientforusingbothCFAandEFA.Thesamplecomprisedwith160(52.6%)malerespondentsand144(47.4%)

femalerespondents.Therewere87(28.6%)lesseeslivingalone,175(57.2%)lesseeslivingwithfamily,37(12.2%)lesseeslivingwithfriendsand6(2%)lesseeshavingothercases.Mostoflessees(58.9%)havegotmarried,80(26.3%)lesseesweres i n g l e , 21(6.9%)lesseeswasseparated,24(7.9%)lesseeswasdivorced.45(14.8%)l e s s e e s areKoreanwhichishighestproportioninthisresearch,35(11.5%)lesseesareAmerican.Mostoflesseesinthisresearchwerebusinessmen(38.5%).Thesecondr a n k wasteacher(23.7%).Therewere122(40.1%)lesseesstayedinthelatesta p a r t m e n t with6months–

12months,62(20.4%)lesseesstayedforlessthan6

months,47(15.5%)lesseesstayedfor12months–18months,43(14.1%)lessees

stayedfor18months–24monthsand30(9.9%)lesseesstayedformorethan24m o n t h s

3.2 Measurementscales

Fourconstructswereexaminedformeasurement:substantivestagingofservicescape,c o

m m u n i c a t i v e stagingofservicescape,serviceexperienceevaluationandbehavioral

intentions.Themultiple-itemmethodwasusedandeachitemwillbemeasuredbasedo n

afive-pointLikerttypescale(rangingfrom1=stronglydisagreeto5=stronglya g r e e ) Morespecifically,thisstudywasadaptedthemeasuresusedtooperationalizetheconstructsembeddinginproposedtheoreticalmodelfromrelevantpreviouss t u d i e s SubstantivestagingofservicescapewasmeasuredbytenitemsborrowedfromBitner(ascitedinDongandSiu,2013)andmodifiedbasedontheresultsofthequalitativepilotstudy.Communicativestagingofservicescapewasmeasuredbyeighti t e m s borrowedfromArnounldetal.,

(1998).ServiceexperienceevaluationwasmeasuredbysixitemsborrowedfromTu(2004).ThelastisBehavioralintentionswasmeasuredbyfiveitemsborrowedfromZeithamletal.(1996).Totallythereare4constructswith29items.Theresultfromqualitativestudyindicatesthatservicescapeaffectsthelessee’sexperiencealot.Forexample,anintervieweesharedhisopinionaboutservicescape:“Icannotsleepwellifintheareahavingnoise.IpreferlivinginthehighfloorapartmentsothatIwillnothearthenoisefortrafficandothers”

Anotherrespondentssaid:“Iwouldliketostayintheapartmentwhereswimmingpoolandgymhas.Itisnecessaryinmydailyactivities”.OnedoctorfromSouthAfricasharedhisopinion:

“IliketheapartmentwithniceviewandlargebalconysothatIcanenjoythefreshair”

Basedontheresultofpilotstudy,themeasurementscalesforfourconstructs:s u b s t

a n t i v e stagingofservicescape,communicativestagingofservicescape,serviceexperienceevaluationandbehavioralintentionsweremodifiedtobeappropriatewithV i e t n

a m e s e context.ThequestionnairewascomposedinEnglishwiththreeparts:g e n e r a linformation,mainquestions,anddemographicinformation

inBitner(1992 )

- Notsure.Iamindifferentbetweenthishot elandotherhotels

- Iwouldprobablychoosethishotelaga in

- Iwouldmostlikelystayatthesamehote lifIvisittheareaagain

Behavioral

Intentions

BEHAIN25 SaypositivethingsabouttheXYZtootherpeople

Zeithaml,Be rry&Parasu raman (1996 )

4.1 Measurementscalevalidation

Cronbach’salphaisthemostwidelyusedmethodtomeasuretheinternalconsistencyo f reliabilityoftest.Cronbach’salphaabove0.7isconsideredreliable.WetestedCronbach’salphaforeveryconstruct.TestingCronbach’salphabeforeusingEFAto

eliminatetheinappropriateitemsbecausetheseitemscancreatethefakeconstructsw h e nusingEFA(NguyenDinhTho&NguyenThiMaiTrang,2008).

totalcorrelationlessthan0.3.Aftereliminatingtheinappropriateitems,wetestedCronbach’salphathesecondtime,theresultshowed24appropriateitemswithcorrecteditem-

totalcorrelationgreaterthan0.3.TheCronbach’salphaofsubstantivestagingofservicescapeis0.786.Cronbach’salphaofc o m m u n i c a t i v e stagingofservicescapeis0.824.Cronbach’salphaofserviceexperienceevalutaionis0.862.Cronbach’salphaofbehavioralintentionsis0.853.AlltheconstructshavetheappropriateCronbach’salpha

Factoranalysisisusedtouncoverthelatentstructure(dimensions)ofasetofvariables(Garson,2006).Itreducesattributespacefromalargernumberofvariablestoasmallernumberoffactors.Exploratoryfactoranalysis(EFA)isappliedinthiss e c t i o n totestthemodelwithKMOandBartlett’scombinedwithPromaxrotationw h i c h arehighlyrecommendedforstructuralequationmodeling(SEM).KMO( K a i s e r -Meyer-

Olkin)measureofsamplingadequacywithKMOfrom0.6to1isagoodfactoranalysis,andBartlett’stestofSphericityshouldbesignificant(Sig.<0 0 5 ) forfactoranalysistobeconsideredappropriate.Moreover,TotalVarianceExplainedneedstobeover50%andEigen-valueofeachfactormustabove1tobe

accepted.Itemsthathavingfactorloadinglessthan0.5anditemthatdistributesin2o r morecomponents/factorswithdifferencelessthan0.3willbeeliminated.

(Kaiser,a s citedinGarson,2006)

Inthefirstrotatedround,24itemsweregroupedinto4componentswithKMOis.876andSig.000.Totalvarianceexplainedis56.306%.TheconditionstorunEFAw e r e matched.However,SUBSTA08andCOMSTA18havefactorloadinglessthan0 5 , theywereeliminated.Inthesecondround,22itemsweregroupedinto4componentswithKMOslightlydecreasingto0.868andSig.000.Allitemshavef a c t o r loadingmorethan0.5.TotalVarianceExplainedis58.167%.EFAresultwasa c c e p t a b l e

4.2 ConfirmatoryFactorAnalysis(CFA)

ThemeasurementmodelwithallfourconstructswasassessedusingConfirmatoryF a c t

o r Analysis(CFA)withAMOS22software.ThemeasurementmodelwasexaminedforinstrumentvalidationusingCFAbeforetheanalysisofthestructuralm o d e l fortestingassociationshypothesizedintheresearchmodel(Lin,2007).Inconfirmatoryfactoranalysis(CFA),afindingthatindicatorshavehighloadingsonthepredictedfactorsindicatesconvergentvalidity.Inthefirsttesting,theitemS E R E X P 2 4 waseliminatedtoincreasetheGFIfrom0.882to0.965anddecreaseC M I N /

d f from2.008to1.614.Intheformercase,thethresholdvalueis0.6,andinthelatteritisrecommendabletotakeavalueofatleast0.5(Bagozzi&Yi,1988;Haire t al.,2010).Convergentvaliditywasassessedbyverifyingthatthestandardizedlambdaparametersweresignificantandabove0.5(Gerbing&Anderson,1988;

Steenkamp&vanTrijp,1991).Thescales'discriminantvaliditywasestablishedbyd e t e r

m i n i n g whetherthesquarerootmeasureoftheAVEexceededcorrelationsb e t w e e n thelatentvariables.Inordertocreateamodelfitforthestudy,thetable3s h o w s thecomparisontheCFAresultwiththethresholdvalueasbellows:

Theresultshowinginthetable3,wehavep=0.000,CFI=0.965,CMIN/

df=1.614a n d RMSEA=0.058indicatesthatagoodlevelfitofmeasurementmodelwiththecollecteddata

Themeasurementmodelwasfurtherevaluateforitsreliability,convergentanddiscriminantvalidityfollowingtheguidelinesfromthepreviousliterature(Hairetal.,2010).Fortestingconvergentreliability,wecomparedaveragevarianceextracted( A V E ) ofallfactorswithstandardvalues.Allvalueswereeithercloseorabovethebenchmark.Fordiscriminantvalidity,wecomparedsquarerootofAVEwiththeir