The Challenge of Consumer Diversity in Servicescapes: an Investigation of Consumer and Service Provider Experiences

University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research from the College of Business Business, College of Summer 6-12-2020 The Challenge of Consumer Diversity in Servicescapes: An Investigation of Consumer and Service Provider Experiences Abigail Nappier Cherup University of Nebraska - Lincoln Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/businessdiss Part of the Marketing Commons Nappier Cherup, Abigail, "The Challenge of Consumer Diversity in Servicescapes: An Investigation of Consumer and Service Provider Experiences" (2020). Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research from the College of Business. 58. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/businessdiss/58 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Business, College of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research from the College of Business by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. THE CHALLENGE OF CONSUMER DIVERSITY IN SERVICESCAPES: AN INVESTIGATION OF CONSUMER AND SERVICE PROVIDER EXPERIENCES by Abigail Nappier Cherup A DISSERTATION Presented to the faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Major: Business (Marketing) Under the Supervision of Professors Les Carlson and Andre F. Maciel Lincoln, Nebraska June 2020 THE CHALLENGE OF CONSUMER DIVERSITY IN SERVICESCAPES: AN INVESTIGATION OF CONSUMER AND SERVICE PROVIDER EXPERIENCES Abigail Nappier Cherup, Ph.D. University of Nebraska, 2020 Advisors: Les Carlson and Andre F. Maciel While consumer diversity continues to grow in importance, evidence suggests that firms have yet to align their thoughts and activities with diverse consumers’ needs. This is especially true for consumers who have a hidden stigmatized identity. On the one hand, consumers with such concealable stigmatized identities must make the decision to reveal or conceal their identity in a variety of situations, including service environments. On the other hand, many service providers are working to offer inclusive service environments yet struggle to do so. Therefore, this ethnographic dissertation has two objectives: to 1) conceptualize practices unique to consumers with a concealable stigmatized identity as they interact (or not) in the marketplace, and 2) document the decision-making process of service providers who seek to create and maintain an inclusive servicescape. Concerning the first objective, I sampled bi+ consumers; they make up the largest portion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, plus community, yet experience stigma in many service environments. Thus, bi+ consumers provide a rich context for understanding how consumers with a concealable stigmatized identity experience service environments. Findings suggest that bi+ consumers conceal or reveal their stigmatized identity, at individual and collective levels. Due to their concealable identity, bi+ consumers co-create and map spaces that offer them refuge. As a result, this study iii examines an understudied phenomenon, consumer disclosure of such identities to service providers. Regarding the second objective, I sampled service providers who demonstrate some commitment to inclusion. Service providers who offer inclusive servicescapes are becoming more common. Findings suggest that service providers create an inclusive “vibe” with their physical layout, point-of-sale communications and interactions, and external communications. Service providers maintain inclusivity by dealing with ongoing challenges to their inclusive space. They do this by hiring diverse staff, training them on inclusion, and coping with the unpredictable. When a challenge occurs, service providers can successfully recover their inclusive space by taking a community-based approach to recovery. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: THE PHENOMENON OF INTEREST ...........................................1 THEORETICAL IMPORTANCE ...........................................................................5 MANAGERIAL IMPORTANCE ............................................................................6 POLICY IMPORTANCE ........................................................................................7 DISSERTATION OUTLINE...................................................................................8 CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS .................................................9 STIGMA AND CONSUMPTION ...........................................................................9 INCLUSION AND SERVICESCAPES ................................................................12 CHAPTER 3: METHOD .......................................................................................18 SUITABILITY OF CONTEXT .............................................................................18 DATA COLLECTION APPROACH ....................................................................19 Participant Observation ....................................................................................... 20 Consumer Interviews .......................................................................................... 22 Service Provider Interviews ................................................................................ 23 Ethical Considerations ........................................................................................ 24 ANALYTICAL PROCEDURES ...........................................................................25 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS .....................................................................................28 CONSUMERS’ CONCEALABLE STIGMATIZED IDENTITY IN SERVICESCAPES ................................................................................................28 v An Overview of Bi+ Stigma ............................................................................... 29 Practices of Concealing....................................................................................... 34 Practices of Revealing......................................................................................... 42 MARKETING SAFETY TO INVISIBLE CONSUMERS ...................................56 Deciding to be an Inclusive Servicescape ........................................................... 56 Implementing Inclusion in Servicescapes ........................................................... 64 Challenges to Creating Inclusive Servicescapes ................................................. 91 CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION ...............................................................................119 THEORETICAL CONTRIBUTIONS .................................................................120 MANAGERIAL CONTRIBUTIONS .................................................................124 PUBLIC POLICY CONTRIBUTIONS ...............................................................128 LIMITATIONS OF CURRENT STUDY AND FUTURE WORK ....................132 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................134 REFERENCES ....................................................................................................135 APPENDIX ..........................................................................................................144 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. We Don’t Care Sign, p. 70 Figure 2. Community Space, p. 73 Figure 3. You Are Safe Here Sign, p. 75 Figure 4. We Welcome Everybody Sign, p. 76 Figure 5. All-Gender Bathroom Sign, p. 79 Figure 6. Local Community Board, p. 81 Figure 7. Corporate Community Board, p. 82 Figure 8. The Downtown Café Social Media Post, p. 86 Figure 9. Interconnected Psychology Social Media Post, p. 88 Figure 10. Cornflower Bakery Social Media Post, p. 89 Figure 11. Galactic Cluster Brewery Vandalized Sign Social Media Post, p. 102 Figure 12. Midwest CrossFit Google Reviews, p. 116 1 CHAPTER 1: THE PHENOMENON OF INTEREST Understanding consumer diversity has become increasingly important for firms (Henderson and Rank-Christman 2016; Henderson and Williams 2013; Kumar 2018). In the United States and many other countries, firms need to interact with a growing number of consumers from different ethnic backgrounds, gender identities, age cohorts, and religious affiliations, just to name a few possible variations. However, while marketers have made some progress toward incorporating diversity in marketing efforts, there still is frequent misalignment between these efforts and diverse consumers’ needs and preferences (Henderson and Williams 2013; Lamberton 2019; Sandikci and Ger 2010; Scaraboto and Fischer 2013). This misalignment affects a wide range of businesses and consumers. In a case that circulated widely in the popular press, some gay customers had service denied by a small bakery on the basis of the entrepreneur’s religious beliefs (Liptak 2017; Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission 2018). In another well-known situation, some black customers were arrested in a Starbucks store when the manager thought they had malicious intentions, whereas they were in fact only waiting for a business associate (Stevens 2018). How do such situations impact consumers’ participation in the marketplace? Moreover, how can marketers do a better job of engaging with diverse consumers when they want to do so as part of their positioning? To take up these issues, this dissertation engages with the

Load more