Symbolism and Sales that Create Repeat Customers

Businesses create impressions through their servicescape, image, products, and music. An environment can be appealing because it creates an impression that taps into something within our culture and backgrounds that helps customers have positive experiences and feelings. Businesses will often use cultural context to create backgrounds and icons that make them stand out from their competitors.

Near Balboa Park in San Diego is a little gem of a business called Cafe Bassam that carries the charm of old England and colonial India. Antique hardwood, polished silver vases, seasoned bottles of wine and likely the largest selection of tea around. Tables are small and the atmosphere is hurried in an effort to create an authentic experience. Raw tea is out in the open to create the decor that this is a traditional tea shop.

Upon entering you will notice its popularity with trendy people of every background enjoying the experience. A few may be clicking on their laptops, another ruffling the New York Times with disdain, young lovers chatting over their upgrade from lattes to their new found interest in tea. Each has their own background but all are attracted to a place that has a similar cultural strain that appeals to all of their repeat customers.

Cafe Bassam covers a particular timepiece in history and carries with it an interesting piece of history. When businesses create atmospheres that have universal appeal within a dominant culture it will have appeal among a wider section of society. It is like a strain of cultural similarity that touches the customers impressions and images  that leads to a higher possibility of a positive impression.

Consider the very essence of culture as being a stream of conscious whereby each culture being unique by the way in which groups of people define their existence. These definitions come with natural images, symbols and artifacts that come to represent the culture but also how to interpret that culture. Businesses that use those artifacts that tap our collective understandings win big through customer loyalty.

Not all people will experience that cultural understanding the same way but will nevertheless feel an attachment to the display of cultural symbols in a cohesive environment. Associations with past memories, popular media, historical understandings and impressions will mix with their current experience to create the total satisfaction. In other words, the positive nature of an environment must match the positive experience in that environment to create successful customer experiences that influence future buying behavior.

There may still be some skeptics out there about symbolism and sales. Look at the picture above and notice the sailboat and the solid wood card index. The boat represents travel, sophistication, money, and education without our culture. The card index is of a romantic era connected with prosperity. Together one might generate an image of sophistication, wealth, opportunity, and expansion that was associated with the East India Company.

Perhaps you need a more concise example. You may have noticed that during the holidays malls spend a lot of money on Christmas displays and traditional bright colors. Holiday music plays in the background, a Santa is taking children's Christmas wishes, and the smell of cinnamon is everywhere. All of these artifacts and symbols create positive feels based upon years of previous positive experiences. This is one reason why we love the holidays.

Creating an environment that helps tap previously developed positive cultural experiences can help in generate stronger business. It is more likely that a business will create positive impressions if they are building off of previously symbols associated with positive feelings. The way in which the environment can bring together these difference symbols with the actual products and services the business offers will make a large difference in creating repeat customers. As you know repeat customers will not only come back more often but also buy more on each visit raising the per purchase value.

Café 976 Develops Customer Experiences the Green Way

Cafes are a natural part of the urban landscape but Café 976 takes this idea to a higher level. The establishment offers a colorful servicescape brighter than what you might find in your grandmother’s garden. As a converted home Café 976 is retro, trendy, and environmentally friendly. Located a few blocks from Pacific Beach the café acts as a stopping point for locals and students. 

The foliage provides enough cover for a little privacy but not so much to restrict interaction with others. The furniture is old and brightly colored similar to what you might find in a garden but much more functional. The yard is sectioned off into little interaction areas around a tree, a courtyard, or deck. If you don’t like the company in one area move over to the next. 

A positive experience encourages customers to engage in word of mouth advertising. A study of coffee shops showed that managing customer experiences in the functional and emotional domains led to higher customer satisfaction and post purchase behavior (Nadiri & Gunay, 2013). Customer experiences will determine whether they will come back, invite their friends or say positive things about the establishment. 

Café 976 takes particular care over their environment and stands as an example of positive experience management. It is unique enough to create a brand that stands out but not so niched as to limit new customers. Offering a variety of soups, sandwiches and beverages you can take your items and relax in the garden. They balance unique and functional in a way that develops a stronger business model. 

Café 976

976 Felspar St,

San Diego, CA 92109
http://www.cafe976.com/

 

The Little Fountain at Cabaret Cafe

Cabaret Café is a Mediterranean café and coffee shop that offers both light dishes and some of the best lattes in the area. Offering indoor or patio seating customers can find a place to sit. Plush seating or patio furniture style…the choice is yours. The atmosphere is laid back and comfortable. It follows a pattern of style that one would consider to have broad based appeal.

Reviews are strong and patrons appear to like the Mediterranean food, coffee, sandwiches, and smoothies. Based on online reviews the far majority of visitors indicate that they come back on a regular basis and engage in everything from conversation to reading. Patrons are scattered around the various types of tables and nooks. 

The patio also contains a simple fountain. It isn’t anything special but does offer a positive patio experience.  According to Kumar, et. al (2013) servicescapes improve upon the environmental psychology of customer perception and overall positive impressions of the establishment through affect, cognition, preference and behavioral outcomes. 

The purpose of simple fountains, plants, and other small figurines is to create positive feelings that can translate into return visits and long-tail purchases. Depending on the type and decor of the business these do not need to be expensive. Something akin to the one at Cabaret Café is fine. They only need to contribute to the overall landscape and encourage users to use and remember new space.

I have seen other types of stock fountains effectively fill space while adding to the environment. 

These could be bought for a few hundred dollars from your local lawn and garden store. They may not be amazing or grandeur but they effectively use those open walls well while creating soft environmental stimuli. It is a cost effective way to change you’re the environmental landscape.

Kumar, D. et. al. (2013). Conceptualising visual servicescape aesthetics: an application of environmental psychology. Marketing Review, 13 (4). 

Cabaret Cafe

3739 Adams Ave

San Diego, CA 92116

http://www.thecafecabaret.com/

The Business and Health Benefits of Hanging Pictures of Flowers

Flowers and nature help us to connect to our lives before the advent of modernity. It helps us think about a simpler time and nostalgic world. Not that this time was better or worse than it is today but that it was a period when life was simple. People enjoyed the aesthetic beauty of watching wildlife and artistic paint laden within flowers. 

When flowers and wildlife pictures are placed within the workplace it can reduce stress and increase productivity. Stress is one of the most profound killers within the country and a few more flowers, trees, and landscape pictures are unlikely to do you any damage. We may have lost the art of appreciating nature for nature’s sake. 

Some people place pictures of nature’s artistry around their workplace. Some put them within waiting rooms to reduce customer anxiety, others put them in their office to maintain focus, while still others like to give a more open view of tight space. Using pictures of nature can increase the overall image and impression of your business. 

Image is part impression. Customers scan your office to determine both the nature of the person who is sitting in it as well as the business itself. Having pictures of flowers and wildlife helps prompt this person to understand that you think beyond your office. You appreciate something more than work and money. It can provide a positive impression of both you and your business as having depth and trustworthiness.

Don’t Escape the Details of the Servicescape

Your stomach is growling with hunger pains and you need a great place to eat. You don’t want just any place but need that perfect place that expresses your mood. Feeling a little upscale with that great bonus you just received from work you scan your memory for a restaurant that will not only satisfy your appetite but also perpetuate that positive feeling into the evening.  You know big things are going to happen since you have now been recognized for your great work. Thinking of possible alternatives you finally settle on a fancy French establishment with valet, fireplaces, patio dining, fountains and violin music in the background. It costs more but heck it still feels great to spend your reward for superior effort!

What you have just thought about is called servicescape. The servicescape is the physical environment that customers exist in that influences both customer behavior as well as overall impression of the business. Successful retail management includes the understanding of physical layout and how this impacts the overall customer experience and impressions of the total experience.

Such experience is often seen in the way establishments are designed, how atmosphere feels, and the overall impression that customers leave with. Knowing and managing the servicescape can help create positive feelings and memories that help to cater to customer’s self impression. Servicescapes often include the following concepts (Fitzsimmons & Fitzsimmons, 2011). 

• 1.)    Ambient conditions: The back ground of the environment such as lighting, temperature, noise music, etc… This is the general use of our five senses to create a culture and environment that encourages positive feelings and memories of an organization. Nothing sells a home like the sweet smell of Apple Pie.
• 2.)    Spatial Layout and Functionality: The successful layout of an environment often determines how well customers can manage to find their way within the environment in order to encourage quick paced purchasing behavior. When the layout of the establishment is not strong a resulting safety and service problem results.
• 3.)    Signs, Symbols and Artifacts: The signs, symbols and artifacts create a perception of the business as it relates to its value and purpose. Those signs, symbols and artifacts can also create impressions of an organization. For example, a high end restaurant is likely to have fireplaces, pictures of elaborate dinners, and certain types of silverware to ensure that all of these factors are in alignment with the sales product. 

One of the beneficial ways to encourage stronger servicescapes that lead to stronger sales and customer satisfaction is through the use of surveys. Surveying customers helps organizations understand the overall perception of the environment, layout, and symbolism of the organization. For example, A total of 109 participants from six hotels in Delhi india found a positive relationship between ambience, spatial relationship, and symbolism on customer support (Medabesh & Upadhyaya, 2012). This study helps highlight the overall nature of the need servicscapes in enhancing products and services. 

With servicescapes the devil is often in the details. The right forks, flowers, table cloth, temperature, food design, food offerings, decorations, etc… all work together. Understanding how these multiple aspects of the business fit together to create a totality of impression can do wonders with enhancing the sensory experience of customers. The next time you go to eat remember that it isn’t only the food that counts.

Fitzsimmons, J. & Fitzsimmons, M. (2011). Service Management: Operations, Strategy, Information Technology (Seventh Edition). NY: McGraw-Hill. 

Medabesh, A. & Upadhyaya, M. (2012). Servicescape and customer substantiation of star hotels in India’s metropolitan city of Delhi. Journal of Marketing & Communication, 8 (2).