Full Paper - ANZMAC

structure of complexity have been outlined (Güthoff 1995). The effects of
complexity on service quality and customer satisfaction have been investigated
only selectively: e.g. number of bundle elements (Danahar and Mattsson 1998)
and duration of services (Czepiel et al. 1985, Danahar and Mattsson 1994, 1998;
Geva und Goldman 1989) whereas criteria such as “multiple individuals
involved”, “heterogeneity of bundle elements”, and “degree of individuality of the
product” are still open for research.
For marketing purposes it is essential to know what elements in a product and
service bundle play a key role in the customer’s decision-making process.
Bundling strategies in a competitive environment – first systematically outlined
by Guiltinan (1987) – have their focus on product development and finding
optimal prices. Similar problems in the tourism and hospitality context have been
discussed by Kinberg and Sudit (1979), Green and Wind (1984), Sheldon and
Mak (1987), and Bojanic and Calantone (1990). Nevertheless, their research
approach is limited predominantly to the financial evaluation of quite a few
product attributes and does not incorporate the instrumental role of those
attributes in creating value and satisfaction to the customer.
Therefore, it is essential to identify the various roles customers may play in the
production process. Bitner et al. (1997) distinguish between three different roles:
the customer as productive resource, the customer as contributor to quality,
satisfaction and value, and the customer as competitor to the service organisation.
According to these roles, different abstract levels of customer participation may
occur: low level: only customer presence required (e.g. airline travel, fast-food
restaurant), moderate level: customer inputs required (e.g. hair cut, advertising
campaign), high level: customer co-creates service products (e.g. weightreduction
programme, management seminar). Related issues have been raised
addressing organisational socialisation by Bowen and Schneider (1985), Kelley et
al. (1992), Lusch, Brown and Brunswick (1992) or the intrinsic attraction of selfservice
by Bateson (1983, 1985) and Dabholkar (1996) or the relationship
between satisfaction and failure attribution by Bitner (1990), Folkes (1988) and
Hubbert (1995).
If we take the experiential nature of services seriously (Lovelock 1979) we cannot
separate the service’s personnel and environment from the consumer (Bateson
1979). The situation in which the service consumption takes place involves
several dimensions. Kotler (1973) addressed the physical setting by
“atmospherics” including all perceptions of the five human senses. When Grove
and Fisk (1983) discussed the dramaturgical perspective of service exchange
processes both, the physical and social settings were integrated. Bagozzi (1975)
emphasised the idea of symbolic exchange which is not limited to the core
elements of products and services but extends to the physical environment as well
as to the social interaction. Bitner (1992) proposed three dimensions of the socalled
“servicescapes”: ambiente condition, spatial layout and functionality, and
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