Index of Paper Presentations for the Parallel Sessions - Academy of ...

expressed their opinion that servicescape of EBL and AB Bank were more properly branded. Acustomer responds ―AB Bank has the brand logos in the right walls and it has not excessivelybranded the interior; I like the subtlety of it. It is sophisticated.‖ (Fazlul Karim, 49, AB Bankcustomer)―EBL bank has everything very cleverly dipped in its brand colors. You even find the waste paperbaskets tastefully colored in blue and gold. I think the bank has good taste.‖ (Alpona Haque, 30,EBL Bank client).We this can conclude that the well designed servicescape of private retail banks in Bangladeshare seen by consumers to be exuding an international feel. Good spatial design is symbolic ofefficient service and order. Dhaka being one of the most populous city‘s of the world is verycrowded and it is hard to escape from chaos and crowd that animate everyday life; this has abearing, especially on service encounter scenarios in various sectors. Customers compare thechaos of the streets and the chaos that are experienced in government owned banks to thetranquil, well designed and ordered spaces that are offered by private retail banks such as EBLand AB Bank. Thus good servicescape branding, spatial design and atmospherics symbolizeorder, efficiency and effectiveness in terms of functionality to these customers. This aspect of theservicescape lends credence to the International Servicescape Construct and C.S. Peirce‘s TriadicSemiosis model (Figure 2) wherein customers compare the branded servicescape (icon) tosomething they already know and are familiar to (indexes) and then they infer what it stands for(symbols).Findings (Singapore)In Singapore one outstanding finding from our interviews with bank managers, employees andcustomers is that expectations of banks‘ environments, services and overall experience –atmosphere, in other words – were changing. It was the general consensus among managers andemployees at both banks that the role of banks was changing, and, with it, customers‘expectations. A few spoke of the locations in which banks chose for their premises. Several keybranches, interestingly, were located with Starbucks coffee outlets, premium bakeries,supermarkets and even high-fashion stores.As a result, the corporate image of banks was changing from being ‗merely‘ highlyprofessionalized, business-oriented and profit-driven to a servicescape in which customer servicein all its different aspects was embraced. The appetite for ‗change‘ was also a recurring theme forrespondents: