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

clientele are able to recognize well the value and benefits that must be accorded by a world-classservicescape design. But ‗servicescape‘ as a manifestation of global design had come to beaccepted as ‗standard‘ and ‗necessary‘; something the retail banks must possess as part of theirproduct; an imperative for any retail bank which none of the competitors can do without. Hencethe point of difference in the servicescape must be created by introducing other elements in theglobal design: ―Starbucks Coffee‖ feel, ―Jazz Music‖, ―local shows‖ and ―Local food‖ are justsome of the interesting departures that they have successfully tried. The staid global image is castaside in favor of ―localizations‖ where it is appropriate and tenable for the bank to introduce.Hence inside the bank‘s LCD and Plasma screens local programs and entertainment programs areshown as instead of the conventional business programs that are the norm in any given bankaround the world.Thus Singaporean retail banks are re-calibrating their servicescape design in terms of broadeningthe proposition of design: introducing cultural elements in the atmospherics, blurring the retailbanking space in the traditional sense of the word ―bank‖ by bringing in either a café or a retailspace feel to it. Authentic café or a shopping/retail sense is expected to induce the retail bankingcustomer perceive the banking service more favorably, and in a less business-like manner. Onceagain we find the state of affairs in the Singaporean retail banking customers‘ perception andexperience of branded servicescape very amenable to C.S. Peirce‘s Triadic Semiosis model(Figure 2). Here also customers are found to be comparing and contrasting the servicescape andits branded artifacts (icon) to something that they know (such as Starbucks Coffee) (icon). Andthen there is the symbolic (symbols) interpretation of it: fun, hedonism etc.Conclusion and Discussions