Dramaturgy, then, is greatly concerned with the broad issue of communication, both discursive (speech and language) and nondiscursive (gestures, clothing, and other objects), and the connection between the two (Brissett and Edgley 1990). Underlying their observations is the tacit understanding that people are symbol users who interact with each other based upon the meanings they assign to the sundry elements present at any behavioral setting. Perinbanayagam (1974, 1982, 1985), have contributed much to the development of the dramaturgical perspective. As a sociological school of thought born from the symbolic interactionist paradigm, the behavior as drama metaphor has generated wide attention. As such, it is particularly relevant as a means to describe service encounters. The metaphorical depiction of behavior as drama is the basis for a distinct model of human interaction that offers insights most forcefully when examining face-to-face interactions among individuals (Brissett and Edgley 1990). Finally, some research issues are examined and concluding comments are given. The service experience as theater is further developed and implications ensuing from the framework are given. The underpinnings of the drama metaphor are presented, along with several key concepts that it offers for the description of services marketing. In an effort to satisfy this need for conceptual frameworks, the discussion that follows posits a general framework for services marketing based upon the metaphor of behavior as drama. In short, conceptual frameworks are needed (Bowen 1990 Upah, Berry and Shostack 1983 Lovelock 1991) that demonstrate common characteristics of services, capture the processual nature of services, and address the "descriptive language problems" (Shostack 1984) plaguing the services literature. A review of the services marketing literature compiled by Fisk, Tansuhaj and Crosby (1988) reveals that less than fifteen percent of the total service literature to attempts to conceptualize the service experience. These various aspects of service delivery underscore the notion that services are complex, behavioral phenomena that can be quite difficult to understand or describe. Essentially, services are fashioned from the interaction between service providers and customers and, as such, service quality is comprised of both process and outcome dimensions (Gr÷nroos 1982 Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry 1985 Sasser, Olsen and Wyckoff 1978). Services exist only in the time in which they are rendered and are living processes that cannot be disassembled (Shostack and Kingman-Brundage 1991, p. One key characteristic that distinguishes services marketing is the simultaneity of production and consumption of the service product (Bateson 1989 Berry 1980 Zeithaml, Berry and Parasuraman 1985). Scholars and researchers have given significant attention to how the marketing of services differs from the marketing of goods (Berry 1980 Sasser 1976 Zeithaml, Berry and Parasuraman 1985 etc.). Nearly 70 percent of the Gross National Product of the United States and other industrial nations can be traced to services (Lovelock 1991), while up to three-quarters of those employed in some countries labor in service sector occupations (Bateson 1989). The increased interest in services marketing during the past decade reflects a growing appreciation of the role services play in the economies of the United States and the world. and Brian Sternthal, Provo, UT : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 455-461.Īdvances in Consumer Research VolPages 455-461
Fisk (1992) ,"The Service Experience As Theater", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 19, eds.
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