Does the look matter? The impact of casino servicescape on gaming customer satisfaction, intention to revisit, and desire to stay

Despite huge investment made by casinos on their physical structures, little has been know if physical environment actually affects psychological responses of gaming customers. This paper explores how dimensions of servicescape influence customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions in the casino environment. Using Bitner's model of physical surroundings, we hypothesized how ambience, navigation, seating comfort, interior decor, and cleanliness affected cognitive and affective satisfaction of gaming customers. We further proposed that gaming customer satisfaction would affect their desire to stay and intention to revisit. Data from 513 gaming customers of Macau offered support to most of our hypotheses. Implications for research and managerial practices were also discussed.

Research highlights
► Servicescape dimensions of casinos affect gambler's cognitive and affective satisfaction.
► Gambler's satisfaction influences intention to revisit.
► Investment in casino's physical environment matters in terms of drawing more customer visits.
► Our study indicates that, in contrast to Friedman's approach, Kranes’ design template is more suitable for casinos by emphasizing comfort, freedom and vitality.