Cultural metaphors: Enhancing consumer pleasure in ethnic servicescapes

This paper explores how cultural metaphors in ethnic servicescapes enhance consumer pleasure. To date, marketing researchers have mainly explored how consumers respond to ambient conditions, functional layout and signs/symbols within servicescapes. However, few studies are available on consumer pleasure in ethnic servicescapes or the use of cultural metaphors in servicescapes to enhance consumer pleasure. The study here extends extant literature by contributing an additional dimension of pleasure named “ethno-pleasure.” This notion relates to consumer emotional responses to the cultural metaphors in the servicescapes associated with cultural self-construal. The three themes relating to ethno-pleasure include symbolic experience, imaginary experience, and reviving experience. Findings from this study have implications for assisting marketers in developing strategies for multi-cultural marketing.