Abstract

Many services offer their services in the presence of multiple consumers who share the servicescape with each other (i.e., co-consumers). This study examines how co-consumer age, as an element of the servicescape, affects younger consumers' service experience. An experiment was conducted where three service settings (rafting trips, restaurants, classrooms) and three categories of co-consumer age (young, middle-aged, old) were manipulated using a student sample of two hundred and forty-three. Across the three services studied, younger consumers' expectations of service quality did not vary depending on whether co-consumers were young, middle-aged, or older adults. However, for both the rafting and restaurant settings, younger consumers' attitudes toward co-consumers were more favorable when co-consumers were younger than older adults. In addition, for the classroom setting, younger consumers' patronage intentions were higher when co-consumers were young adults than when they were middle-aged adults. Limitations of the study as well as directions for future research are discussed