| Consumer territorial behaviors is a widespread phenomenon, about which little is known in the marketplace. As a mechanism to dissuade social interaction, this commonplace behavior is often overlooked as a factor that impacts others in the setting. A growing trend in numerous commercial places is the creation of settings where consumers feel comfortable and relaxed, like in a home-away-from home. The objective of creating these hangouts is to encourage consumers to lengthen their stay, and by so doing, it is expected that the longer they linger, the more products they purchase and consume and the more frequently they will come. Increasingly, the idea of creating service environments that allow consumers to linger and interact with others is catching on in the marketplace. Starbucks is a prominent example of these informal lingering places. Chairman Howard Schultz refers to their establishments as "third places" referring to the term coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg to describe informal public gathering places at the heart of a community where people socialize and spend time away from home (the first place) and work (the second place). However, although the invitation to socialize is encouraged by the myriad of offerings, layout, physical features and ambience, consumers often do not socialize. On the contrary, social interaction is considered improper etiquette and is frowned upon as a norm in these settings.Instead of socializing, some consumers in these settings behave territorially over the space they occupy. Behaviors, like displaying personal effects (e.g., books, clothing, food items) as a boundary to signal no desire to share space and the use of electronic devices (e.g., walk CD, ipods, mp3) to signal no desire to engage in any unwelcome conversation or to listen to others, minimizes the possibility of social interaction. Thus, consumers' territorial behaviors work against the creation of the third place servicescape that owners like Schultz envision. The impact of consumer territorial behaviors must be acknowledged by managers.This dissertation offers insight into territoriality by examining the effects of consumers' exhibited territorial behaviors on other consumers, employees, managers and the effective functioning of the service operations. In particular, I examine the impact of consumers' marking of claimed space as an indicator of territorial intentions, encroachment on marked space, and defensive actions when boundaries are crossed and space is intruded upon. I also examine the cognitive aspects of territoriality specifically, the attitudes and sentiments consumers hold about the place and space they claim.This work is motivated by a desire to advance our understanding of a common phenomenon about which little is known in the marketing domain namely, consumer territoriality. This dissertation makes several theoretical, methodological and managerial contributions. First, it contributes to the territoriality literature in environmental psychology by exploring the impact of territorial behaviors on others in the setting beyond the occupant-intruder interaction. From a methodological standpoint, the Thematic Apperception Test technique used in this study allows for deeper exploration of the contextual factors that affect consumers and others reactions to territorial behaviors, and further extends the nomological network by broadening the context in which the behavior is prevalent and the dimensions related to its impact. Second, this dissertation informs the literature in marketing on product involvement and consumer possessions by focusing on place and space toward which consumers take temporary possession and form bonds with the physical space. The strength of these bonds is made evident by the defensive actions that ensue in the face of potential or actual disruption of that bond. This work also contributes to the servicescape literature by exploring territoriality a critical behavior consumers exhibit in the servicescape that affects both the physical and social components of the environment. Managerially, this work informs practitioners of the behavior and its multiplicitous impact on customers, employees and operations efficiency. It offers to managers a tangible framework through which to consider the opportunity costs and potential losses both monetarily and in customers. |
