Journal of Business Research 66 (2013) 10041012

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Journal of Business Research

Cultural metaphors: Enhancing consumer pleasure in ethnic servicescapes

Esi Abbam Elliot a,, Joseph Cherian a, Hernan Casakin b
a
b

College of Business Administration, University of Illinois at Chicago, 601 S. Morgan Street, MC 243, Room 2209, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
Ariel University Center of Samaria, Israel

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 1 April 2010
Received in revised form 1 October 2011
Accepted 1 December 2011
Available online 30 December 2011
Keywords:
Culture
Ethnic
Servicescapes
Pleasure
Metaphors
Cross-cultural comparison

a b s t r a c t
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 ethnopleasure. 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.
Published by Elsevier Inc.

An empty piece of land caters to social activities of consumers

from different cultures. First, the Taiwanese arrive with cues of
umbrellas and stands in national colors, displays of artifacts, etc.
to engage in a wine drinking feat using a Linnak cup. The Taiwanese observers clap excitedly knowing that the Linnak is a cup for
lovers. They purchase several bottles of wine from the nearby
stand and join in the drinking. The next day, the space is ready
to become another setting for Germans drinking wine from wine
glasses. The Taiwanese observers feel entertained but pleasure is
minimal and they do not purchase any wine. The servicescape is
the same but the cultural cues prompt a different response
(Adapted from Rapoport, 1990).

1. Introduction
A key concern of global companies is to assess the t of what they
would like to transfer abroad to a new host environment (Bartlett and
Ghoshal, 1997). This could be a challenging endeavor, considering
cultural differences existing in host country environments. In this
paper, we propose to look at ethnic immigrant communities, which
provide close representations of cultures in foreign environments. In

Corresponding author. Tel.: + 1 773 398 1016.

E-mail addresses: eabbam2@uic.edu (E.A. Elliot), cherian@uic.edu (J. Cherian),
casakin@bezeqint.net (H. Casakin).
0148-2963/$ see front matter. Published by Elsevier Inc.
doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.12.024

addition, they maintain characteristics of racial group membership

based on commonly shared features (e.g. Rosenbaum, 2005).
Prominent examples of cultural challenges for global marketers
are servicescapes. Ethnic servicescapes can be ideal environments
for observing desires, behaviors, and activities of consumers from
ethnic communities. The term servicescape refers to a combination
of several dimensions of physical facilities in a built environment
that inuence customers' holistic perception about the service
(Bitner, 1992). These include facility esthetics such as ambient conditions and signs, symbols and artifacts, facility layout and perceived
quality (Bitner, 1992; Wakeeld & Blodgett, 1994). Despite its growing importance, marketers neither dedicate enough attention nor
sufcient resources to investigate servicescape requirements for consumers belonging to different ethnic cultures.
Consumers recognize, interpret, and are attracted to specic cues
of their culture in service environments related to their traditions
and background (Rapoport, 1990). This relation becomes more intense when consumers recognize the existence of cultural metaphors
in the environment. Cultural metaphors can be dened as abstract
associations related to tangible aspects, and underlying values of a
given culture with which members of that culture emotionally and/
or cognitively identify (Gannon, 2002). Cultural metaphors are instantiated in social action through behavior, speech, organization, artifacts, and thoughts (Denny & Sunderland, 2005, p. 1458). Examples
of national cultural metaphors include the Japanese garden, the
Chinese family altar, and the American Football.
Marketing researchers have investigated servicescape pleasure
extensively (e.g. Bitner, 1992; Donovan & Rossiter, 1982; Mehrabian

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& Russell, 1974). Pleasure is dened as the condition of consciousness or sensation induced by the enjoyment or anticipation of what
is felt or viewed as good or desirable (Simpson & Weiner, 1989, p.
1031). Pleasure in servicescapes is affected by the way that consumers perceive, reason, organize and feel in relation to the world
around them (Ryu & Jang, 2008). The experience of pleasure can determine consumer satisfaction and loyalty behaviors (Bitner, 1992;
Mehrabian & Russell, 1974). Despite its importance, there have been
minimal studies focusing on the relationships between cultural
metaphors in servicescapes and consumer pleasure, an aspect that
makes cultural metaphors of particular relevance to marketers.
In this research we propose the notion of ethno-pleasure, and explore its relation to ethnic servicescapes. Moreover, we establish a
distinction between ethno-pleasure from other forms of pleasure
such as hedonic enjoyment and eudaimonia. Hedonic enjoyment is
concerned with pleasures of the mind and the body, whilst eudaimonia refers to being true to one's inner self (Peterson, Park, & Seligman,
2005). The study suggests that a key factor distinguishing ethnopleasure from hedonic enjoyment and eudaimonia relates to the cultural self-construal. This notion refers to one's basic value orientation,
and how one perceives and represents oneself (e.g. Gardener et. al.,
1999). Thus, cultural self-construal reects how the self-concept
relates to one's culture.
This study uses in-depth interviews to investigate the research
question of how cultural metaphors in ethnic servicescapes elicit
consumer pleasure. The context of study is servicescapes in the Pilsen
Mexican community. Participants are the cross-generation (second and
third generation) Mexican consumers as well as non-Mexican consumers. Due to their steady and fast growth rate, cross-generation
Mexicans have a signicant representation in the U.S., and were therefore considered ideal for the study. Three main categories of related
concepts consistently emerged in the investigation: symbolic experience, imaginative experience, and reviving experience. Respondents
closely tie these experiences with their cultural self-construal. The
consumer's cultural self-construal or ethnic identication was found
to be closely tied to all three sub-categories of ethno-pleasure.
2. Theoretical foundations
Three streams of research dealing with servicescapes pleasure,
self-concept and visual metaphors assist in explaining the role
of cultural metaphors in enhancing consumer pleasure in ethnic
servicescapes. In this section we review academic contributions in
these areas. Limitations of prior studies serve to identify critical
gaps that this paper attempts to bridge.
2.1. Culture and self-concept
The study of culture includes values, symbols, artifacts, cognitions, meanings, emotions and actions with which a group of people
identies (Ashkanasy, Wilderom, & Peterson, 2000). Various crosscultural theories were proposed, such as individualists versus collectivist cultures (Hofstede, 1980; Triandis, 1995), high-context versus
low-context (Hall, 1976), and independence versus interdependence
(Markus & Kitayama, 1991). Cross-cultural researchers present convincing arguments about how the individual's self concept, referred to
in this study as the cultural self-construal, inuences responses to
cues of his/her socio-cultural environment.
According to Markus and Kitayama (1991), people in different cultures have different views of their self and the way they interact with
others. This determines the nature of the individual experiences
maintained in each culture. For example, collectivist cultures such
as Mexican, Asian, Latino and African emphasize values that serve
the in-group by subordinating personal goals for the sake of the
group. The primary goal of the interdependent self is therefore to
maintain good relationships and harmony with others in the social

1005

setting (Kitayama & Mesquita, 2004). In contrast, individualist cultures such as American, German and British emphasize the self by
making it feel distinguished and independent (Markus & Kitayama,
1991). Such cultural tendencies may nd themselves enacted in servicescapes (Pons & Laroche, 2007).
The individual's self-concept is characterized by a set of cognitive
processes that enable to identify and differentiate one's self from
others (Ekinci & Riley, 2003). Ekinci and Riley (2003) argue that the
relationship between self-concept and emotions captures the symbolic aspects of consumption. Consumers respond positively to servicescapes when they can match their self-identity and self-concept
with the servicescape (e.g. Rosenbaum & Montoya, 2006).
Rosenbaum (2005) indicates that consumers from collectivist cultures possess a unique symbolic universe that makes them respond
to signs, symbols, objects, and artifacts contained within a servicescape. He argues that these symbolic servicescapes serve to evoke
similar sensation of history, identity or memory among group members. Although the above studies acknowledge that cultural identication inuences consumer emotions and emotional responses, the
way that cultural associations in the servicescapes provide pleasure
deserves more exploration.

2.2. Servicescapes pleasure and consumer responses

Marketing studies that center on the role of emotion and affect on
the purchase behavior of consumers argue that consumers have a
general tendency to seek out pleasurable experiences in interacting
with servicescapes (Shawarz, 2000). According to the cognitive and
affective theory of satisfaction (Oliver, 1997), when consumers develop identity ties in the consumption of a service, they fulll their needs
of self-consistency and self-esteem. These evoke positive emotions,
higher satisfaction, and some amount of pleasure. The pleasure dimension in servicescapes refers to the extent that a consumer feels
good or happy in the servicescape. This differs from arousal, concerned to the degree by which consumers feel excited, or stimulated
in the servicescape (Mehrabian & Russell, 1974).
In his study about consumer pleasure, Jordan (1999) proposes four
categories of pleasure dealing with: (i) physio-pleasure (sensory impressions of sight, smell, hearing, touch and taste), (ii) social-pleasure
(social relationships and communication that a product or service
enables), (iii) psycho-pleasure (felt when a product or service helps
the user to establish a task), and (iv) ideo-pleasure (derived from values
that a product or service and its use represent). Pleasurable products
are considered by Jordan to provide functional, hedonic and emotional
benets. Hedonic enjoyment focuses on happiness, and is dened as
the presence of a positive affect, and the absence of a negative affect
(Deci & Ryan, 2008).
Deci and Ryan contrast hedonic enjoyment with eudaimonia,
which refers to living in a full and deeply satisfying way. The eudaimonic approach considers happiness together with meaningfulness,
and a set of wellness variables such as self-actualization and vitality.
Eudaimonia is reected in the concept of eudemonia, which is a contented state of being happy, wealthy, and prosperous (Deci & Ryan,
2008). The eudaimonic view also encourages people to live in accordance with their selves (Waterman, Schwartz, & Conti, 2008) and
can be therefore related to pleasure derived from servicescapes.
Ryu and Jang (2008) note that visual stimuli in servicescapes inuence consumers' affective states. For example, a good design and
atmosphere in a servicescape may serve to enhance the positive
emotions of consumers (Soo Cheong & Young, 2009). An important
consequence of this is that pleasure in servicescapes has a positive
correlation with approach/avoidance responses, shopping intentions,
spending, quality perceptions, satisfaction, and value (Donovan &
Rossiter, 1982; Donthu & Cherian, 1994). Although these studies
roughly demonstrate how servicescapes evoke consumer pleasure

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and inuence approach behaviors, they do not investigate into depth

the dimensions of pleasure related to cultural inuences.
2.3. Visual metaphors and consumer pleasure
Visual metaphors in physical environments have been recognized
to enhance consumer pleasure. According to Glenberg (1997), the
formation, evaluation, transformation and maintenance of metaphors
in the mind's eye is compared to information in the unconscious
memories. This process is referred to as visual spatial thinking,
where the use of visual metaphors can create an experience for the
consumer. Kristensen and Grnhaug (2003) claim that visual metaphors in different spatial dimensions of servicescapes such as layout,
ornament, and context can contribute to improve consumers' experiences, and to elicit emotional reactions.
Visual metaphors affect how visual space can be organized by elements that symbolically represent essential aspects of a specic culture (Anderson, 2004). These types of visual metaphors are known
as visual cultural metaphors, since they have associations with specific cultures, and convey cultural meaning. Visual cultural metaphors
are invaluable tools for gaining deep understanding of interactions
that take place in servicescapes. Hu and Jasper (2007) showed that
Chinese students were more affected by social cues embedded within
metaphors used in store environments than American students.
This raises the question of how marketers can design servicescapes
that could be effective across cultures. Despite the importance of
this topic, existing literature has not explored yet the ways in which
cultural metaphors, as part of an efcient marketing strategy, can enhance consumer pleasure in ethnic servicescapes.
3. Methodology
3.1. Research goals
The objective of this study is to contribute to a theory of pleasure
related to cultural inuences on consumers, and the expansion of
ethnic servicescapes. It aims at investigating how the use of cultural
metaphors in ethnic servicescapes enhances pleasure of consumers
who identify with a specic culture. In particular, it explores whether
elicited pleasure is different for those who identify with cultural
metaphors, in contrast to those who do not. The Mexican group is a
fast growing population in the U.S., with a cultural richness reected
in a variety of forms such as cultural artifacts, fashion, food, and visual
culture (Benitez, 2007). The migration of the Mexicans to the U.S. did
not eradicate their feelings for the home country, which in many
cases were passed onto following generations (Benitez, 2007), referred in this study as the cross-generation. Today, Pilsen has become
an eclectic neighborhood inhabited by a variety of cultures. It is a mix
of shopping, recreation, entertainment, and an esthetic center for
consumers from the area. The interviews and observations conducted
over a six-month period were an appropriate method for the study,
considering that qualitative studies are suitable to assess emotional
states that are difcult to verbalize and recall (Donovan & Rossiter,
1982). The ethnographic method used in the study takes into consideration recommendations from Bitner (1992) to employ direct observation methodology in order to expand the servicescape framework.
3.2. Mexican servicescapes
Observations of the Mexican servicescapes were carried out as
part of the empirical approach. This included descriptive notes of
the physical setting, and accounts of activities. Photographs were
used as unbiased visual reports (Shawarz, 2000, p. 120).
Four different servicescapes served as case studies, which included: the Neovo Leone restaurant, Los Comales restaurant, the Jumping
Bean caf, and the Casa Del Pueblo supermarket. In contrast to Los

Comales restaurant, in the Neovo Leone restaurant there is an extensive use of cultural metaphors in a variety of elements such as its
layout, ambience, signs and symbols. Neovo Leone has a romantic
look characterized by golden doors, boldly painted facades and handcrafted antique artifacts representative of the traditional architectural
style. In this restaurant, abstractions of nature such as ducts and lights
on ceilings representing clouds and stars in the sky are used to create
optical illusions. Culinary antiques and symbolic utilitarian vessels
representing Mexican values such as the nourishing and nurturing
adorn the space (see Figs. 12). In contrast, Los Comales has a contemporary design characterized by simple decoration, non-elaborated
Mexican artifacts and a few Mexican paintings (see Figs. 34).
The Jumping Bean caf is a Mexican coffee shop with bright blue
walls, Mexican paintings, and esthetic arrangements that create
an ambience of warmth and coziness. Tables have brightly painted
ceramic tops, and are decked out with wooden chairs. Unglazed ceramic tiles offer a rich earthy look in the room (see Fig. 5). In the
Casa Del Pueblo supermarket, Spanish names appear in colored
signs and letterings distributed along the space, together with a variety of colored hanging Mexican decorations. Mexican music can be
heard in the background, accompanied by an exotic scent of Mexican
foods.
3.3. Participants and procedures
In order to assess how cultural metaphors elicited consumer pleasure based on cultural identication, two approaches were adopted.
The rst consisted of interviewing cross-generation Mexican consumers, who patronized Los Comales and Neovo Leone restaurants,
and comparing the extent of pleasure derived from each servicescape.
Consumers were mainly second generation Mexicans, young, educated and relatively sophisticated consumers. With a similar aim, the
second approach consisted of interviewing both cross-generation
Mexicans and non-Mexicans in the supermarket, caf and restaurants. In this comparison, the supermarket and caf were selected
due to their intensive use of cultural metaphors, and the importance
that these servicescapes have to the lives of the consumers, irrespectively of the cultural group to which they belong.
Twenty-ve participants were interviewed (15 Mexicans and 10
non-Mexicans), who ranged from 20 to 45 years old. Each interview
lasted about 45 to 60 min. The interview comprised a series of
open-ended questions to explore thoughts and feelings of the respondents. Some of these dealt with the meaning of cultural metaphors to
the participants, and the ways in which they identify with them.
Interviews were tape-recorded with the agreement of the participants. Aliases are used to protect the privacy and anonymity of the
respondents.
3.4. Data analysis
After completion, interviews were transcribed, and their content
coded and analyzed for common themes. Atlas Ti qualitative software
was used in this process. Thematic analysis is a method used for identifying and analyzing themes within data (Braun & Clarke, 2006).
Interviews were coded by noting in a systematic fashion key features
of the data such as repeated words, and salient phrase. Thereafter,
data relevant to each code was categorized. Further categorization
was made until patterns found in the protocols led to the identication of key themes.
4. Findings
Three central themes were identied from the analysis of the data.
These relate to how ethnic consumers derive pleasure in servicescapes from specic cues afforded by cultural metaphors related to
their own culture. The themes that emerged dealt with symbolic

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Fig. 1. Optical illusions at the Neovo Leone Restaurant.

experience, imaginary experience and reviving experience, which inform the concept of ethno-pleasure.

At the Neovo Leone restaurant, characterized by an extensive use

of cultural metaphors, Manuel provides insights to the symbolic
experience of Mexicans that result in ethno-pleasure:

4.1. Symbolic experience

Symbolic experience was a major theme that emerged in the comparison between the pleasure experienced by consumers at Neovo
Leone, and at Los Comales restaurants. Symbolic experience is referred to as a process that connects the conscious with the unconscious, and the strange with the familiar. This notion links the past
to the present, the collective to the personal, and the private to the
social (Gordon, 1977). Findings showed that the symbolic experience
resulted in a combination of hedonic pleasure, and eudaimonia as
well as ethno-pleasure for cross-generation Mexican consumers,
with ethno-pleasure being dominant.

Neovo Leone has murals and the pictures here are quite ethnic
because it looks like Mexican cooking. This tells us about the history, and also they use a lot of murals in Mexico, so when they
see them here, they feel comfortable. To others, this would be
strange. That would not be ethnically appealing Look at all the
colors here, there, everywhere you go you see different color,..
I have been in different places where you didn't see the atmosphere. They have good food but as far as the ethnic appeal no.
Manuel relates his symbolic experience elicited by the cultural
metaphors in the Neovo Leone servicescape. He refers to the hedonic

Fig. 2. Optical illusions at the Neovo Leone Restaurant.

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E.A. Elliot et al. / Journal of Business Research 66 (2013) 10041012

Fig. 3. Los Comales Restaurant with few cultural metaphors.

pleasure felt with ethno-pleasure. His narration informs how pleasure

is derived from the interpretation of symbolic experience. In his view,
this type of pleasure is not relevant to other cultures.
Nelson, a cross-generation Mexican consumer, expressed a lower
level of pleasure in Los Comales than in Neovo Leone restaurant. He
says:
With my family, I would rather go to Neovo Leone, where we can
sit and eat. There, we look at the paintings, we see what they have
on the walls and it reminds us of Mexico. Here at Los Comales, we
come in, eat fast, get up and go The layout in Los Comales is a

little different more contemporary. For me, it is the food rst,

the cultural icons second.
The attraction to Nelson of Los Comales is mainly the taste of the
food, whilst at Neovo Leone he has a symbolic experience related to
cultural metaphors associated with his Mexican culture. The dominant pleasure at Los Comales was more of hedonic enjoyment mainly
related to the taste of the food.
Non-Mexican consumers at both Los Comales and Neovo Leone
restaurants were also interviewed to nd out whether they derive different symbolic experiences than cross-generation Mexican consumers.

Fig. 4. Jumping Bean Cafe with cultural paintings and decor.

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Fig. 5. Casa Del Pueblo Supermarket with cultural decor and layout.

Additionally, we explored how pleasure was inuenced by the use of

cultural metaphors. Sarah, a white American woman appeared to be
the most engaged in the Neovo Leone servicescape amongst the other
non-Mexican participants. She commented:
Well, I love eating here. I love the food, the vibrant colors and
the warm and inviting atmosphere. I live in Pilsen; my boyfriend is
Mexican and I feel Mexican so I do like all the artwork here. I guess
the difference for me is that when I see the waitresses in those frilly
skirts, I nd them funny but I guess for the Mexicans it gives them a
sense of pride about their culture I think there must be something
there
A probable reason why Sarah appears to be more engaged than
the other participants is because her boyfriend is Mexican. Although
she experiences hedonic pleasure, she expresses surprise at some cultural metaphors and at the responses of cross-generation Mexican
consumers. Since she cannot identify with these metaphors, the servicescape does allow her to engage in a symbolic experience.
John, a white American, showed to be even less emotionally engaged by Los Comales:
I live close by, and that's all. The food is good, the food is all right,
the food is cheap. You can get tacos for one dollar fty, or two
dollars fty. The service is also good, and fast.
The quick and untailored answers by John reected the low level
of pleasure experienced in Los Comales restaurant, a place with
cultural metaphors that are unsuitable to enhance his hedonic pleasure since he was unable to establish emotional links to the cultural
metaphors, and he appears to experience eudaimonia.

4.2. Imaginary experience

The cross-generation Mexican consumers interviewed in the
Jumping Bean Caf demonstrated that the pleasure they experienced
from the servicescape was mainly related to imaginary experiences
elicited by the cultural metaphors. Imaginary experiences involve

the formation of imaginary situations based on past memories

retrieved during consumption. These experiences are related to
the consumer's background and past realities, which induce the
imaginary into existence (Martin, 2004). Cultural metaphors aid
cross-generation Mexican consumers to express their emotions by
highlighting certain aspects of an imaginary experience echoing
their cultural milieu. As a result of such imaginary experience,
ethno pleasure shows to be predominant.
Sophia, a Mexican participant explained the imaginary experience
established with the cultural metaphors in the caf:
The music is very cultural The bright colors the walls are
painted gives a more comfortable and calming ambience The
artwork is not pretentious The tiling on the oor gives a feeling
of homeThat symbol on the wall makes me feel like in a church
These old coca-cola tables can be found in Mexico . It's just
like being in Mexico
Sophia's affective responses emerge from her imaginary experience that makes her revive past experiences relating to her cultural
milieu.
Horace, another Mexican consumer provides further insights into
the imaginary experience that provides him with ethno-pleasure:
Here, at the Jumping Bean Caf, they've got the decor murals,
piatas, musicians There are also the Mexican soaps on TV,
and the virgin of Guadalupe on the wall. These are very cheaply
made but they mean a lot. If you go to the houses you see some
of these plants hanging over there, and the gardens remind us of
Mexico .... Here, people feel that are around familiar surroundings.
You [can] go to a lot of places and not see these things. People
want to remember what they used to eat when they were younger. That is why so many people come here. Of course, in a Korean
place, you are looking for something else
Horace indicates that the cultural metaphors provide him with an
imaginary experience that brings the past back to life, and makes it
feel like he is in familiar surroundings.

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Non-Mexican consumers in the Mexican cafe and supermarket

were also interviewed to gain insight into what kind of experience
they had in the Jumping Bean Cafe. Robert, a white American said:
Very authentic. Nice place. I like the food. I like the relaxed atmosphere they have. For me, this is all a novelty
The novelty that Robert refers to is his lack of familiarity with the
Mexican culture. As such, he has very little to say about an imaginary
experience in the servicescape, although he is experiencing hedonic
pleasure as a result of the relaxing and esthetic ambience.
4.3. Reviving experience
In this study, a reviving experience is considered to be an energizing situation that provides vigor and spirit to the individual. It relates
to the concept of the energizing people's psychological processes and
behaviors proposed by Deci and Ryan (2008). Findings suggest that
for Mexican cross-generation consumers, reviving experiences take
place when they feel appreciated and respected for their ethnic identity. Arturo comments about his reviving experience as a result of the
cultural metaphors in Casa Del Pueblo supermarket:
The murals in the supermarket talk about our culture, the way that
our parents live, the way that we live, the way that we would like
our kids to live Symbolism of culture is courtesy shows that
they want you here. Shows people are friendly they are not
going to bother you If you are Mexican, you are born with a
cactus It gives me assurance you are okay, our culture is okay.
Arturo refers to four essential elements that result in a reviving
experience acceptance, approval, worth and passing scrutiny. He
indicates that the sight of cultural metaphors makes him feel accepted and reassured as a customer. As such, he feels reinvigorated with
these feelings of self-worth.
Enrique, a Mexican informant commented about a reviving experience in Casa Del Pueblo supermarket:
At Casa del Pueblo, they appeal to ethnicity and culture. People
feel at home. It is the authenticity of course. The piatas are
a main attraction; a lot of people are attracted to them out of curiosity, but Mexicans see them as part of their culture. Culture is
very important to the Mexican, especially when they come
here where we feel good and at home people speak Spanish.

5. Quantitative study on ethno-pleasure

5.1. Procedure
To explore the concept of ethno-pleasure further, we administered a
survey to students from various ethnic groups in America, including the
dominant Anglo-Saxon American group. To develop the scale items, we
rst administered pre-test survey to 30 Chinese MBA university students; these specic students were in the US for a one-year period
and return to China after graduation; as such, they did not spend
much time on acculturation. Participants rated each item of the questionnaire on a 5-point scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly
agree. These consisted of four scale items for ethnic identication, and
nine scale items for ethno-pleasure. See Table 1.
Scale items for the three dimensions of ethno-pleasure (symbolic,
imaginary and reviving experiences) were obtained after performing
scale improvement with factor analysis and reliability test. Our nineitem measure of ethno-pleasure consisted of the items that loaded
highest on that factor. The process led to a more valid and reliable
measure of ethno-pleasure, assessed through 9 items representing
the 3 dimensions of symbolic, imaginary and reviving experiences.
Thereafter, in order to assess the potential of cultural metaphors
to elicit ethno-pleasure, we adopted the composite measure of ethnicidentication developed by Abreu, Goodyear, Campos, and Newcomb
(2000). Ethnic identication used in this study refers to a sense of
group or collective identity that inuences the cultural self-construal.
This notion has the potential of demonstrating the extent to which people may identify with cultural metaphors relating to their own culture.
Consent for participation in the study was obtained from the professors, and from the students, who completed the surveys anonymously
within the lecture hall settings. Before completing the survey, students
were informed about the aims of the study. The survey was conducted
in the same format with 110 university students during 4 days, and
lasted for 15 min each time. One-hundred complete and usable surveys
were obtained. Participants ranged between 25 and 40 years, with
American, European, Latino, African and Asian ethnic backgrounds.
Approximately 60% of participants were female.

Table 1
Results of factor analysis conrming ethno-pleasure dimensions.
Dimensions of Ethno-Pleasure

Enrique's comments show that the cultural metaphors in the form

of dcor and language provide him with a reviving experience and
positive ethno-pleasure.
Non-Mexican consumers were interviewed in the supermarket to
nd out whether they derived similar experience as compared to the
Mexican cross-generation. Dan, an African-American commented:
I like the food items here they are affordable. I am also attracted
[to] the decor. It gives me an idea about Mexico. It makes me feel
like discovering another culture. It resembles my African culture,
and makes me feel cultural not a synthetic world.
Dan associates some aspects of the cultural metaphors with his
own African culture. However, since he was unable to establish associations with his cultural self-construal, the new elements he discovered failed to provide him with a reviving experience. As a result he
only managed to establish connections with his hedonic enjoyment
and eudaimonia.
In order to gain additional insight into the themes that emerged
during the interviews, in the following section we analyze them in
relation to the concept of ethno-pleasure.

Cronbach
alpha

Symbolic experience
0.96
If I go to a restaurant and I see a picture on the wall representing my
native culture I feel proud.
If I go to a museum and I see items relating to my native culture, I
feel a sense of pride.
If I visit a service environment and there are symbols and artifacts
representing my native culture, I feel pleasure
Imaginary experience
0.86
If I go to a caf and I see paintings relating to my native culture, I can
imagine situations or moments related to my native country
If I go to a restaurant and I see pictures on the wall relating to my
native culture, I can imagine that I am in a pleasant place in my
native country
If I go to a caf and I see paintings relating to my native culture, It
makes me visualize events in my native country
Reviving experience
0.93
If I visit a restaurant with items that remind me of my native culture,
it gives me an emotional lift.
If I visit a restaurant with items that remind me of my native culture,
I feel reconnected with my culture
If I visit a supermarket and I see items that remind me of my native
culture, I feel revitalized

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Table 2
Predicting ethno-pleasure dimensions by ethnic identication symbolic experience.
Symbolic
experience
Control variables
Is subject female?
American
Latino
European
African
Asian
Ethnic Identication
R squared

Control variables only

Control plus independent variable

Unstandardized coefcients

Std error

Beta

P value

Unstandardized coefcients

Std error

Beta

P value

0.296
0.137
0.155
0.174
0.318
0.343

0.232
0.111
0.389
0.246
0.259
0.228

0.135
0.122
0.44
0.71
0.154
0.181

0.205
0.223
0.692
0.482
0.223
0.135

0.036
0.068
0.131
0.070
0.061
0.203
0.809
0.559

0.167
0.079
0.274
0.173
0.187
0.161
0.083

0.061
0.037
0.029
0.030
0.107
0.717
0.717

0.830
0.392
0.633
0.687
0.743
0.211
0.000

0.100

Table 3
Predicting ethno-pleasure dimensions by ethnic identication imaginary experience.
Imaginary
experience
Control variables
Is subject female?
American
Latino
European
African
Asian
Ethnic identication
R squared

Control variables only

Control plus independent variable

Unstandardized coefcients

Std error

Beta

P value

Unstandardized coefcients

Std error

Beta

P value

0.235
0.078
0.119
0.239
0.592
0.004

0.205
0.098
0.342
0.216
0.228
0.200

0.121
0.79
0.006
0.111
0.325
0.002

0.255
0.428
0.956
0.273
0.011
0.984

0.018
0.033
0.004
0.171
0.345
0.088
0.526
0.351

0.178
0.084
0.292
0.185
0.199
0.172
0.88

0.009
0.034
0.001
0.079
0.189
0.052
0.530

0.919
0.694
0.989
0.357
0.087
0.611
0.000

0.101

5.2. Analysis and results

Factor analysis was conducted after the nal survey to reconrm the
reliability of the items used for the measurement of ethno-pleasure. Reliability coefcients for the three dimensions of ethno-pleasure were
greater than 0.70. Cronbach's alphas for symbolic, imaginary, and reviving experiences were 0.96, 0.86, and 0.93, respectively (see Table 1).
The aggregated Cronbach alpha for ethno-pleasure was 0.95. The Cronbach alpha for ethnic-identication was 0.93, which supports the fact
that ethno-pleasure can be sub-categorized in three dimensions symbolic, imaginary and reviving experiences. A factor analysis of all the
items revealed two different factors with ethno-pleasure and ethnicidentication loading separately. This further showed that they were
different enough to conduct a regression analysis.
Next, we conducted a regression analysis to test the extent to
which ethnic identication predicted ethno-pleasure. The three
dimensions of ethno-pleasure and ethnic-identication were included, with ethno-pleasure as the dependent variable and ethnicidentication as the independent variable.
We controlled for demographic variables including ethnic group/
culture (coded 1 = selected culture and 0 for others) and gender
(coded 1 = male and 0 = female). We carried out three separate
regressions for each ethno-pleasure factor with the same control
variables, and ethnic identication as independent variable (see
Tables 24). The results of the analysis demonstrate that each of the
three dimensions of ethno-pleasure, symbolic experience, imaginary
experience and reviving experience were to a large extent predicted
by ethnic identication (46%, 25% and 43% respectively). Results
also showed that the relationship between the three dimensions of
ethno-pleasure and ethnic identication was signicant (P values of
0.000). These results conrm that ethnic identication, or identication with cultural metaphors as is referred in this study, was a high
predictor of ethno-pleasure.
Finally, a conrmatory factor analysis (CFA) was run using LISREL
8.72. Additional data was collected, resulting in a total of 225 undergraduate student respondents from various cultures. The CFA
also showed that the overall models' t indices were good: The

comparative t index (CFI) = .95, the normed t index (NFI)

= 0.946, the incremental t index (IFI) = 0.954, the goodness of t
index (GFI) = 0.718 and the standardized root mean square residual
(SRMR) = 0.0509 (see Table 5).
6. Conclusions
This study demonstrates that cultural metaphors in ethnic servicescapes enhance the pleasure of consumers that identify culturally
with them. Findings from the qualitative study show that ethnopleasure may embrace hedonic pleasure and eudaimonia, but it
also adds pleasurable emotions associated with the cultural selfconstrual. As such, ethno-pleasure is clearly distinguishable from
hedonic enjoyment, and eudaimonia. The theme of imaginary experience was found to be related to the links established between past
memories and reality. Cultural metaphors associated with past experiences resulted in ethno-pleasure through a shift in imagination
from the present to the past. The reviving experience showed that
customers felt emotionally and spiritually uplifted by cultural metaphors. This related to feelings of self-worth and acceptance, which is
concerned with cultural self-construal. Findings obtained from the
quantitative study support the three dimensions of ethno-pleasure.
They also are in line with the notion of ethno-pleasure as a construct
that can be elicited by strong ethnic identication (proxy for cultural
self-construal), and a positive response to cultural metaphors.
Findings suggest that ethnic servicescapes have the potential to be
particularly effective when they represent the consumers' cultural
values, attitudes and behaviors. An important implication is that ethnic servicescapes could be tailored to enhance the pleasure elicited by
cultural metaphors. This is a critical aspect that should be taken into
account seriously when designing servicescapes.
One limitation of the present study is that it tests ethno-pleasure
from a student sample, without considering other types of populations. Despite this, the investigation makes an important contribution
by introducing ethno-pleasure as an additional dimension of pleasure, which can be elicited by cultural metaphors to enhance consumer pleasure in ethnic servicescapes.

1012

E.A. Elliot et al. / Journal of Business Research 66 (2013) 10041012

Table 4
Predicting ethno-pleasure dimensions by ethnic identication reviving experience.
Reviving experience

Control variables
Is subject female?
American
Latino
European
African
Asian
Ethnic identication
R squared

Control variables only

Control plus independent variable

Unstandardized coefcients

Std error

Beta

P value

Unstandardized coefcients

Std error

Beta

P value

0.290
0.034
0.223
0.162
0.409
0.115

0.223
0.107
0.373
0.236
0.249
0.218

0.140
0.32
0.066
0.070
0.209
0.064

0.197
0.754
0.552
0.494
0.104
0.600

0.007
0.025
0.203
0.074
0.086
0.005
0.689
0.444

0.177
0.084
0.291
0.184
0.198
0.171
0.88

0.003
0.024
0.060
0.032
0.044
0.003
0.646

0.969
0.765
0.487
0.689
0.666
0.977
0.000

0.072

Table 5
Goodness of t indices.
Model

SRMR

NFI

CFI

GFI

AGFI

IFI

0.0509

0.946

0.953

0.718

0.599

0.954

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