Choosing between modern and heritage buildings for professional services
by Lindsay J. McCunn; Robert Gifford
International Journal of the Built Environment and Asset Management (IJBEAM), Vol. 2, No. 1, 2016

Abstract: The role of building façades in the consumer choice process is not well understood but arguably influences consumers' first impressions of a business and the level of service provided by the professional working within. In two studies, photographs representing exteriors of two building types (purpose-built office and converted heritage house) were shown to participants who chose between them for hypothetical dental, legal, financial, and medical services and assessed them for expected comfort and quality of service. In Study 1, students preferred office buildings for all services. In Study 2, community residents also preferred office buildings for dental, financial, and medical services but not for legal services. In both studies, participants had more experience with office buildings compared to heritage houses for all four services and anticipated more comfort and service quality in offices, especially for dental, financial, and medical services compared legal services. However, more comfort was expected by those in Study 2 when considering legal services over the other three services in heritage houses. Although office buildings are commonly experienced and preferred as settings of professional practice, heritage houses can be legible as places to access comfortable, quality service.

Online publication date: Tue, 29-Nov-2016

The full text of this article is only available to individual subscribers or to users at subscribing institutions.

 
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.

Pay per view:
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.

Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of the Built Environment and Asset Management (IJBEAM):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:

Username:        Password:          Forgotten your password?

Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.

If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com