Dibs! Customer Territorial Behaviors

“Third Place” servicescapes are often created to reflect home-like characteristics, expecting customers to relax, mingle, and consume their purchases. Yet, customers coopt the space, often using it as an extension of workplaces or homes. In pursuit of undistracted privacy, customers engage in territorial behaviors that communicate to other customers that intrusion is not welcome. While place attachment by loyal customers is positive for service providers, territorial behavior can have negative implications for some service establishments. In a multi-method investigation of consumer territorial behavior within the context of cafés, the authors find that purchase or even use of an item with the café logo is believed by many to give customers territorial rights, decreasing turnover, and discouraging other customers who want to sit and consume café products. Employees are faced with mediating territorial disputes. Understanding and dealing with consumer territorial behavior will lead to better servicescape design, less inter-customer conflict, and smoother organizational processes.