New Challenges on Waiting Lines and Servicescapes During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The organisational constraints imposed on servicescapes during the Covid have had dramatic consequences for both retailers and consumers. On the one hand, the need to reduce congestion imposed new regulations, such as the “maximum number of customers per store,” had a significant impact on the length, duration, and location of queues. On the other hand, the fear of the contagion has changed the way we appropriate physical spaces. Customers respond to adverse conditions abandoning or avoiding the queue when situations and other customers’ behaviours do not match their expectations. Behaviours appear to be directly related to objective and perceived risk.