Unveiling the dynamics of servicescape in stimulating proactive customer service performance: evidence from the healthcare sector in an emerging economy

Purpose The study aims to explore the influence of servicescape variables in excelling workplace happiness and proactive service performance among internal customers (here, nursing staff) in the public sector hospitals in Bangladesh. Design/methodology/approach The study is survey-based and cross-sectional in nature. A total of 261 valid responses are gathered from the nursing staffs of public hospitals in Bangladesh through a structured instrument and analyzed with PLS-SEM. Findings The outcomes reveal that servicescape variables (ambient elements, aesthetic design, functionality and social factors) influence workplace happiness and proactive service performance among internal customers. Aligned with the S-O-R paradigm, workplace happiness acts as a mediator in the association between the servicescape variables and proactive customer service performance. Originality/value Anchored in the S-O-R framework, this study investigates the impact of servicescape elements on internal customers’ (nursing staff) proactive service performance, which is a notable deficiency within the current body of literature. Moreover, this study examined the role of workplace happiness as a mediator in the relationship between servicescape elements and proactive service performance, which is rarely investigated in the healthcare literature.