Religious servicescape: does convenience matter for revisit intentions and positive word of mouth?

Umrah is an optional holy ritual that is highly rewarded when performed in the month of Ramadan. Hence, managing such an event is a challenging mission facing stakeholders. However, limited studies have examined the quality of services provided in the Umrah site (i.e., the Holy Mosque in the city of Makkah, Saudi Arabia) from the pilgrims’ perspective. The current study examines the influence of religious servicescape on service convenience and investigates whether service convenience matters to pilgrims. Further, the study tests the role of religious attractiveness (i.e., of the Kaaba) on pilgrims’ behavioural outcomes (i.e. intention to revisit and Positive Word of Mouth (PWOM). A Mixed-method approach is followed to collect rich data (i.e., quantitative and qualitative). The findings demonstrate that religious servicescape has a critical impact on service convenience. The results also show that service convenience is also a significant mediator between servicescape and PWOM. However, service convenience does not mediate the relationship between religious servicescape and intention to revisit. Consequently, service convenience in the religious context matters to pilgrims and the service provider. Further, Kaaba attractiveness creates a ‘halo’ effect.