Servicescapes emplacing masculinity: Pursuing fighter identity at the martial arts gym

Abstract

This research examines identity-congruence of servicescapes—commercial built environments—with men’s gender identity. Building on literatures on servicescapes, emplacement, and masculinity, this paper develops a novel conceptualization of how emplacement fosters servicescapes’ identity congruence. Findings from the study of male patrons of martial arts gyms detail how servicescapes emplace fighter masculinity, an identity project challenging to pursue elsewhere. This work advances the notion that servicescapes vary in their gender identity-congruence as a property of the identity emplaced therein. It also highlights the importance of servicescape-bound, identity-defining relationships among both customers and service providers grounded in the pursuit of an identity project. Finally, martial arts gyms’ servicescape is meaningful because it harbors a critical rite of passage that affords men a chance to affirm fighter masculinity. Collectively, these findings speak to the situated nature of men’s gendered consumption.