The original third places concept conveyed the offering of much-needed settings for social comfort, thereby complementing the absence of equal opportunities at home (1st place) or in the workplace (2nd place). 3rd place is a crucial term to connect customers’ social needs, perception of service encounters, and the service provider’s managerial operation. Following the Covid-19 outbreak, various distancing forces have impeded previously intense social interactions featuring human-human contact. The increased use of contactless services and social distancing measures has impacted these. Such measurements refer to mandatory actions to maintain a fixed physical distance from others (i.e., two meters or six feet) via seating arrangements or suggested signage. While such compliance practices successfully limited the spread of Covid-19, they were also a signal of regulated behaviors and acceptable personal boundaries. The current study addressed this question by conducting experiments in three scenarios: a café, restaurant, and sports stadium. Following Pine and Gilmore’s experience typology, the three represent a passive absorptive experience, an active absorptive experience, and an immersive experience.

• Jie Meng(Loughborough University, United Kingdom)
• Ying Feng(Loughborough University, United Kingdom)
• Mingjie Ji(Oxford Brookes University, United Kingdom)
• Brian King(Texas A&M University, United States)