MArketing
Product and service features that are unexpected and surprisingly enjoyable are known as ___________.
Delights
A human resources manager who is hiring a sales trainer to improve the company's sales close rate will be concerned whether the trainer will provide the needed tools and motivation to perform his or her job. The human resources manager wants the company's top management and its sales force managers to approve of his selection of trainer. This is an example of a(n) _____ expectation.
Derived service
A(n) _____ expectation occurs when customer expectations are driven by another person or group of people.
Derived service
Tom Grantham, a U.S. citizen, decided to outsource the preparation of his personal income taxes to a company in India. After he emailed his earnings and scanned receipts, his tax return was completed in two days at a cost of $50 - about one-third of what a U.S. firm like H&R Block charges. However, he had to file his return as "self-prepared," since it was not prepared by a U.S. accountant. Using a foreign service provider may require customers to reset their:
Expectations
J C. Penney recently instituted a new policy for returns that states, "Happy returns. Any item, anytime, anywhere. It's that simple." J. C. Penney's return policy is an example of a(n):
Explicit service promise
Oakley Millwork is a supplier of products used in the construction industry. It has a published policy that if a customer places an order from its catalog and the product is not available for immediate delivery, the customer gets the item free. Oakley Millwork's policy is an example of a(n):
Explicit service promise
_____ are personal and nonpersonal statements about a service made by an organization to customers.
Explicit service promises
If customers believe they have multiple service providers to choose from for a particular service, or if they can provide the service for themselves, their levels of adequate service are _________ those of customers who believe it is not possible to get better service elsewhere
Higher than
When a customer chooses between a restaurant in a pricy suburb of Atlanta and a restaurant in a small farming community 45 miles away, there is a(n) _____ made by the locations that the customer will be more likely to find exotic cuisine and better trained servers at the downtown Atlanta restaurant.
Implicit service promise
Karen owns a cottage on Martha's Vineyard, a popular island destination for tourists from about April to October. When Karen visits the island in March to dine at her favorite pizza restaurant, she expects great service because the tourists are not there. Because she predicts she will receive great service, her _____ than it is during the tourist season.
Level of adequate service will be higher
Customers' tolerance zones vary for different service attributes or dimensions. The_______________ the factor, the __________ the zone of tolerance is likely to be.
More important; narrower
Instead of cooking dinner themselves, Jenna and her roommate Sheryl decided to order pizza and have it delivered to their apartment. Although Jenna and Sheryl usually order pizza from Pizza Hut, they had recently received coupons in the mail from two other neighborhood pizza restaurants, JoJi's Gourmet Pizza and Angelo's Pizzeria, for discounts on the purchase of two medium pizzas. JoJi's Gourmet Pizza and Angelo's Pizzeria are providing the roommates with:
Perceived service alternatives
States or conditions essential to the physical or psychological well-being of a customer that are pivotal factors that shape what customers desire in a service are known as __________.
Personal needs
One factor that influences adequate service is _____, the level of service that customers believe they are likely to get.
Predicted service
________ is the level of service that customers believe they are likely to get during an impending transaction or exchange.
Predicted service
The factors that influence adequate service expectations are _____ in nature and fluctuate _____ than the factors that influenced desired service expectations.
Short-term; more
Which of the following is NOT a source of desired service and predicted service?
Situational factors
John's flight on United Airlines from Chicago to San Francisco departed two hours late because of a snowstorm in Chicago. The snowstorm that delayed John's flight is a(n):
Uncontrollable situational factor
Leonard has been commuting to New York City on the Long Island Railroad for ten years. Every morning he takes the 7:00 a.m. train that is scheduled to arrive in New York at 8:15 a.m. from Huntington, a suburb of New York. Although Leonard would like the train to arrive in New York on time, he knows from his experience as a commuter that it is more likely the train will be 5 minutes late. Leonard's expectation that his train will be 5 minutes late reflects his _________ level of service for the Long Island Railroad.
Adequate
_____ service is the level of service the customer hopes to receive.
Adequate
_____ service represents the minimum tolerable expectation, the bottom level of performance acceptable to the customer
Adequate
If customers believe they have multiple service providers to choose from, or if they can provide the service for themselves, their levels of _____________ are higher than those of customer who believe it is not possible to get better service elsewhere.
Adequate service
The fluctuation in a customer's zone of tolerance is more a function of changes in the _____________, which moves readily up and down because of situational circumstances than of the _______________, which tends to move upward incrementally because of accumulated experiences.
Adequate service level; desired service level
Hildy's children are giving her a weekend trip to a Lake Tahoe resort. Their expectations of the amenities and services the resort will provide are much higher because they are planning the trip for their mother's approval rather than for their own use. This is an example of a(n) _____ expectation.
Derived service
After his home was burglarized, Rich became concerned about the safety of his wife and three children since he often traveled out-of-town on business. To prevent further burglaries and ensure his families safety, Rich decided to purchase a home security system from ADT Security Systems. Rich's expectation that an ADT home security system will protect his family and prevent future burglaries is influenced by his ____________.
Derived service expectations
Last week, Francine bought a 6-month membership package at Planet Fitness. She plans to exercise at Planet Fitness four days a week by participating in an aerobics class, using the nautilus equipment and having a personal trainer. By the time her 6-month membership expires, Francine hopes to lose 20 pounds, tone and strengthen her muscles, improve her cardiovascular fitness and look and feel more attractive. Francine's expectations for her health and physical appearance reflect her _________ level of service for Planet Fitness.
Desired
Customer _____ are beliefs about service delivery that function as standards against which performance is judged.
Expectations
A customer's perceived service alternatives are a source of desired expectations.
False
A customer's personal service philosophy is an influence on his/her adequate service expectations.
False
Companies that ask customers about their service expectations raise the customers' levels of expectations.
False
Explicit service promises are defined as any non-personal, paid-for communication between the customer and the seller.
False
How a customer defines desired levels of service is more likely to change than how adequate levels of service are defined.
False
While the zones of tolerance may vary because of differing personality types, they are stable with relation to the importance of the service dimensions.
False
Word-of-mouth communication about a service may be either personal or nonpersonal, but it is always verbal.
False
Zones of tolerance are a source of desired expectations.
False
Jack and Luke used the same mechanic to fix their cars. Both were unhappy with recent repairs. Luke who complained because his car was improperly repaired will have a ______ level of adequate service and a _____ zone of tolerance than Jack who did not complain about how poorly his car was running after the mechanic put in new spark plugs and did other maintenance.
Higher; narrower
The highest customer expectations are referred to as _____ expectations.
Ideal
Which of the following statements about predicted service is true?
If the consumer predicts good service, the level of adequate service is likely to be higher than if he or she predicted poor service
April wants to get her ears pierced. In the community in which she lives, she can get them pierced at a jewelry store in a strip mall. She can get them pierced at the local tattoo parlor or have them pierced by a friend's mother who happens to be a nurse. Avril's mother has threatened her with dire punishment if she has them pierced and then gets an infection because the person who pierces them was inept or unsanitary. Avril chose the nurse because of a(n) _____, which makes her believe it is the method her mother will most approve of.
Implicit service promise
Zoë was looking for a kennel to board her cocker spaniel for two weeks while she goes on vacation. There are two kennels close to her home. One charges $50 per week and the other charges $125 per week. Zoë chose the higher priced service because her dog is like a member of the family and she wanted it to have the best possible care while she was away. Zoë's service expectation level was determined by a(n):
Implicit service promise
As the number of perceived service alternatives increases, the level of adequate service _____ and the zone of tolerance _____.
Increases; narrows
Denise said all she expected from the day care at the gym she belonged to was to get her children back at the end of an hour and learn the police had not been called because of something they did. She uses this particular gym because the day care will let her unruly children stay even though it provides only the nominal supervision. Denise has _____ expectations about the day care.
Minimum tolerable
As a service dimension increases in importance, a customer's zone of tolerance _____ and his or her desired and adequate service levels _____.
Narrows; increase
The weekend cruise cost Jason Riggs $800 dollars. Before leaving on the cruise, Riggs told his neighbor, "With the money this trip is costing me, the food better be good and plentiful". What kind of expectations did Roux have?
Normative
Velma was preparing to take her first airplane trip in more than 20 years. One of the primary reasons why she has not flown is because she is over six feet tall and the closeness of the seats made her extremely uncomfortable. Just prior to making plane reservations, she saw an article in a travel magazine congratulating United and American Airlines for increasing the room between passenger seats. She did not have time to read the whole article—just the first paragraph. She made her reservations on United Airlines with the expectation that she would not have to feel like she was "shoe horned" into her seat. When she boarded the plane, she was struck with how close the seats appeared. It wasn't long before she learned that United had only increased the room for the first six rows and American had made sure that every seat had extra room. Velma's service expectation levels were shaped by:
Past experience and explicit service promises
When Maria woke up this morning, she felt terrible. She had a headache, sore throat and upset stomach. She called her doctor's office, explained her condition to the receptionist and asked if she could make an appointment to see the doctor as soon as possible that day since she was going on vacation tomorrow. Maria's desired expectation to see her doctor the same day she became sick resulted from a(n):
Personal need
Steve, a baseball fan who regularly goes to games right after work, is thirsty and hungry by the time he gets to the ballpark. He hopes and desires that the food and drink vendors will visit his section of the stands frequently. Another fan, Bart, who regularly has dinner elsewhere before he attends games, has a lower level of desired service from the food and drink vendors at the ballpark. In this example, Steve and Bart have different ____________ that shape their desired level of service.
Personal needs
An important influence in desired service expectations is ____________, the customer's underlying generic attitude about the meaning of service and the proper conduct of service providers.
Personal service philosophy
As a teenager, Louis spent his summers as a lifeguard. When he and his children went to swim at a public swimming pool, he noticed its lifeguards seemed to spend all of their time flirting with each other and not watching for swimmers in distress as Louis had been taught to do. Because of his __________, Louis had his children pack up their belongings and leave the pool.
Personal service philosophy
Lillie worked as a caterer when she was in college. She was highly critical of the caterer and its staff that her parents selected for their 50th anniversary party. Lillie's attitude about how a caterer should act reflects her:
Personal service philosophy
Customers assess service performance on the basis of what they desire and what they deem acceptable.
True
Customers typically notice service when it falls outside the zone of tolerance.
True
Customers' adequate service levels are less stable than their desired levels.
True
Derived service expectations occur when customer expectations are driven by another person or a group of people.
True
Hurricanes and tornadoes that affect a large number of people are examples of personal situational factors.
True
It is very difficult to surprise or delight customers by consistently delivering reliable service.
True
To develop a true customer franchise—immutable customer loyalty—companies must not only consistently exceed the adequate service level but also reach the desired service level.
True
A wildcat strike by garbage collectors in a large metropolitan city during prime tourist season will most likely cause tourists to cut short their visit and have a poor image of the city. The wildcat garbage strike is an example of a(n):
Uncontrollable situational factor
Kelly dined in a family-style restaurant in Mobile, Alabama, shortly after a hurricane had brushed the coastal area. The server apologized because there were no iced drinks available. The water supply had been contaminated by the storm's high tides. The water system was fine now, but after repairing other minor damages, the workers had not yet had a chance to clean the ice machine. Kelly, a long-time resident of Mobile, understood that _____ meant she would need to modify her service expectations.
Uncontrollable situational factor
Because they are viewed as _____________ by customers, natural disasters such as tornadoes or hurricanes may lower service expectations for services such as insurance, telephone, and the Internet.
Uncontrollable situational factors
During the days following Hurricane Katrina, telephone and Internet service was poor across a wide area because so many people were trying to get in touch with friends and relatives. Customers of these services soon realized that they should not expect the level of service they were accustomed to prior to the hurricane. These customers were quite forgiving during this time because they recognized that service performance was being affected by:
Uncontrollable situational factors
Before going out to dinner with her husband at Formia Ristorante, a contemporary Italian restaurant in New Jersey, Jennifer read a review of Formia in the local newspaper. The review indicated Formia is an unpretentious and unassuming, but exceptionally fine, contemporary Italian restaurant. Five servers who are under the owner's watchful eye attentively care for the fourteen roomy tables in the single large dining room. What the servers may lack in experience is more than compensated for by tempered enthusiasm and sincere desire to ensure guests are comfortable. The review of Formia that Jennifer read is a(n):
Word-of-mouth communication
Johanna wants to learn self-defense and has signed up for a class at her local YMCA. She chose this particular class because her sister took it last year and told her it was a great class. While Johanna has never had a need to defend herself, everyone tells her it is a good idea to learn how. Johanna's service expectation for the class was shaped by:
Word-of-mouth communication
Jamie's desires a haircut that will look just as attractive when she awakens in the morning as it does when she is going out on a date. With the desired haircut, all she has to do to fix her hair is to shake her head. A haircut is adequate when it doesn't have any stray long hairs and it hides her cowlick. Jamie's recent haircut was in her _________ because while it didn't look great all the time, a quick brushing was all that was needed to fix it.
Zone of tolerance
The extent to which customers recognize and are willing to accept variation in service performance is called the ____________:
Zone of tolerance