Marketing chapter 13

Drag each approach for achieving closure to the type of service gap it corresponds to.

Knowledge gap: Conduct research to better understand what customers want correct Standards gap: Set appropriate service goals and measure service performance correct Delivery gap: Improve employee performance through support, incentives, and the use of technology Communications gap: Be realistic in telling potential buyers about the services that can be provided and manage those customer expectations effectively

Since humans' work output cannot be standardized to the same degree as the output of a machine, one substantial difference between the marketing of services and products is the ____of service delivery. For example, a restaurant is dependent on different chefs, servers, customers, and conditions within the restaurant that alter the uniformity of the output.

heterogeneity

The _____ gap shows the difference between a customer's expectations and what the company thinks the customer expects.

knowledge

The zone of tolerance refers to:

the area between customers' desired expectations and the minimum level of acceptable service

When there is a service failure, customers line an apology but they also want distributive fairness. In other words, they want:

to receive tangible restitution

Service providers present instrumental support to their staff by:

Providing in-store kiosks with product information

A golf course manager is concerned about the quality of service the staff is providing to guests and wants to implement some changes. What is the best way to ensure that employees buy into the plan?

Seek employee input when setting goals

Which of the following statements best describes services?

Services are actions or performances carried out for and with customers and typically involve a sequence of steps, actions and activities.

Heterogeneity in service delivery at a restaurant can result from all of the following EXCEPT:

a manager who designs a specific way for all hostesses to accept reservations over the phone

A cosmetics store has a list of service goals for its employees. One of the goals is to "give every customer as much attention as they need." What is the problem with this goal?

It is neither specific nor measurable

The delivery of quality service is the task of everyone in the firm, but the commitment to quality service is established and illustrated best by ______, which establishes policy and sets examples for the entire company.

management

When setting and explaining service goals during employee training, it is most important that the goals be _________

specific

An effective method to assess customer service expectations is to analyze customer______ behavior in which management is told by buyers what dissatisfies them.

complaint

One method to recover from a service delivery problem is to provide __________ fairness, by which customers perceive they are getting an equivalent return for the inconvenience they suffered when the service was not delivered as expected.

distributive

A financial advisement company knows that it takes approximately six months to improve a customer's credit score. Whereas some customers improve their score in as little as three months, others take up to a year. Which of the following promises will help attract customers while also reducing the firm's communications gap?

"Improve your credit score in one year or less!"

When using zone of tolerance marketing metrics, the five scores assigned to service quality dimensions will always total ______.

100%

A grocery store is at the product-dominant side of the Service-Product Continuum since most items are selected self-service from the shelves: however,

the firm can still view service as a viable competitive advantage.

the perceived fairness of the complaint process is called ________ _________.

procedural fairness

Which two of the following are important considerations for place in the marketing of services?

A presence on the Internet

The use of technology in delivering services is beneficial in all of the following EXCEPT:

A more focused, narrow array of services

How much time should a service provider give to a customer who wants to file a complaint?

As long as it takes for the customer to say everything he or she has to say

Which of the following are examples of problems associated with collecting customers' perceptions of service at the time of sale? (Choose every correct answer.)

Customers may need more time to accurately evaluate the service. Information may not filter up to key decision makers. Customers may not want to share negative feedback directly.

_______________ fairness refers to the manner in which customers want to be compensated a fair amount to correct a perceived loss that resulted from a service failure.

Distributive

One of the best methods to ensure that guests at Hilton Hotels receive quality service is to solicit suggestions and feedback from whom? (Choose every correct answer.)

Employees Guests

True or False: The zone of tolerance is a program that collects customer inputs and integrates them into managerial decisions.

False

When many students are complaining about a problem at an online university, one of the best things the university can do to better serve its students is to ____________.

Honestly listen to the students' complaints and use their messages to build a committed relationship

Buying a service such as a haircut, a medical treatment, or a lawyer's advice is perceived as more risky to the consumer, because of the service characteristic of _______, since the service cannot really be sampled in advance not experienced without the provider.

Inseperability

What type of support is provided by retailers who feature in-store computer displays for their customer service employees?

Instrumental

Effective service recovery for an airline when facing a problem, such as a huge snowstorm that shuts down all flights for three days,includes resolving the dilemmas quickly, responding fairly, and ______ customers and their complaints.

Listening to

Lilly went to the Yummy Fork for lunch, and when her food arrived, it was not what she ordered. She later posted a negative comment about the Yummy Fork on a blog. Which one of the five service dimensions was used by Lilly to determine she did not like the service by the Yummy Fork?

Reliability

Drag each definition to the corresponding dimension of service quality.

Reliability: Ability to perform the service dependably and accurately Responsiveness: Willingness to help customers and provide prompt service Assurance: Knowledge and courtesy by employees and their ability to convey trust and confidence Empathy: Caring, individualized attention provided to customers Tangibles: Appearance of physical facilities, equipment, personnel, and communication materials

a service-product continuum evidences:

That most firms combine both goods and services in the offerings

A customer with a complaint about the way in which a washing machine repair was made will become increasingly more annoyed with the service provider:

The longer it takes to get an answer from the firm

How do automated kiosks help service providers limit the problems associated with variability? (Choose every correct answer.)

They provide routine customer service in a consistent manner. They automate store services such as gift registry management or rain checks. They free up employees to focus on more complicated service requests.

What is the purpose of the "management by walking around" strategy? (Choose every correct answer.)

To provide opportunities for managers to interact with customers directly To have managers understand what their service providers face each day

The use of technology in delivering services is beneficial in all of the following ways EXCEPT:

a more focused,narrow array of services.

one of the side benefits of listening to customers' complaints is that

airing the complaint can be very therapeutic for the buyer

Susan is looking to purchase a cruise to Alaska. in the search process, she discovers that this purchase is different from purchasing an automobile, in that the cruise:

cannot be easily separated from, the service providers such as the stewards and crew

The______ gap refers to the difference between the service a company provides to customers and the service that it promises to provide in its advertisements.

communication

A hotel advertises package deals that include tickets to a nearby theme park. When the customer asks for this offer, he is informed they are sold out as only a limited number of tickets were available. The customer experiences a ______ gap and is very unhappy.

communications

A straightforward and inexpensive method that marketing managers can employ to collect information about buyers' service quality perceptions is to ask them at the point of sale. A problem with this method, however, is that Blank

customers are often reluctant to provide negative feedback to the employee who provided the service

One of the distinct advantages of heterogeneity of services is that it enables the provider to _____ the service and not deliver a standardized, cookie-cutter approach uniformly to every buyer.

customize

Replacing people with machines in the delivery of services has ______ through the use of in-store kiosks.

decreased the rate of service heterogeneity

the _______ gap is the difference between a company's standards and the actual service it provides to customers.

delivery

______ is a customer's perception of the benefits s/he received compared with the costs.

distributive fairness

In the provision of a service, there are several possibilities to mismatch the service and customer needs resulting in one of several types of service ____, in 1 communication 2. delivery, 3. standards, or 4. knowledge.

gaps

Jane has realized that she does not enjoy taking a taxi to work because there is substantial ______ in the delivery of the service depending on who is driving her cab that day

heterogeneity

Claire's accessory stores sell many girls their first pair of earrings along with the process of piercing their ears. the store tries to create an entire experience for the event, and both the customer and the store employee are integral to the process. Claire relies on the service attribute of _____ as an opportunity to involve the customer and increase perceived value.

inseparability

A brand like Google will invest resources in creating a simple, attractive site that has interesting images and icons, such as the daily updates to the Google logo for holidays and special events, in order to better communicate the _____ element of their service and image to users.

intangible

because a service has qualities that cannot be touched, held, seen, tasted, or otherwise sensed, it is described as being:

intangible

A tool that is increasingly used by service providers to minimize the heterogeneity between those who deliver the service is to employ ________.

machines, such as ATMs and kiosks

to reduce the uncertainty of the intangible nature of services, a medical provider will often

offer cues to customers such as comfortable waiting rooms and sparkling examination rooms with their diplomas on the wall

To address the intangible nature of services provided and allow patients to compare them to the services provided by others, a medical provider may Blank______.

offer cues to customers, such as comfortable waiting rooms and sparkling clean examination rooms with diplomas on the wall

the customer who is using the self-checkout:

perceives he is being processed faster than through the traditional employee-assisted checkout

previously retailers offered no-questions-asked returns but have changed policies in recent years due to customers who took advantage of the policy. Since most buyers appreciate__________. some electronics stores have instituted a restocking fee.

procedural fairness

McDonald's has a policy that, in addition to ketchup, mustard, and onions, all burgers must have two pickles. This contributes to efforts to reduce the ______ gap and provide measurable service quality based on expectations.

standards

One of the gaps customers experience is a _______ gap, when quality is unreliable because there are no predictable guidelines or benchmarks systematically established by the service provider's management. Consequently, the service employee does not know how to provide the service effectively. delivery, knowledge, communication, standards

standards

The manager of a four-star hotel learns that the bathrooms in the hotel are receiving complaints for being dirty. He believes that hotel guests are being too picky and he decides not to instruct housekeeping to clean the bathrooms more thoroughly. Because the hotel does not change the cleaning policy, there is a ______ gap.

standards

One of the biggest differences between marketing a service and a product is the ______ of services. The consumer can see and touch a product such as a laptop computer but cannot touch the financing program s/he purchased in order to acquire the laptop.

intangibility

after sitting on thee tarmac in a delayed flight for three hours, passengers are finally removed from the plane. In dealing with their complaints in the terminal, the airline needs to pay attention to ______ fairness and follow the airline's guidelines concerning delays.

procedural

the _____ gap is the difference between the company's perceptions of the customer's expectations and the service standards it sets.

standards

A tire store finds that its business is heavily skewed to the weekend and they have less than 15% of customers on Monday through Wednesday. Sine rotating, re-balancing, and replacing tires is a service, one of the dilemmas facing the firm is that they cannot ____ the service for the weekend.

stockpile

Mike is the manager of a sandwich shop and received a complaint from a customer unhappy because it took too long to get his food. Mike apologized to the customer and sent him a coupon for a free sandwich for the next time he visited. Why is it important for Mike to listen to the customer and provide feedback?

Mike is able to identify a way to improve service; he can schedule labor appropriately and set benchmarks.

When a service delivery fails, customers need to be told ___________ in order to reduce buyers' irritation and dissatisfaction and reduce the perceived time for resolution.

approximately how log it will take the firm to resolve the issue.

One method to recover from a service delivery problem is to provide ________ fairness, by which customers perceive they are getting an equivalent return for the inconvenience they suffered when the service was not delivered as expected.

distributive fairness

When a dentist fills a cavity in a patient's tooth, there is the element of ________ that indicates the dentist should try to engage the patient in the process as much as possible since she must be present for the service.

inseparability

One of the basic ways in which services differ from products is that production and consumption are _____ from each other. Consequently, service providers often include options for the customer to become more involved in the production of the service, which usually results in greater customer satisfaction.

inseparable

In-store computer displays are increasingly used by service providers for _______ support, which refers to the systems and equipment used to deliver the information properly.

instrumental

A restaurant is facing a problem in service delivery on a night when there are twice as many customers dining as usual. An integral part of recovery of the service dilemma is a provide both distributive and procedural _________ in resolving the delays in getting all customers served.

procedural fairness

After waiting in line over two hours to experience a new ride at an amusement park, the ride breaks down and guests learn it will be down for four hours. if everyone waiting is given a "rain check" with the sequential order of their location in the line enabling them to return in four hours and re-queue in order, most guests will be satisfied, as they are experiencing

procedural fairness

while no service provider hopes for a situation of poor delivery, it can be converted into a situation of building positive interaction and buyer loyalty. the key is to deliver sound, swift, service ________ that resolves the problem and shows the buyer that the firm is listening to the complaint and working to find a fair solution.

recovery

Much more than when marketing products, service providers such as seaside hotels and restaurants have a dilemma of matching _________.

supply and demand

Procedural fairness is defined as:

the perceived fairness of the process used to solve complaints.