Chapter 13 - Services: The Intangible Product (Smartbook)

Service quality is defined as ______. the ways in which a service communicates its value despite its intangibility customers' perceptions of how well a service meets or exceeds their expectations managers' perceptions of how well a service matches the standards it was designed to meet customer expectations for the service

customers' perceptions of how well a service meets or exceeds their expectations

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. intangibility price differential perishability heterogeneity

heterogeneity

Which of the following are characteristics that make marketing services different from product marketing? (Select all that apply.) Profitable Heterogeneous Perishable Intangible

Heterogeneous Perishable Intangible

Which of the following is most likely to lead to high levels of customer loyalty? High customer satisfaction ratings Intangible compensation for service failures Low prices High levels of customer dissonance

High customer satisfaction ratings

In delivery of a service, one of the most important early steps is addressing the knowledge gap, or the ability to understand ______. how to handle a service failure consumer expectations demand for the service costs and profitability

consumer expectations

Services are _______, which means that they cannot be touched, tasted, or seen.

intangible

One of the first steps in service recovery is that the firm needs to allow the customer to air his grievance and for the firm to ______ him. reduce the price for listen to reward ignore

listen to

True or false: Service providers that have high customer satisfaction ratings this year are unlikely to achieve the same level of satisfaction next year.

False

Joe owns a large retail company and wants to find out more about his customers' service expectations. Which one of the following is the best way for Joe to gain this insight? Joe needs to ask others in the industry what they know about customers' expectations. Joe should primarily use information gathered through the Internet on his industry. Joe should choose a time to watch his customers interact with services and workers in the store and make his best educated guess. Joe needs to engage in structured market research on his industry and brand.

Joe needs to engage in structured market research on his industry and brand.

A business that experiences service delivery gaps can use which of the following methods to improve the quality of its service? (Select all that apply.) Provide incentives and support for service providers. Ask each customer what level of service he or she expects when he or she enters the business. Empower employees to work in the customer's best interest. Implement self-service technologies.

Provide incentives and support for service providers. Empower employees to work in the customer's best interest. Implement self-service technologies.

Which of the following is NOT a method to reduce delivery gaps? Use technology to minimize errors Provide support and incentives Empower employees Threaten to terminate employees

Threaten to terminate employees

True or false: Delivery gaps always result in a service failure.

True

True or false: To assess service quality, it is necessary to understand both customers' perceptions and their expectations.

True

Which of the following characteristics is not one that discriminates services from products? Volatility Perishability Intangibility Heterogeneity Inseparability

Volatility

Janet had to deal with a very difficult customer who wanted to be given complimentary services such as free flights and upgrades on future flights when he very vocally complained in the airport about delays and lost luggage. He screamed at Janet and was very offensive. Her supervisor made Janet feel a little better about the unsettling experience by offering ______ support and commending her on how she handled the difficult passenger. instrumental emotional financial physical

emotional

When a hotel has a service delivery problem such as a broken air conditioning system on a very hot weekend, one critical element of service recovery is to ______. find a solution that seems fair to all customers offer the most frequent customers an equivalent number of nights free on a future stay ask each customer who complains what they feel would be equitable offer the customers who complain the most an equivalent number of nights free on a future stay

find a solution that seems fair to all customers

The primary reason there is greater heterogeneity in services than in products is because ______. human inputs generate differences of the increasing use of technology in delivering services of unknown outcomes on the buyer's part cost inequities generate differences

human inputs generate differences

Customer ______ refers to human or mechanical activities undertaken by firms to help satisfy their customers' needs and wants.

service

Customer service is best represented by which of the following statements? Customer service ______. ensures that customers become lifelong customers mandates that all customer needs must be met defines the task of marketing an intangible or primarily intangible item adds to marketing efforts by helping to meet the customers' needs and wants

adds to marketing efforts by helping to meet the customers' needs and wants

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 Tangibles Empathy Assurance

Reliability

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

fairness

One difference between products and services is demonstrated by a hair salon, where the stylist delivers the service at the same time the customer receives it. This is called ______. inseparability heterogeneity perishability intangibility

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. intangible perishable infinite inseparable

inseparable

The marketing manager needs to communicate with customers and employees on an ongoing basis in order to understand buyers' expectations and to reduce the ______ gap. standards communications knowledge delivery

knowledge

Poor service delivery can be converted into a positive interaction through service ______, an effort that resolves the problem fairly and shows the buyer that the firm is listening to the complaint. recovery repetition repositioning recognition

recovery

Mary went to the local supermarket, where she shopped regularly, to purchase her groceries for the week. Which of the following was a delivery gap that resulted in a service failure by the grocery store? It took Mary a little longer to find what she needed since they recently remodeled the store. Mary had to wait a long time in the checkout line because the clerk kept making errors using the cash register. Mary did not find a parking spot that was as close as she wanted to the store. Mary had trouble finding the coffee aisle because the signs were unclear.

Mary had to wait a long time in the checkout line because the clerk kept making errors using the cash register.

One of the most effective methods to assess how well a firm is delivering adequate service to consumers is to employ the ______ Model to evaluate their service provision. Intangibility Knowledge Service Recovery Service Gaps

Service Gaps

An important element of offering emotional support to employees is to ______ when they have been empowered to make decisions in dealing with the customer. not punish them encourage the customer to be upset encourage the employee not to be supportive let them talk back to the customer

not punish them

Service providers cannot inventory or stockpile things like haircuts during slow times to "sell" later when the facility is busy. This characteristic of services is called ______. perishability inseparability intangibility infinity

perishability

One of the most important factors for adequate service recovery is for the provider to ______. allow the customer to solve the problem on his or her own respond to the customer and resolve the problem quickly find a solution that costs the company the least amount of money possible guarantee that all problems will eventually be resolved in the order in which they occur

respond to the customer and resolve the problem quickly

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 as the perceived fairness of the process increases the longer the service provider listens to his or her complaint as the compensation becomes more tangible

the longer it takes to get an answer from the firm

Which of the following situations best evidences how a firm can offer employees emotional support and stand behind the employees' actions? At a dry cleaning store, employees are told not to charge unhappy customers but to enter their name on a "black list" of clients. At a copy center, part-time employees are encouraged to turn over any unhappy customer to the supervisor immediately. At a picture framing store, employees are told to ignore unruly, dissatisfied customers and wait on other buyers first. At the return desk at a large home repair store, employees are taught not to accept any item that is no longer in an unopened package.

At a copy center, part-time employees are encouraged to turn over any unhappy customer to the supervisor immediately.

A business that experiences service delivery gaps can use which of the following methods to improve the quality of its service? (Select all that apply.) Empower employees to work in the customer's best interest. Provide incentives and support for service providers. Implement self-service technologies. Ask each customer what level of service he or she expects when he or she enters the business.

Empower employees to work in the customer's best interest. Provide incentives and support for service providers. Implement self-service technologies.

Which of the following are benefits that a service provider receives from engaging in effective service recovery? (Select all that apply.) Improved word of mouth Higher levels of customer satisfaction than prior to the service failure Increased purchase intention Lower service costs

Improved word of mouth Increased purchase intention

Which of the following are benefits that a service provider receives from engaging in effective service recovery? (Select all that apply.) Improved word of mouth Increased purchase intention Lower service costs Higher levels of customer satisfaction than prior to the service failure

Improved word of mouth Increased purchase intention

Mary went to the local supermarket, where she shopped regularly, to purchase her groceries for the week. Which of the following was a delivery gap that resulted in a service failure by the grocery store? Mary had to wait a long time in the checkout line because the clerk kept making errors using the cash register. Mary did not find a parking spot that was as close as she wanted to the store. It took Mary a little longer to find what she needed since they recently remodeled the store. Mary had trouble finding the coffee aisle because the signs were unclear.

Mary had to wait a long time in the checkout line because the clerk kept making errors using the cash register.

One of the most effective methods to assess how well a firm is delivering adequate service to consumers is to employ the ______ Model to evaluate their service provision. Intangibility Service Recovery Knowledge Service Gaps

Service Gaps

If the Americana Hotel has successfully closed the standards gap, the knowledge gap, and the delivery gap in providing customers with service, it is still necessary to close the _______ gap.

communication

An airline employee is able to make a decision at the moment of assigning a passenger a seat at the gate when it is obvious the flier is in a wheel chair. The firm has _____ the employee by allowing him to move the passenger to first-class seating. incentivized rewarded empowered supported

empowered

A continuing dilemma for marketers of services is to understand buyers' ______, which means to understand in advance what they think will be delivered based on their previous experiences and knowledge.

expectations

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 ______. inform students that the problem cannot be fixed during the current term but their complaints will be used to address the issue in the next semester honestly listen to students' complaints and use their messages to build a committed relationship reduce the price of courses to all students in order to overcome the anger and anxiety many students are experiencing record the complaints and analyze all data in the future after all parties involved have subdued their emotions

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

In addition to providing service employees with emotional and instrumental support, management should offer the staff ______ that reward them for providing customers with good service. more hours pensions incentives better benefits

incentives

The most fundamental difference between services and goods is that services are ______. homogeneous cheaper intangible incentives

intangible

Despite having to deal with difficult guests, the service provider can be motivated to provide "service with a smile" when the firm ______. provides support and incentives to motivate quality service provides frequent training programs for employees establishes a policy for the firm that the customer is NOT always right does not deal with unruly customers and removes them from the service list

provides support and incentives to motivate quality service

Firms are able to gain a better understanding of customers' service expectations by using quantitative and qualitative market ______, which can be extensive and expensive. experiences research forces guesses

research

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. delivery knowledge standards communication

standards

Which of the following products or services is considered perishable in the sense that it cannot be stockpiled? A package of gum A dental exam A pair of shoes A box of candles

A dental exam

Lisa is a manager at a customer service call center for a footwear manufacturer. One of the customer service representatives, Mark, is upset because he just finished a call in which the customer berated him for the poor quality of a pair of shoes. Mark is worried that he may be punished for offering the customer a refund and a 20% discount on her next pair of shoes, but Lisa reassures him that he made the right decision and tells a few jokes to get his spirits up. What type of support has Lisa provided? Instrumental Financial Emotional Institutional

Emotional

Ryanair advertised the lowest rates in Europe with fares of $12 between Paris and Munich. However, when Bill arrived at the airport, he had to pay $28 in taxes, $25 for one small carry-on bag, $6 for a non-alcoholic beverage, and $2.50 to use the restroom on the plane. Between Ryanair and the customer there is a ______. knowledge gap standards gap delivery gap communication gap

communication gap

When a firm such as Ruth's Chris Steak House tells servers to "use your best judgment" in serving a customer who is not satisfied with his or her $40 steak, it is allowing the server to make decisions at the point of delivery. This is called _______

empowerment

One of the best ways for managers to reduce the ______ gap is to conduct ongoing research and regularly talk with employees to explain what customers expect to get from the brand and the firm. standards communication delivery knowledge

knowledge

For the marketing manager to be able to deliver consistent quality service, it is imperative to set ______. high employee-to-customer ratios high prices to impart high quality measurable goals that are based on customer expectations general goals based on employee feedback

measurable goals that are based on customer expectations