Marketing Ch 13

Service quality is defined as ________

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

One of the characteristics that makes services different from product marketing is the fact there is tremendous _______ in delivery based on how the provider is performing the task at different times. The same waiter, for example, might provide excellent service one day, and the next day, when he is not feeling well, his delivered service might be terrible.

heterogeneity

Three of the dermatologist's patients have very different skin problems. Because of the ______ of services, the doctor needs to customize each patient's diagnosis and treatment.

heterogeneity

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

The customer who is using the self-checkout ______

avoids the variability associated with human cashiers

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

the longer it takes to get an answer from the firm

Which of the following is NOT a method to reduce delivery gaps?

threaten to terminate employees

In addition to empowering and rewarding service providers, as well as offering instrumental support, service managers are advised to ________

be consistent and predictable in their support

A commitment to delivering quality service _______

begins with management

Purchasing a cruise, for example, is different from purchasing an automobile, in that the cruise ________

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

service providers, such as seaside hotels and restaurants, have a greater problem matching _____ than product manufacturers do

supply and demand

Empowerment of employees would be most important in which of the following service situations?

A bride is unhappy with the hair style the stylist has created on the morning of her wedding

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

a more focused, narrow array of services

Customers' expectations of the type of service they will receive is primarily based on their knowledge and _____

experiences

In the delivery of good service, employees usually take their cue from the attitude and actions of _______, which sets policy and have the ability to influence the entire corporate posture on quality service performance.

management

United Airlines flies a plane from Los Angeles to NY at 8 on Tuesday only 25%. On Friday, the same flight is overbooked by 15%. One of the traits of service marketing is this quality of ______, in which the flights must be delivered on the day scheduled or it is lost.

perishability

The employees at the Ritz-Carlton are renowned for delivering good-quality service to hotel guests. Their behavior is probably due to ________

seeing management treating customers well and following the behavior

Susie decided to try a weight-loss program by Extreme Fit Foods that promised she could lose 15 pounds her first week. Susie followed the guidelines exactly and only lost 1 pound the first week. She is planning on canceling her member ship and telling her other friends no to try Extreme Fit Foods. What mistake did Extreme Fit Foods make?

It needs to communicate accurate results information to meet customers' expectations

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

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

decreased the rate of service heterogeneity

A travel agency has made several major mistakes in booking a trip to Greece and wants to make amends and try to retain customer loyalty. Which of the following would NOT be a good way for the travel agency to address the problem?

delaying the resolution of the problems until all managers at the agency can meet to agree on an approach

The __________ is the difference between a company's standards and the actual service it provides to customers

delivery gap

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

heterogeneity

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.

inseperable

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

inseperablity

Consumers can see and touch a product, but cannot touch the financing program used to purchase laptop. They are

intangible

The most fundamental difference between services and goods is that services are _______

intangible

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

standards

T or F: Delivery gaps always result in a service failure.

True

The primary reason there is greater heterogeneity in services than in products is because ________

human inputs generate differences

Service provider provide instrumental support to their staff by _____

providing systems and equipment to do the job properly

Services often are perceived as riskier purchases because the customer _______

has less chance to sample the service before purchase and cannot return it after purchase

A systematic program that collects customer inputs and integrates them into managerial decisions is ________

voice-of-customer program

Customer service is best represented by which of the following statements? Customer service

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

1.) Customer complaint behavior: 2.) Point-of-purchase surveys 3.) Zone of tolerance 4.) Voice-of-customer program

1.)analyzes the unfulfilled needs of customers in regards to their perceptions of the performed service used to modify future performance 2.) inexpensively collects customer's service perceptions in the process of exchange 3.) identifies the area between the desired and minimum standard of acceptable service based on five service dimensions 4.) systematically collects customer inputs and integrates them into managerial decisions

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 to provide both distributive and procedural ______ in resolving the delays in getting all customer served.

fairness

One of the best ways for managers to reduce the ______ gap is to conduct ongoing research and regularly talk with customers to determine what they expect to get from the brand and the firm.

knowledge

A service provider offers many amenities that he believes the customer, but the delivered services are not what is expected by the customer. This is an example of

knowledge gap

One of the most important factors for adequate service recovery is for the provider to ______

respond to the customer and resolve the problem quickly

Involving employees in setting service performance goals can be very instructive in helping a firm reduce the _______ as it increase their input into systematizing the expected output.

standards gap

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 student's complaints and use their messages to build a committed relationship

Which of the following are potential sources of heterogeneity of service quality at a hair salon?

-two different hair stylists working at the same location -the same hair stylist working at different times of the day, week, or month

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

100%

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

Distributive fairness

Joe owns a large retail company and wants to find out more about his customers' service expectations. Which of the following is the best way for Joe to gain this insight?

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

perception of the fairness of the process used to resolve complaints about service

Procedural fairness

Which of the following is NOT a method by which managers can provide rewards and incentives to employees?

Providing technology and instrumental support at the facility

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

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 program.

Service Gaps

Marissa works for a local restaurant. Each time a customer reports a compliment to a manager about an employee, the employee receives a star pin wear. What is the advantage of the "star pin" to the restaurant and Marissa?

The star pin is a reward that reinforces the provision of excellent customer service and makes the employee feel recognized.

Which of the following characteristics is NOT one that distinguishes services from products?

Volitility

One of the side benefits of listening to customers' complaints is that ______

airing the complaint can be very therapeutic for the buyer

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 long it will take the firm to resolve the issue

Since service delivery is not always uniform, it is important for the provider to be sure to close the ________ gap and not promise more in their messages to buyers than they can deliver on a regular basis.

communications

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

communications gap

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

complaint

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 wheel chair. The fir has ______ the employee by allowing him to move the passenger to first class seating

empowered

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

expectations

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 _______, such as in communications.

gaps

One of the best methods to ensure that guests at Hilton Hotels receive quality service is to solicit suggestions and feedback from _______

guests and employees

Services marketing differs from the marketing of products in all of the following ways EXCEPT:

inconvertability

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

The perceived equity of the process used to resolve complaints is called ________

procedural fairness

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

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

research

One of the most important factors for adequate service recovery id for the provider to _____

respond quickly

Joanna learned from customer satisfaction surveys that diners in her restaurant wanted to be able to make substitutions. She has decided to allow substitutions, but has not told all of the servers of this.Joanna is demonstrating a ______, causing her restaurant to provide a lower degree of service than she intends.

standards gap

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 ________ and provide measurable service quality based on expectations.

standards gap

When there is a service failure, customers typically want some sort of material compensation that offsets their inconvenience of loss. They want______

tangible restitution

One of the aspects of service provision in recent years that has dramatically changed the delivery of services and improved consistency and efficiency is the use of :

technology

A restaurant delivers particularly bad service at lunch one Tuesday. One of the biggest problems with the marketing of such services is that the restaurant service providers cannot ______

undo bad service and often are unaware of the extent of the problem until the buyer complains

A customer who is dissatisfied with a restaurant's service delivery and finds it to be quite different from what was promised in the promised in the advertising is very likely to do which of the following?

-communicate the negative experience via the Internet -not return to the restaurant -communicate the negative experience via word of mouth

1.) Knowledge gap 2.) Standards gap 3.) Delivery gap 4.) Communications gap

1.) Conduct research to better understand what customers want 2.) Set appropriate service goals and measure service performance 3.) Improve employee performance through support, incentives, and the use of technology 4.) Be realistic in telling potential buyers about the services that can be provided and manage those customer expectations effectively

Mary went to the local supermarket, where she stopped 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

What does the Service-Product Continuum reveal about what businesses are able to provide to customers?

Most firms combine both goods and services in their offerings

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 ATM

The marketing metric used to evaluate if a firm is performing on the five service quality dimensions by finding the minimum level of acceptable service is _______

the Zone of Tolerance