MKG5450-850 Final Exam; All Quizzes

On the military base where Micah is stationed, there is a large, well-stocked garage where he can take his vintage car to do necessary maintenance. The garage charges modest space and tool rental fees. Micah really enjoys tinkering with the engine, but he's not very knowledgeable. That's why he's glad that there is a trained mechanic on duty at the garage. The mechanic will answer Micah's questions and check his work to make sure that he has done nothing to damage his car's engine. Micah was especially proud of himself when he replaced his carburetor recently. Which of the following service delivery roles is Micah, the customer, performing?

A contributor to quality and satisfaction and competitor

Which of the following statements about the benefits of service guarantees is true?

A good guarantee forces the company to focus on its customers

In terms of servicescape complexity, which of the following is a lean service environment?

ATM machine

Leonard has been commuting to New York City on the Long Island Railroad for 10 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 five minutes late. Leonard's expectation that his train will be five minutes late reflects his _________ level of service for the Long Island Railroad.

Adequate

Customers often cannot accurately evaluate the technical qualities of legal work like that provided when a homeowner refinances his or her property. Which of the following cues would the homeowner be likely to use to evaluate the legal services?

All of the above

Waiting time feels longer when customers:

Are alone while waiting

For years, Allstate Insurance has used the slogan, "You're in good hands with Allstate." Which dimension of service quality is this Allstate promotional campaign emphasizing?

Assurance

Many customers will not shop at traditional retail stores the day after Thanksgiving due to the crowds. This refusal to shop is an example of how a servicescape can create _____ behavior.

Avoidance

In a service blueprint, the line of internal interaction separates:

Backstage contact employee actions from support processes

Once an organization that is developing a physical evidence strategy has recognized the strategic impact of physical evidence, it should next:

Blueprint the physical evidence of service

Retention strategies based on social bonds:

Build long-term relationships through social and interpersonal as well as financial bonds

Which of the following is an example of a remote service environment?

Carolina Power, an electricity provider

When you visit the web site for Hyatt hotels, you can look at pictures of its newest hotels, register for its continuity programs, and make reservations quickly. Because the site is inviting, attractive, and fun to browse, customers perceive the Hyatt hotels to also be this way. By designing it this way, Hyatt has used:

Clue management

The busiest time for tax preparers is the week prior to April 15. Many tax preparers send out mailings to their regular customers asking the customers to bring their tax information in to the tax preparer's office in January and February. The mailings explain how they will receive their tax refunds much quicker if they bring their information in now rather than wait till the last minute. Tax preparers are using which of the following strategies for shifting demand to match capacity?

Communicate with customers

Lois Kay is an experienced baker. She has decided to bake and decorate her daughter's wedding cake instead of ordering one at the bakery. What service delivery role is Kay performing?

Competitor

Beyond the specific inherent benefits of receiving service value, customers also benefit in other ways from long-term associations with firms. The three types of relational benefits for customers are:

Confidence benefits; social benefits; special treatment benefits

Delta Airlines was dissatisfied with customer reactions to its attempt to offer passengers their choice of cold deli sandwiches instead of the more traditional airplane meal. Its intent was to provide passengers with better food. Passengers saw the move as another way Delta was trying to skimp on service and save money. When trying to deliver service quality, Delta forgot to:

Consider customer requirements

The ad for legal services that Marla saw indicated the lawyers would receive no money unless their client did. To Marla, this statement indicated the legal firm offering this service was using:

Contingency pricing

When Roberta gets her hair cut, she carefully explains to the hair stylist how she expects it to look once the haircut is finished. Roberta is playing the role of a:

Contributor to quality and satisfaction

After moving to Florida, Vanessa opened both a savings and a checking account at Benford Bank. Although Benford had a higher minimum balance requirement for free checking than the other two banks she considered, Vanessa chose Benford because it was located closer to her home than the other banks. Vanessa would rather expend other costs than _____ costs.

Convenience

To calculate what it charges a client, a detective agency charges $200 a day direct costs plus an additional $50 per day to pay for office expenses, licenses and other fixed costs, and fifteen percent of full costs for the profit margin. What type of pricing strategy is being used by the detective agency?

Cost-based

In _____ pricing, a service firm determines price by calculating component costs of the service and adding a mark up.

Cost-plus

Since service companies have found that customers differ in their relationship value and that it may be neither practical nor profitable to meet or exceed all customers' expectations, they have divided their target markets according to:

Current and/or future profitability

The _____ gap is the difference between customer expectations and perceptions.

Customer

Every month the pest exterminator does a monthly spraying at Jean Poole's house. Every month Jean gripes that she is being ripped off by the exterminating company and that she's going to find a new one. But she never does change service providers due to:

Customer inertia

Rhonda does not want to use the self-checkout lane at the supermarket because it "just seems too complicated." What factor primarily has determined her reluctance to try the new self-service technology?

Customer readiness

Progressive Insurance examined insurance from the customers' viewpoint and saw how difficult it was to get an auto claim processed and paid by insurance companies. Then the company crafted its service strategy around solving that problem. The company now has fleets of claim adjustors on the road every day, ready to rush to the scene of an accident in their territory and provide fast claims processing-sometimes on the spot. Progressive Insurance relies on _____ service standards.

Customer-defined

In the first stage in the service marketing research process, the researcher:

Defines the problem and research objectives

Product and service features that are unexpected and surprisingly enjoyable are known as ___________.

Delights

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

The central focus of the gaps model of service quality is the:

Difference between customer expectations and perceptions

Vernon has a used Nordic Track he wants to sell. He has been told to take it to Play It Again Sports. The retail outlet buys used athletic equipment and resells it. Vernon took his Nordic Track to a store near his house and was given $60 for the machine. Later he learned that other Play It Again Sports stores would have paid him at least $100 for the exercise machine and as much as $120. Vernon's dissatisfaction with Play It Again Sports is the result of:

Differences in policies and procedures across distribution outlets

Peak demand for rooms at the Phoenician, an upscale hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona, occurs during the tourist season from November through mid-April. During the summer slow season when demand for rooms drops considerably, the Phoenician encourages local residents to experience the beauty of the hotel on weekends by offering attractively priced weekend packages. The Phoenician uses which of the following strategies for shifting demand to match capacity?

Differentiate on price

Sometimes firms have service encounters that fail because of ___________, who intentionally or unintentionally act in a way that is disruptive, rude, or aggressive.

Dysfunctional customers

In terms of its servicescape complexity, The White Elephant, a restaurant that specializes in traditional Thai cooking is an example of a(n) _____ service environment.

Elaborate

Ally Bank advertises "24/7 live customer care" which means that customer can call by telephone and speak with a human being about their banking matters any time of day or night. Ally Bank customers never have to talk to a machine. With this service feature, Ally Bank is emphasizing the _________ dimension of service quality.

Empathy

Which of the following is an important consideration for innovating or developing a new service?

Employ service and design thinking and techniques.

Which of the following is one of the ways an organization benefits from maintaining and developing a loyal customer base?

Employee retention

The Long Island Railroad installed ticket vending machines in train stations to expedite the purchase of train tickets during periods of peak demand. The Long Island Railroad is using which of the following waiting line strategies?

Employing operational logic to reduce wait

Bruce was driving to work yesterday when he was nearly run off the road by a speeding furniture delivery truck. On the back of the truck was a phone number to call if you believed the driver was not handling the truck safely. Rather than deciding to never buy furniture from this furniture company, Bruce called the company and complained about the truck driver. The person who took his call thanked Bruce for his concern, apologized for the driver and promised to reprimand him. Which service recovery strategy was the furniture store using?

Encourage and track complaints

The appliance store told the home owner that it would deliver her new stove on Monday between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. The appliance store is using which of the following waiting line strategies?

Establishing a reservation process

There is a sign next to the door that you can see as you leave Mildred's Restaurant. It reads, "If you enjoyed your meal, please tell a friend." In terms of the service marketing triangle, this sign is a part of Mildred's _____ marketing.

External

The Baltimore Orioles, a professional baseball team, offer standing room only seats to fans when a home game at The Ballpark at Camden Yards is sold out. The Baltimore Orioles are stretching _____ to adjust the capacity of The Ballpark at Camden Yards to meet fan demand.

Facilities

An advertisement for the Four Seasons Hotel featured Marlene Wei, a housekeeper at the Four Seasons Hotel in Chicago. Copy for the advertisement noted that "Marlene is the soul of concern. She cannot sleep well at night unless she is certain you will. Her mission is to enhance your personal comfort and, in turn your professional efficiency the following day." By featuring Marlene Wei in an advertisement, the Four Seasons Hotel is _______ to address service intangibility.

Featuring service employees in advertising

Participants in the Coffee Café's loyalty program get a free large cup of coffee after every 10th cup of coffee purchased. After purchasing 100 cups of coffee from the Coffee Café, loyalty program participants receive a $10 gift certificate good for food and beverage items or merchandise. Coffee Café's uses _____ to encourage its customers to remain loyal.

Financial bonds

Which of the following is NOT a research objective for improving upward communication in a service organization?

Gain first-hand knowledge about competitors

Provider _____ is the difference between customer expectations of service and company understanding of those expectations.

Gap 1

Provider ______ is the difference between company understanding of customer expectations and the development of customer-driven service designs and standards.

Gap 2

The highest customer expectations are referred to as _____ expectations.

Ideal

Which of the following is NOT an example of a commonly used service recovery strategy?

Implement the service paradox

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

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

On his way to work today, Terry saw a billboard for a physician's group that specialized in vascular surgery. In his local newspaper there was a full-page ad for a medical clinic that performed similar surgery. Then in his mail, he got a brochure from yet another medical clinic asking him if he wanted to get rid of ugly varicose veins. Which trend that influenced the development of services marketing concepts and strategies is illustrated here?

Increased competition in professional services

Which of the following is NOT a category of strategy that service providers can use to match service promises with service delivery?

Integrate the service dimensions

At the restaurant last night, the restaurant owner asked the server to turn the television on the Braves game and to turn up the sound so he could hear it. A group at a nearby table asked the server to turn down the sound so they could hold a conversation. Yet another group of patrons asked that the television be turned to another channel that was showing a Clint Eastwood movie. The server had to deal with both _____ conflicts.

Inter-client and organization/client

The marketing that goes on between an insurance agent and a current customer that is buying car insurance for a new teenage driver is an example of _____ marketing.

Interactive

Cadet Uniform Services, a Canadian company that rents uniforms to major corporations, requires its new delivery drivers to go through a year-long training regimen before they receive their own delivery routes. First, new drivers go through three months of training to learn the whole scope of the business before setting foot in a delivery truck. Then they ride with experienced delivery drivers for nine months to watch how they interact with customers. According to the service marketing triangle, Cadet's training program is a form of _____ marketing.

Internal

Compatibility management:

Is a process for managing the customer mix

Many carwashes offer free replacement washes to car owners if it rains or snows within 24 hours of when they had their cars cleaned at the carwash. Because people who would take advantage of this service guarantee are the ones that are concerned about the appearance of their car, this service guarantee:

Is very meaningful

What is wrong with the following service goal posted in a restaurant: "Do not keep customers waiting too long to be served"?

It is not specific enough

By noting that a number of customers had complained about late bus arrivals at one particular stop, the bus line rerouted the bus away from a heavy traffic area. By increasing its miles traveled slightly, the bus was able to improve its arrival time substantially at the stop where it had formerly been perpetually late. Which service recovery strategy did the bus line use?

Learn from recovery experiences

Clarifying expectations after the sale is a strategy for:

Managing customer education

Emory Vision Center has a packet of information that it sends to people who are interested in LASIK surgery. The center also has a doctor available to speak to organizations about how vision can be corrected. In addition, it publishes a newsletter called The Visionary in which it offers family discounts, clarifies patient expectations, and notes awards and honors the center receives. The center also manages a web site that contains news on the latest innovative research techniques. Through its communications with current and potential patients, Emory Vision Center is:

Managing customer education

For quite some time, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) has grown through providing its service outside the United States. After over two decades of expansion in China, the company is now planning to explore Africa as a new market and expects to double its number of outlets in Africa within four years. KFC has developed a growth strategy emphasizing:

Market development

The New York Yankees, a major league baseball team, offers half-price tickets for high school and college students every Wednesday home game at Yankee Stadium. The New York Yankees are using a(n) _____ pricing strategy.

Market segmentation

The Kingston Little Theater is a semi-professional troupe that presents six productions annually. It knows that if it presents a musical from the 1950s or the 1960s it will attract a large audience from the gay community to see the production. It could chart its demand pattern by looking at:

Market segments

Rangu read in the newspaper that he could receive a free month's cable television service if he would agree to use the service for two years. The ad had no other stated restrictions and appeared to apply to the entire county in which Jackson lived. When Rangu went by the cable television office, the salesperson there told Rangu that his area of the community was not eligible for the free month offer. If he wanted cable, he had to pay $400 to have the cable service brought to his house. Rangu experienced a problem with:

Marketing communications that were not integrated

When a guest staying at the Marriott Marquis in New York calls room service to order dinner, which of the following is an example of a backstage contact employee action?

Marriott food service order clerk takes guest's order

Which of the following is NOT considered a capacity constraint for a service provider?

Money

In order to get an accurate cholesterol reading, an individual must fast for at least eight hours before the test. When you schedule a cholesterol test at your doctor's office, you will receive a brochure that will explain the fasting and why it is so very necessary. Providing this sort of educational literature to patients is one way doctors try to narrow provider _____ of the gaps model of service quality.

None of these (Gap 1, 2, or 3)

United Jersey Bank offers customers, who have a combined balance of $3000 or more in a United Jersey Checking Account and Preferred Money Market Account, a service called United Jersey Preferred Banking. This service is designed to make banking more convenient and profitable for customers. United Jersey Preferred Banking eliminates monthly maintenance fees, provides unlimited free transactions at ATMs, preferred rates on personal loans, higher interest rates on savings with higher balances, and a consolidated monthly statement. United Jersey Bank does not offer United Jersey Preferred banking to customers with a combined balance of less than $3000 in a United Jersey Checking Account and Preferred Money Market Account because these customers are:

Not profitable in the long run

Executive Dry Cleaners charges customers $2.99 to launder a dress shirt rather than $3.00. Executive Dry Cleaners is using a(n) _____ pricing strategy.

Odd

Kelso Massage Therapy promises its clients that their wait for a massage will be less than 15 minutes or the massage is free. What type of service recovery tool is Kelso Massage Therapy using?

Offer a guarantee

Cookies is a retail store where customers host parties for guests to bake and decorate cookies. The store offers customers their money back if the party experience is boring. Cookies is:

Offering a service guarantee to manage customer expectations

When a local Taco Bell extended its operating hours on Friday and Saturday nights to 24-hour service to satisfy its college market, it was instituting a(n):

One-time fix

In service blueprinting terms, _____ are those steps and activities that contact employees, like desk clerks and receptionists, perform that are visible to customers.

Onstage contact employee actions

The Apple Store's clean, open spaces and white walls create a modern feel and draw all of the customer's attention to relatively few products on display. The Apple Store's servicescape is playing what strategic role?

Package

A person who is a(n) _____ is a type of complainer who is unlikely to say anything to the service provider. This type of complainer often doubts the effectiveness of complaining because of a belief that the consequences will not merit the time and effort they will expend complaining.

Passive

In addition to the elements of the traditional marketing mix, the expanded mix for services includes:

People, physical evidence, and process

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

The final step in the process for developing customer-defined standards is to:

Periodically update target levels and measures

Bob Wilson owns and operates Flashdance Skating Rink. Last Monday afternoon, he had rented the rink out for a birthday party that was cancelled at the last minute due to a flu epidemic that had sickened three-fourths of the children who were invited. While Wilson kept the deposit, he did not get the skate rental fees or the snack food money he had anticipated from the rental. Wilson lost money as a result of the _____ characteristic of services.

Perishability

When a lawyer feels a conflict between what she is asked to do and her own personality, orientation, or values she is experiencing _____ conflict.

Person/role

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

Ruth recently visited a day care center that is convenient to her work. Ruth is thinking of letting the day care workers care for her infant son while she is at work. The first thing Ruth noticed when she walked in the door of the facility was the smell of urine. There was a dead plant in the window. Toys were strewn about the floor and Ruth almost tripped over a tricycle. In this example, Ruth experienced negative aspects of the _____ element of the day care center's services marketing mix.

Physical evidence

An airport with large, easily read signage and well-designed foot traffic patterns that allow travelers to perform their roles with ease is providing travelers with _____ orientation.

Place

A major cause of _____ is the difference between what a firm promises about a service and what it actually delivers.

Poorly perceived service

The price for an all-day trip to the Alpine Spa is $235 and includes an hour-long massage, a facial, a manicure and pedicure and a hair styling and make-up application. Any of these services can be purchased individually for the total cost of almost $350. What kind of pricing strategy is Alpine Spa using?

Price bundling

Yesterday, Mike went to the dentist for his six-month check-up. Two weeks before he went to the dentist, he called the office to make an appointment. The day before his check-up, the office's receptionist called him to confirm his appointment. When Mike arrived at the office, he checked in with the receptionist and then waited in the waiting room for 15 minutes, reading a magazine, before being greeted by the dental hygienist, who escorted him to an examination room. The dentist entered the room, greeted Mike, examined Mike's teeth, took a set of x-rays and asked the dental hygienist to clean Mike's teeth. When his teeth were cleaned, the hygienist told Mike he should return in six months for another check-up. Mike experienced the _____ element of the dental office's services marketing mix.

Process

Harrah's Entertainment, a casino hotel company, has a company incentive program weighted toward team results. A relatively small percentage of compensation is based on individual goals. Everyone in the organization is rewarded based on customer service scores. Harrah's Entertainment is:

Promoting teamwork

The Chatham Landing apartment complex offers tenants $200 off one month's rent for each new tenant referral. By rewarding tenants for making a tenant referral, Chatham Landing is encouraging tenants to perform which of the following customer jobs?

Promoting the company

To close the customer gap, the gaps model of service quality suggests that the _______ gaps need to be closed.

Provider

A state auditor who is expected to deliver quality, individualized service to state offices and departments while at the same time finishing jobs as quickly as possible is experiencing a(n) _____ tradeoff:

Quality/productivity

A telephone order taker for a catalog retailer is expected to treat each customer with concern and courtesy and be willing to spend as much time as needed to get the order taken, while not leaving other customers waiting on hold for too long. The telephone order taker is likely to experience _____ tradeoff.

Quality/productivity

Last Thursday Dylan and Tori had dinner at Pig Pete's, a new restaurant they had heard about from friends. When they received their order of buffalo wings, Dylan noticed the wings were cold and dried out instead of being hot and moist. Dylan complained to their waitress, who apologized, brought out a plate of freshly cooked buffalo wings, and told Dylan and Tori that they would not be charged for the buffalo wings. The couple's experience at Pig Pete's is an example of which type of service encounter incident?

Recovery

Telepizza S.A. is a Spanish pizza restaurant chain that offers children membership in its magic club. The magic club gives its members small prizes, usually simple magic tricks, with each order their parents place. Telepizza has 65 percent of the Spanish market as a result of using _____ marketing.

Relationship

_____ marketing focuses on keeping and improving current customers, rather than concentrating on acquiring new customers.

Relationship

The Learning Academy provides tutoring for children who are having trouble mastering some skill in school - whether it is math, reading, studying, or something else. It wants to monitor and determine the strengths and weaknesses of The Learning Academy's curriculum. Which of the following types of research should The Learning Academy use to realize this objective?

Relationship surveys

_______ has consistently proven to be the most important determinant of service quality.

Reliability

Boston Symphony Orchestra realized the classic music market was generally becoming older and needed to learn how to appeal to younger concert-goers. It hired a research agency to identify the positive and negative attributes of going to concerts. In other words, the research agency conducted a:

Requirements research

Which of the following statements about service failure and service recovery is true?

Resolving customer problems effectively has a strong impact on customer satisfaction and loyalty

The empowerment of employees makes which of the following service recovery strategies easier to implement?

Respond quickly

FedEx honors a handful of non-management employees with its Golden Falcon award each month, recognizing efforts that are "above and beyond their customary line of duty." This award includes a gold pin with the gold falcon emblem and ten shares of FedEx stock. By giving deserving employees the Golden Falcon award, FedEx is using which of the following human resources management strategies for closing provider gap 3?

Retain the best people

An airline that offers price discounts and "Internet Specials" for passengers who order tickets online is:

Rewarding customers

To be effective, complaint solicitation requires:

Rigorous recording of numbers and types of complaints through many channels

PSE&G, a utility company located in New Jersey, is conducting a service marketing research study to assess its service performance. It will measure the gaps between customer expectations and perceptions along the five dimensions of service quality. Which of the following types of research should PSE&G use?

SERVQUAL surveys

Which of the following statements about customer satisfaction is true?

Satisfaction may be associated with feelings of ambivalence when there is a mix of positive and negative experiences

Hyatt Hotels has installed automated check-in machines at some of its hotels. To check in and get a room key, guests insert a credit card into the machine. Hyatt is experimenting with the use of:

Self-service technologies

When a company offers new services to current customers, it is using a _____ growth strategy.

Service development

Pret a Manger, a London-based sandwich shop, introduced restaurant-quality sandwiches with fast-food velocity. This would be an example of a

Service improvement

When Marilyn returned to her oncologist's office for a checkup, she was pleased to find the waiting room had been remodeled and it now contained a large aquarium. There was even a sign that said watching fish is an excellent stress reducer. Since Marilyn did not feel nearly as anxious before going to the oncologist's examination room, she decided the addition of the swimming fish was a good:

Service improvement

A regional chain of travel agencies uses role-playing to determine how courteously and efficiently a potential employee will handle difficult customers who keep changing their minds. The travel agency is assessing:

Service inclination

The _______ suggests an initially disappointed customer who has experienced good service recovery might be even more satisfied and loyal as a result.

Service recovery paradox

The core offerings of hospitals, hotels, and banks are primarily deeds and performances and therefore are_________________.

Services

The romantic mountain getaway seemed like the perfect Valentine's Day gift. The pictures in the brochure showed couples enjoying the amenities in their cabins. When the couple arrived, they found a cold, uninviting cabin with a shortage of creature comforts--no down-filled blankets, no wood for the fireplace, paper plates and cups, and a broken chair. In this service example, the _____ was not what the customers expected.

Servicescape

Many people expect checkered tablecloths and bottles of Chianti wine at Italian restaurants and fortune cookies at Chinese restaurants. These are both examples of which composite dimension?

Signs, symbols and artifacts

The Offshore Sailing School in Jersey City, New Jersey, offers a basic sailing course, which takes place in three days over two weekends, for $495. Students enrolled in the course attend classroom sessions that cover the theory and technology of sailing and receive hands-on sailing instructions in the water that introduces them to all fundamental sailing skills. Student participation in the Offshore Sailing School's classroom sessions and hands-on sailing instructions illustrates the _____ characteristic of services.

Simultaneous production and consumption

In a _____ pricing strategy, new services are introduced at high prices with large promotional expenditures.

Skimming

Some retailers have feared that their customers will like the convenience of Internet shopping and quit shopping at their stores. To combat this, many mall retailers have tried to create a shopping experience that is entertaining because they believe that Internet retail sites are not designed to be fun. That's why you'll see fashion shows, magic acts, local singers, and children's art exhibits at malls. The malls are encouraging _____ behavior.

Social interaction

A vacuum cleaner repair shop that called recent customers to ask if the people who waited on them were friendly and courteous, if the cleaner had been clean when it was returned to them and if they had any trouble finding the new store is collecting feedback on _____ measurements.

Soft

New management of the Falcons football team surveyed former season ticket holder to determine why they were no longer attending the games. As a result, it set "Clean and well-stocked restrooms" as one of its _____ customer-defined standards.

Soft

One of the Four Seasons Hotel's customer-defined standards is "staff will speak to guests in an attentive, natural, and courteous manner." This is an example of a(n) ________ customer-defined standard.

Soft

Because appropriate hard measurements are not always intuitive or obvious, the potential for counting or tracking an irrelevant aspect of operations is high. Thus, it is often desirable to link operational performance measures with _________ to be sure they are strongly correlated.

Soft measurements

The last time Lia went shopping at Nordstrom's department store she had a very pleasant experience. When she entered Nordstrom's, she asked a sales associate named Sarah for assistance finding a pair of jeans, a pair of shorts, a skirt, and matching tops. Sarah enthusiastically agreed to help and treated Lia like royalty throughout her two-hour shopping trip. Sarah stayed with Lia the entire time she was in Nordstrom's and showed her a number of different styles of jeans, shorts, skirts, and tops. Sarah brought Lia additional items while she was in the fitting room and offered her advice on accessorizing her outfits. After the sale, Sarah thanked Lia for her purchases. Lia's experience at Nordstrom's is an example of which type of service encounter incident?

Spontaneity

At Hawkes and Wellington, an upscale men's clothing store, classical music plays softly in the background, while the store's fragrance-a blend of oak, leather, and fine tobacco wafts from carefully placed heat-sensitive pellets. The music and fragrance at Hawkes and Wellington correspond to the _____ in the stimulus-organism-response model.

Stimulus

Which of the following is NOT an example of a strategy used to shift demand to match capacity?

Stretch capacity

After an airplane arrives at its gate and passengers disembark, it is cleaned, restocked with food and beverages, and refueled by maintenance workers before the next set of passengers board and the airplane departs on its next flight. The activities performed by maintenance workers to prepare the airplane for its next flight is part of which section of the service blueprint?

Support processes

In which of the following service situations would customers have the highest level of participation?

Taking self-defense classes

Which of the following is NOT a source of customer expectations?

Target market

Phone encounters are a type of ___________ in which tone of voice, employee knowledge, and effectiveness of handling customer issues are important criteria for judging quality.

Technology-mediated encounter

Two roommates both registered for an introduction to business class. At midterm, one roommate found his instructor so boring that he was thinking of changing his major to history. The other roommate had a charismatic teacher and looked forward to going to class. This heterogeneity of instruction demonstrates:

That customer service depends on employee actions

One of the reasons used to explain why customers evaluate goods and services differently is:

That customers often have limited reference prices for services

Which of the following statements about the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) is true?

The ACSI demonstrates to service providers that there is much room for improvement in customer satisfaction

According to the text, the relationship value of a customer is not influenced by:

The communication strategy

Which of the following trends has directly influenced the development of services marketing concepts and strategies?

The fact that manufacturing firms are placing increased emphasis on providing services

On certain days during the week, Disneyworld allows guests who stay at a Disney Resort hotel to enter the Magic Kingdom, Epcot Center, or Disney-MGM Studios one hour before the parks are open to the public. Walt Disney World is minimizing waiting time by differentiating customers on the basis of:

The importance of the customer

Imagine a bereaved family at a funeral home discovering dirty restrooms, a disco ball in the chapel, and loud heavy metal music on the sound system. You would be correct in saying:

The physical environment quality led the family to think less of the overall service quality

A service blueprint depicts:

The process of service delivery

Which of the following statements is a criterion for the creation of appropriate service standards?

The standards should be based on behaviors and actions that are very important to customers

Which of the following is an intangible component of a car repair shop?

The training the mechanic has received

The process for installing a new in-dash audio system in Leo's car took almost four hours, which Leo spent sitting in the waiting room of J.J.'s Auto Sound. Leo paid _____ costs for the installation of his new audio system.

Time

When Tom and Ruth checked out of the Marriott Hilton Head Resort, they were each given a brief postage paid survey to complete and return through the mail. The survey asked 15 questions about their stay at the Marriott Resort. It covered such attributes as overall satisfaction, check-in speed/efficiency, cleanliness, decor and comfort of their room, friendliness and efficiency of the staff, quality of dining experience, quality of merchandise/gift shop, intention to return, and willingness to recommend to friends. Which of the following types of research did Marriott conduct?

Trailer calls

Which of the following is NOT a form of qualitative research?

Trailer calls

Benford Bank recently opened a school with kindergarten through fifth grade classes run by the county school system and a child-care center at its headquarters office park. By providing "work-and-family" benefits designed to help employees balance the stresses of a demanding job and family life, Benford Bank is:

Treating employees as customers

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

A commercial for Carnival Cruises shows a group of friends scuba diving, rock climbing, dancing, and having a really great time. Which strategy for tangibilization is Carnival using in this commercial?

Visualization

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

Which of the following is NOT a company-controlled factor that influences customer expectations?

Word-of-mouth communication

Which of the following types of research has a high monetary cost?

future expectations research

Sunoco is readying a chain-wide set of marketing initiatives designed to improve its image with women drivers and win more return business to its service station outlets throughout Ontario. It refurbished all of its restrooms and tried to hire friendly personalities and real customer service skills instead of "just who was available". It hired an outside research organization to send people to Sunoco service stations twice monthly to grade staff on their customer interaction skills. What research method did Sunoco use to make sure that each station was implementing the new service strategy?

mystery shoppers