Chapter 13: The Intangible Product

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

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

-Communicate the negative experience via word of mouth -Communicate the negative experience via Internet -Not return to the restaurant

Heterogeneous

Due to the human element, it tends to deviate from use to use

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

When the hotel manager learns that the cleanliness of the bathrooms are not what customers desire for a four-star hotel and does not change the cleaning policy, there is a ___________________ gap

standards

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

Assurance

the knowledge of and courtesy by employees and their ability to convey trust and confidence

___________________ fairness refers to the customers' desire to be compensated a fair amount to correct a perceived loss that resulted from a service failure.

Distributive

According to the Service Gaps Model, which of the following is NOT one of the gaps that might be encountered by a service provider in meeting the customer's needs?

Financial

Inseparable

Production and consumption occur at the same time

Perishable

They cannot be stored for later use

Intangible

They cannot be touched, tasted, or seen

Reliability

ability to preform the service dependably and accurately

Customer complaint behavior

analyzes the unfulfilled needs of customers in regards to their perceptions of the performed service used to modify future performance

Service quality is defined as ___________________.

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

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

Point-of-purchase surveys

inexpensively collects customer's service perceptions in the process of exchange

Buying a service such as a haircut, a medical treatment, or a lawyer's advice is perceived as more risky to the consumer, to a large extent, because of the service characteristic of ______________. the service cannot really be sampled in advance nor can it be returned.

inseparability

Poor service delivery can be converted into a positive interaction through service ___________________, an effort that resolved the problem fairly and shows the buyer that the firm is listening to the complaint.

recovery

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

research

When there is a service failure, customers typically want some sort of material compensation that offsets their inconvenience or loss. In other words, they want ___________________.

tangible restitution

Responsiveness

willingness to help customers and provide prompt service

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

Which of the following are reasons for the increased dependence of developed countries on service-oriented economies?

-People place a high value on leisure -People increasing hire people for maintenance-type work that they used to do themselves -It is less expensive for firms to manufacture products in less developed countries

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

-greater information imparted to consumers -lower costs and higher profitability to the firm -providing a competitive advantage over less service-oriented providers -more control over the process in the hands of the buyer

Tagibles

Appearance of physical facilities, equipment, personnel, and communication materials

Which of the following situations best evidences how a firm can offer employees emotional support and stand behind the employees' actions?

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

Often an otherwise horrible service delivery failure can be turned around and used to build customer loyalty. To do so, customers must be able to air their grievances and the firm must do what?

Listen to them.

Which of the following best illustrates a specific service standard that is directly measurable?

Make eye contact with every customer and greet them with a smile

Is providing rewards to employees for excellent services a key part of customer service program? Why or why not?

Yes, rewards reinforce behavior that encourages employees to continually give great service

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

a more focused, narrow array of services

A tire store finds that its business is heavily skewed to the weekend, and few customers arrive on Monday through Wednesday. Since rotating, balancing, and replacing tires is a service that cannot be stockpiled, one of the dilemmas facing the firms is ___________________.

balancing supply and demand

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

be consistent and predictable in their support

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

employees and guests

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 $40 steak, it is allowing the server to make decisions at the point of delivery. This is called ___________________.

empowerment

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 customers served.

fairness

One of the characteristics of services that makes them different from product marketing is the greater ___________________ in deliver based on how the provider is performing the task at different times.

heterogeneity

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

heterogeneity

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

human inputs generate differences

Sally is having trouble deciding which college to attend. While there are buildings, classrooms, and libraries to evaluate, the actual learning is much more difficult to evaluate. It is this ___________________ of the purchase that makes marketing the service, a college education, complicated.

intangibility

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

intangible

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

After sitting on the 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

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

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

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

service

A customer's expectations might vary substantially for the same service provider based on the ___________________.

situation

McDonald's has a policy that a drive-through customer will receive his order within 1 minute of paying for the order. This establishes a ___________________ gap for service quality that doesn't meet this expectation.

standards

The zone of tolerance refers to ___________________.

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

Empathy

the caring, individualized attention provided to customers

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

A systematic program that collects customer inputs and integrates them into managerial decisions is a(n) ___________________ program.

voice-of-customer