mktg 358 midterm
Which of the following statements about how technology has positively influenced service is true?
-Technology provides approaches for delivering existing services in more accessible, convenient, productive ways. -Technology facilitates transactions by offering a direct vehicle for making purchases. -Technology facilitates basic customer service functions. -Technology provides an easy way for customers to learn and do research about products and companies.
Which of the following are determinants of service quality in a face-to-face service encounter?
-decor of physical environment -verbal behavior of customers -appearance of employees -verbal behavior of employees
Once customers are acquaintances, what must a service firm do to move them to friends or partners?
-offer more benefits than competitors -offer a better price than competitors -establish more value to the customers than competitors -build stronger bonds over time with new customers
Which of the following is a benefit of conducting research on the Internet?
-opportunity to use multimedia to present video and audio -control of data quality -ability to target hard to reach populations -higher response rate
Which of the following can influence how satisfied a customer is with a service?
-perception of service quality, product features, uncontrollable situational factor, customer's emotions
service represents the minimum tolerable expectation, the bottom level of performance acceptable to the customer.
Adequate
arise(s) when the customer is required to pay a penalty to switch providers.
Contractual costs
Which of the following statements about customer satisfaction and service quality is true?
Customer satisfaction is influenced by perceptions of service quality.
standards are operations standards set by a service firm to correspond to customer expectations.
Customer-driven
service is the level of service the customer hopes to receive.
Desired
Which of the following statements describes how consumers and employees are responding to technology-based services?
Employees are often reluctant to integrate technology into their work lives.
Enterprise Rent-A-Car closely ties customer service to employee success. With a tracking system called the Enterprise Service Quality Index (ESQi), the company routinely follows up with customers by phone to determine their level of satisfaction with the company. Only completely satisfied customers count toward an employee ESQi score, which is used to measure employee's potential for promotion. Enterprise closes provider _____ by using marketing research.
Gap 1 (The listening gap)
Frequent travelers on airlines know one of the costs of traveling is damaged baggage, but they also know that each airline will either repair or replace any luggage damaged by its baggage handlers. The ability to count on this service in the event a handle is torn off or the side of a bag is gashed helps the airlines narrow provider _____ of the gaps model of service quality.
Gap 1 (The listening gap)
Service providers like insurance companies that emphasize acquiring new customers rather than retaining current customers are broadening provider _____ of the gaps model of service quality.
Gap 1 (The listening gap)
The Provider gap that is the difference between customer expectations of service and company understanding of those expectations.
Gap 1 (The listening gap)
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel trains each employee to note the likes and dislikes of regular customers and record this information into a computerized guest history profile that provides information on the preferences of 240,000 repeat Ritz-Carlton customers. Through the use of this customer database, the Ritz-Carlton is able to provide more personalized service to its guests. If, for example, a guest prefers a feather pillow or always orders a glass of sherry before retiring, this information can be entered in the database and these needs can be anticipated and met. By providing more personalized service, the Ritz-Carlton is narrowing provider _____ of the gaps model of service quality.
Gap 1 (The listening gap)
When customers complain to frontline employees choose not to forward the source of the complaints to management can cause a widening of
Gap 1 (The listening gap).
The Oaks at Ojai is an award-winning destination spa in California. Two thirds of The Oaks' guests are repeat visitors who return to the spa for a fun and relaxing service experience unsurpassed by other spas. The owner and staff of The Oaks are committed to delivering the best service possible. Each employee is carefully selected and trained, every event happens with precision, guest questionnaires are thoroughly reviewed, and improvements suggested by guests are implemented. By having service standards that reflect what customers expect, The Oaks at Ojai is closing provider _________ of the gaps model of service quality.
Gap 2 (The service design and standards gap)
When the toddler's ball rolled under the motel bed, his mother was surprised to find a dirty sock and used crumbled tissues under the bed. This physical evidence of service was not what the mother expected to find in this luxury hotel and served to broaden the provider _____ of the gaps model of service quality.
Gap 2 (The service design and standards gap)Correct
Jiffy Lube, a franchiser of 10-minute oil and lubrication services, has been plagued by a lack of consistency across franchise outlets. The lack of consistency has resulted from Jiffy Lube's failure to require franchisees to adhere to common service standards as it rapidly expanded its franchise business across the U.S. Jiffy Lube's failure to require franchisees to adhere to common service standards has led to provider _____ of the gaps model of service quality.
Gap 3 (The service performance gap)
Provider _____ is the discrepancy between the development of customer-driven service standards and actual service performance by company employees.
Gap 3 (The service performance gap)
The owner of a small but growing business, Terry Franklin was becoming overwhelmed with requests from his outside customer service representatives for decisions about solutions to customer problems. Noting the mountain of his own work that was piling up, he instituted a policy change and informed the representatives. "Keep the customers happy," he said. "If it's a problem that takes less than $100.00 to fix, there's no need to call me. Use your judgment and go ahead and fix it." Terry Franklin is using empowerment to narrow provider __________ of the gaps model of service quality.
Gap 3 (The service performance gap)
Amazon has been successful members-only program called Amazon Prime. Prime customers are guaranteed a particular delivery date that is fast and efficient. Prime customers also enjoy the benefit of staying informed by Amazon of actual delivery times for the items ordered. Amazon offers this as an attempt to close
Gap 3 (The service performance gap).
Provider _____ is the difference between service delivery and the service provider's external communications.
Gap 4 (The communications gap)
Which of the following statements about service encounters is true?
If a customer is interacting with a firm for the first time, that initial encounter will create a first impression of the organization.
Which of the following statements about predicted service is true?
If the consumer predicts good service, the level of adequate service is likely to be higher than if he or she predicted poor service.
is a key determinant of whether an offering should be classified as a product or a service.
Intangibility
quality refers to how a service is delivered to the customer.
Interaction
Which of the following is a reason for NOT conducting lost customer research?
It cannot be used to calculate the cost of lost customers.
Which of the following statements about services is true?
Marketing and managing services presents issues and challenges not faced in manufacturing and packaged goods companies.
research is conducted to clarify problem definition and prepare for more formal empirical research.
Qualitative
has consistently proven to be the most important determinant of service quality.
Reliability
Which of the following is a marketing implication that results from the heterogeneity of services?
Service delivery and customer satisfaction depend on employee and customer actions.
Which of the following is NOT true about Critical Incident Techniques (CIT) research?
They are a key component of cross-cultural quantitative data analysis.
are used to report the findings from a service marketing research study that collected data on the two levels of customer expectations - desired service and adequate service - along with customer perceptions of company performance.
Zone of tolerance charts
Business travelers today are more likely to order room service than ever before. A tired piece of chicken in a congealed sauce kept company by a heap of wilted lettuce will likely cause the customer to think negatively about his or her hotel stay. This is an example of how ________ influences customer satisfaction.
a product feature
If customers believe they have multiple service providers to choose from, or if they can provide the service for themselves, their levels of ________are higher than those of customers who believe it is not possible to get better service elsewhere.
adequate service
The fluctuation in a customer's zone of tolerance is more a function of changes in the ________, which moves readily up and down because of situational circumstances than of the ________, which tends to move upward incrementally because of accumulated experiences.
adequate service level; desired service level
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
When a financial planner first meets with a prospective client, she explains her training and understanding of how important the client values protecting their financial assets. This aspect conveys which dimension of service quality?
assurance
Who might NOT be a good source of gathering effective upward communication needed by upper management of service organizations?
competition
All of the following are among the criteria for an effective service research program EXCEPT
considers only qualitative research.
John has been working for a start-up company after graduation. What will be the company's challenge in terms of customer relationships?
converting strangers into acquaintances
Which of the following service encounter themes reflects employees' responding to problem customers, i.e., customers who are unwilling to cooperate with the service provider, other customers, industry regulations, and/or laws?
coping
Salespeople for college texts call on college instructors to sell them on using a particular text for their classes. Improvements in efficiency have led some publishers to stop making sales calls altogether on smaller colleges. It is a much better use of the sales force's time to call on schools with large classes and big adoption rates. From the customer's point of view, this application of the profitability tier
could cause resentment.
SwissAir made some unwise investments to pay for a planned expansion. As a result, the company had to make some cost-cutting moves that alienated its customers. Eventually the company declared bankruptcy, regrouped, and found itself able to resume business. Its board of directors announced the company would resume flying within the next two years if it could prove the airline could regain at least 75 percent of its lost customers. It decided to allot $50,000 to determine the probability that its former customers would fly on the airline again and what methods requiring little or no money could be used to increase that probability. Which of the following two methods are low-cost research methods SwissAir could use to reach its research objectives?
critical incident studies and lost customer research
Allstate changed its insurance billing procedure after research revealed customers wanted flexible payment plans and billing information presented in an easy-to-read format. What type of research would Allstate most likely have used to discover how customers perceived Allstate's billing procedure?
critical incident technique
Clark participated in a research study conducted by Red Lobster restaurants in which he was asked to provide a verbatim story about a satisfying and dissatisfying service encounter he had at Red Lobster. Which of the following types of research studies did Clark participate in?
critical incidents studies
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.
An innovative research trend involves examining ________, which are clusters of integrated touchpoints that consumers experience before, during, and after using a service.
customer journeys
Databases and other technologies of customers' past annual sales and their transactions have allowed service providers easier means to calculate
customer lifetime value.
Moonlight Catering has increased the deposit it requires before agreeing to cater an event to $300. This amount is nonrefundable and must be paid when Moonlight Catering is hired for the job. This increase in deposit will help Moonlight Catering achieve its goal of
customer retention.
Which of the following is an example of the people element of an airline company's services marketing mix?
customers, baggage handlers, pilots, flight attendants
The term customer intimacy is most closely related to the establishment of ______ bonds.
customization
Ritz-Carlton hotel employees are trained to learn returning customers' likes, dislikes, preferences, and unique profiles. They use this information to provide
customization bonds.
Product and service features that are unexpected and surprisingly enjoyable are known as ________.
delights
A human resources manager who is hiring a sales trainer to improve the company's sales close rate will be concerned whether the trainer will provide the needed tools and motivation to perform his or her job. The human resources manager wants the company's top management and its sales force managers to approve of his selection of trainer. This is an example of a(n) ________ expectation.
derived service
A(n) ________ expectation occurs when customer expectations are driven by another person or group of people.
derived service
The growth in customers spending time reading online reviews on various sites requires service providers to monitor these sites as they can impact which of the factors that influence which source of desired service expectations?
derived service expectations
The central focus of the gaps model of service quality is the
difference between customer expectations and perceptions.
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
The growth of e-tailing has led to the identification of four core dimensions that consumers use to evaluate Web sites at which they experience no questions or problems. They are
efficiency, fulfillment, system availability, and privacy.
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 types of interaction activities in a service organization is used to obtain ideas for service improvement?
employee suggestions
A computer repair shop that offers previous customers who provide referrals with additional discounts or free upgrades to software packages is seeking to
estimating establish relationship value to those making referrals.
Century Business Systems, Inc. offers all of the non-technical support a business would need to operate successfully - everything from auditing to management consultant to financing to marketing advice. Which of the following types of interaction activities is it likely to use to gain information about its business customers and still be able to have only a minimal investment of time and money in the research?
executive listening approaches
Customer _____ are the standards for performance against which service experiences are compared.
expectations
Customer ________ are beliefs about service delivery that function as standards against which performance is judged.
expectations
Tom Grantham, a U.S. citizen, decided to outsource the preparation of his personal income taxes to a company in India. After he emailed his earnings and scanned receipts, his tax return was completed in two days at a cost of $50 - about one-third of what a U.S. firm like H&R Block charges. However, he had to file his return as "self-prepared," since it was not prepared by a U.S. accountant. Using a foreign service provider may require customers to reset their
expectations.
Oakley Millwork is a supplier of products used in the construction industry. It has a published policy that if a customer places an order from its catalog and the product is not available for immediate delivery, the customer gets the item free. Oakley Millwork's policy is an example of a(n)
explicit service promise.
Which of the sources of both desired and predicted service expectations are completely within the control of the service provider?
explicit service promises
In a ________ encounter, both verbal and non-verbal behaviors are determinants of quality, as are tangible cues such as employee appearance and informational brochures.
face-to-face
The greatest potential variability in the interaction between a customer and a service firm occurs in a(n) ________ service encounter.
face-to-face
If you own a small advertising agency and have limited funding and even less time to spend on service marketing research, which of the following types of research would you be LEAST likely to use?
future expectations research
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.
gap 4 the communication gap
How would you describe the sustainability of competitive advantage in the acquaintance stage of the customer relationship evolution?
generally low with some variation on how the competition creates unique value
Which of the following is an example of a tangible component provided by a hotel?
guest rooms
Benford Bank hired marketing researchers when it noticed many people who had savings accounts with the bank did not have checking accounts and credit cards with it. The first task of the market researchers was to learn if the bank wanted to know how its customers perceived the bank as a service provider, if it were more interested in what customers thought was superior about its savings account, if the bank thought some customer expectations were not being met, or if what the bank really wanted to know was how it could change its service to better meet customer expectations. The first thing the research company did was to
help Benford Bank define the problem and establish research objectives.
Because Virginia's brother died while he was cashing a check at the local bank, Virginia has always hated any type of banking. When it became necessary for her to go to the bank to empty her brother's safe deposit box, she complained the whole time about the inept service, the too-cold air conditioning and the poor parking. Virginia's customer satisfaction was adversely influenced by
her emotional state.
Gwen's first trip to an amusement park was as a chaperone for a class of first grade students who were allowed to fill up on sugar on the bus trip to the park. By the end of the day, Gwen was very frustrated and very tired. Later when she revisited the amusement park, Gwen could not enjoy the experience because she kept remembering how miserable she had been acting as a chaperone. Gwen's satisfaction with amusement parks was adversely influenced by
her emotional state.
A tax accountant may provide a different service experience to two different customers on the same day depending on their individual needs and personalities and on whether she is meeting with them when she is fresh in the morning or tired at the end of the day. This is an example of service _______.
heterogeneity
Parents everywhere are very busy and often cannot spend time with their children. In the Netherlands, children who want a bedtime story can call the telephone service and request to listen to one of twenty prerecorded fairy tales. The phone company charges $7 per story. Because of the prerecording of the stories, this bedtime service reduces the problems typically associated with the ________ characteristic of services.
heterogeneity
The first time Barry brought his car to Auto Lube to have the oil changed he was very satisfied with the service. The service manager consulted him several times while his car was being serviced, asked him if there were any problems with the car, recommended when additional services should be performed, and answered questions directly and politely. However, when Barry went back to Auto Lube after three months to have his oil changed again, he was not satisfied with the service. The manager spoke to him only when he arrived and when he paid his bill. In addition, the manager was impatient and unfriendly during the interaction. Barry's experience at Auto Lube illustrates the ________of services.
heterogeneity
The characteristic of a service that refers to differences in employees' performances is
heterogeneity.
Raul took his dog Buffy to dog training school to stop Buffy from barking. As soon as the dog returned home, she started her same pattern of barking. Raul was highly critical of the trainers for not teaching Buffy not to bark even though he had not continued the reinforcement technique he was supposed to use to encourage Buffy's good behavior. Raul's customer satisfaction was adversely affected by
his attribution for service failure.
The highest customer expectations are referred to as ________ expectations.
ideal
A company that uses a four-tier scheme to segment its customers by profitability
identifies customers who need different sorts of attention.
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.
Service companies can close provider Gap 4 (The communications gap) by
improving communications between sales and operations departments.
Which of the following factors leads to provider Gap 2 (The service design and standards gap)?
inappropriate physical evidence and servicescape
Which of the following statements has been suggested as a plausible explanation for the customer perception that service quality is declining?
increasing use of technology is perceived by many customers as less service because there is no human interaction
The primary goal of businesses that are in the first stage of their relationship with a customer is to
initiate communications in order to attract them.
The most distinguishing characteristic of services is
intangibility.
A week after Kim cancelled her First USA MasterCard, she received a survey in the mail asking questions about First USA's service quality, its performance versus other credit card companies, her level of satisfaction with different dimensions of First USA's service, and her reasons for canceling her account. Which of the following types of research did First USA conduct?
lost customer research
One benefit of ________ is that it identifies failure points and common problems in the service and can help establish an early-warning system for future defectors. Multiple
lost customer research
Customers' tolerance zones vary for different service attributes or dimensions. The ________the factor, the ________the zone of tolerance is likely to be.
more important; narrower
As a service dimension increases in importance, a customer's zone of tolerance ________ and his or her desired and adequate service levels ________.
narrows; increase
The weekend cruise cost Jason Riggs $800 dollars. Before leaving on the cruise, Riggs told his neighbor, "With the money this trip is costing me, the food better be good and plentiful." What kind of expectations did Roux have?
normative
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.
The University of Central Florida's Incentive/Efficiency Program encourages employees to submit tangible ideas or suggestions that will result in savings or generate additional revenue for the University of Central Florida. The person who suggests an adopted proposal receives a cash reward equal to 10 percent of the first year's net savings or generated revenues. The University of Central Florida's Incentive/Efficiency Program is designed to achieve which of the following research objectives?
obtain ideas for service improvement
Which of the following factors is NOT a factor leading to provider Gap 1 (The listening gap)?
over-promising
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.
An attorney who charges a client for a missed appointment is taking into account the ________ characteristic of services.
perishability
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
When Alicia and Jordan dined at Formia Ristorante, a contemporary Italian restaurant in New Jersey, they both enjoyed Formia's coy, smart, and embracing atmosphere. Formia creates this atmosphere with a single large dining room that measures 20 by 60 feet and contains 14 roomy tables. Ceiling fans slowly swirl as candlelight dances across the tables that are attentively cared for by servers. Vertical pink and white florid patterns emerge from old wainscoting. Finally, Formia's two-page menu offers guests a range of pasta, chicken, veal, and seafood entrees, in addition to nightly specials that are handwritten and presented on large index cards. Alicia and Jordan experienced the ________ element of Formia Ristorante's services marketing mix.
physical evidence
Trailer calls are also called
post transaction surveys.
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
The Canfields want to landscape their five-acre yard. The couple plans an herb garden in back that will lead to an English cottage garden. In the west side yard, they are planning on a Japanese garden and a rose garden will be located in the east side yard. They have hired a landscaper to draw the design and to do the actual planning. The Canfields want input on the landscaping. They have asked the landscaper to set up several points where they can give their inputs, correct anything they do not like, and make changes before the plan is finalized. Most landscapers would be bothered with this seeming interference, but the landscaper the Canfields chose has used this method for years as a way to measure his company's customer service performance. The landscaper is using a method of gathering customer information most similar to which of the following methods?
process checkpoint evaluations
Rather than treating all of its customers the same, FedEx categorized its customers internally as "the good, the bad, and the ugly" based on their ________.
profitability
To close the customer gap, the gaps model of service quality suggests that the _______ gaps need to be closed.
provider
The health industry in the U.S. is an $840 trillion business. Adam.com is trying to cash in on some of that money by providing an Internet service that will help hospitals answer their patients' health-related questions. Every year, Adam.com does an informal survey of its customers. It uses open-ended questions to determine what people like and dislike about its service. Adam.com is conducting ________ research.
qualitative
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
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
The ________ of a customer is a concept that looks at customers from the perspective of their lifetime revenue or profit contributions to a company.
relationship value
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.
The ________ dimension of service quality refers to the willingness to help customers and provide prompt service.
responsiveness
The sources of customer expectations are market-controlled factors such as
sales promises.
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
The maintenance contract offered by Generac on its HVAC standby home and business generators is an example of a(n) ________.
service
When customers have been surprised by a service outcome that is much better or worse than expected, they tend to look for reasons and their assessments of the reasons can influence their satisfaction. These perceived causes of service success or failure are known as
service attributions.
in the simplest terms,-- are deeds, processes and performances
services
New Bedford College has a two-year masters degree program designed for special education teachers. Thirty-five students enter the program each fall. The education department requires that the 35 students take the same classes. Classes are made available in sequence. If Beth wanted to take only one special education class to get her a teaching certificate in learning disabilities (LD), she would be unable to because she would not be able to participate in any carry-over projects from previous classes (This is a common teaching tool for the New Bedford education department faculty.). New Bedford College will avoid setting up a relationship with Beth because
she is in the wrong segment.
The factors that influence adequate service expectations are ________ in nature and fluctuate ________ than the factors that influence desired service expectations.
short-term; more
Which of the following is NOT a source of desired service and predicted service?
situational factors
In some long-term customer-firm relationships, a service provider may become part of a customer's ________, such as when a hairdresser serves as a personal confidant, or a proprietor of a local retail store is known as a central figure in the neighborhood network.
social support system
Aramark is a food service company that supplies meals to more than 200,000 hospital patients daily. To improve its service, it created a database that tracks patient preferences individually by hospitals, regionally and nationally. The accumulated database is used to provide better menus. Aramark's kitchen staffs deliver the food and are referred to as hosts. All hosts have a minimum of 40 hours of training to teach them how to be courteous, efficient and quick. These trained hosts deliver customized meals from carts preloaded according to room number. According to patient surveys, Aramark has boosted patient satisfaction by almost 10 percent by providing customized meals. Aramark is using ________ in its customer retention strategy.
structural bonds
In many instances, customers develop loyalty to an organization in part because of costs involved in changing to and purchasing from a different firm. These costs are called
switching costs.
When campus visits by prospective students are organized in certain group sessions in the Spring, universities are highly focused on making sure the campus facilities are clean, the landscaping is beautiful, and the orientation ambassadors talking to students wear color coded polos with the University logo. These all show the importance of ________ in conveying service quality.
tangibles
Which of the following is NOT a source of customer expectations?
target market
Traditionally, the service characteristic of inseparability usually meant providers and/or customers had to be physically present in an service encounter. Which has had the greatest impact on customer expectations and perception during Covid-19 when this was often not possible?
technology
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
Gina and Henry were having breakfast when they decided they wanted to have pizza and watch a movie that night. When she got home from work, Gina turned on her computer, logged on to the Netflix site, and chose the movie Top Gun: Maverick to view via online video streaming. Next she logged on to her favorite pizza restaurant's Web site and ordered a large pepperoni pizza and a bottle of soda to be delivered at 6:45 p.m. Gina and Henry enjoyed their evening. Which trend that influenced the development of services marketing is illustrated here?
the growth in the use of technology-based services
Without good mailing lists, businesses cannot engage in effective direct-marketing advertising. On average 20 percent of the U.S. population moves annually. Return Path is a company that provides changes of addresses to businesses. It takes a business's mailing list, compares it to address changes that it gathers daily in its database and makes any necessary corrections. Return Path is a part of which trend in the services marketing industry?
the growth in the use of technology-based services
What term is also used to describe the customer's most vivid expression of the service encounter when interacting with service providers?
the moment of truth
How would a day care center operator benefit from the implementation of relationship marketing with the parents of three preschool children?
the parents would spread the word about their happiness with the services provided by the day care center
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.
When Sam ordered a meal through the Burger King drive-through, his receipt included a website or phone number where he could complete a survey in the next 24 hours and receive a coupon for a free Whopper™ sandwich on his next visit. What type of research is being used?
trailer calls
Which of the following is NOT a form of qualitative research?
trailer calls
Kelly dined in a family-style restaurant in Mobile, Alabama, shortly after a hurricane had brushed the coastal area. The server apologized because there were no iced drinks available. The water supply had been contaminated by the storm's high tides. The water system was fine now, but after repairing other minor damages, the workers had not yet had a chance to clean the ice machine. Kelly, a long-time resident of Mobile, understood that ________ meant she would need to modify her service expectations.
uncontrollable situational factor
Key Energy Co. provides quality oilfield construction, drilling, and other services. The company's top management feels that stakeholders do not have a clear image of the company and are considering changing the name to clarify the organization's position in the market. Senior management is interviewing the company's salespeople to learn how they feel about selling Key Energy's services. As part of examining the corporate image, the company is using
upward communication.
Which of the following products is LEAST high in experience qualities?
wedding dress
A college student is registering for classes and sees multiple sections of a needed course. If the students goes on a website to see ratings for various professors' review from former students, they are demonstrating the power of _________ on desired and expected service expectations.
word-of-mouth communications
Jamie desires a haircut that will look just as attractive when she awakens in the morning as it does when she is going out on a date. With the desired haircut, all she has to do to fix her hair is to shake her head. A haircut is adequate when it doesn't have any stray long hairs and it hides her cowlick. Jamie's recent haircut was in her ________ because while it didn't look great all the time, a quick brushing was all that was needed to fix it.
zone of tolerance