Mktg 383- midterm

________ service represents the minimum tolerable expectation, the bottom level of performance acceptable to the customer.

Adequate

Which of the following can influence how satisfied a customer is with a service?

All of the choices are correct.

Which of the following incidents is likely to influence a customer's perception of service quality of an appliance store?

All of the choices are correct.

Which of the following statements about customer satisfaction and service quality is true?

Customer satisfaction is influenced by perceptions of service quality.

________ service is the level of service the customer hopes to receive.

Desired

Provider Gap 2 (The service design and standards gap) exists in service companies because of a failure of horizontal communication.

False

Service encounters that occur without any human contact are referred to as impersonal encounters.

False

The key aspect of identifying the service customer's zone of tolerance is that, once identified, it will remain the same over time.

False

To be successful, a service provider must accept the fact that the customer is always right.

False

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. Just before heading home, each guest is asked to complete a questionnaire and provide feedback about his or her experience. Questions are specific and management meets weekly to review and discuss the improvements suggested by guests. Each guest who completed a questionnaire receives a letter of thanks with a promise to follow up on any issues mentioned. By conducting research and focusing on customer relationships, The Oaks is closing provider _________ of the gaps model of service quality.

Gap 1 (The listening gap)

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)

________ quality refers to how a service is delivered to the customer.

Interaction

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

________ research is conducted to clarify problem definition and prepare for more formal empirical research.

Qualitative

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

Relationship

________ involves identifying the benefits and the attributes that customers expect in a service.

Requirements research

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.

A services research program can be defined as the composite of separate research studies and types needed to address research objectives and execute an overall measurement strategy.

True

By mapping customer journeys and clusters, companies can completely redesign the journey to be simpler and superior.

True

Customers assess service performance on the basis of what they desire and what they deem acceptable.

True

For the organization, relationship marketing increases customer purchases, lowers costs, and creates free word-of-mouth advertising. Group starts

True

Perceptions of equitable treatment by the service provider will affect customers' perceptions of service. Group starts

True

Relationship marketing essentially represents a paradigm shift within marketing-away from an acquisitions/transaction focus toward a retention/relationship focus.

True

The cost of research must be balanced against the gains might in improved service decision-making, retained customers, and successful new product launches.

True

The most important determinant of perceptions of service quality among U.S. customers is reliability.

True

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

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

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

According to the ________, while advertising, sales, and promotions pour profits into your company, there will always be some customer defection, which has the potential to grow larger.

bucket theory of marketing

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.

All of the following are among the criteria for an effective service research program EXCEPT

considers only qualitative research.

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

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

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.

The transition from the ________ stage to the ________ stage of the customer relationship requires the development of trust.

customers as acquaintances; customers as friends

The most critical stage in the service marketing research process is when the marketing researcher

defines the problem and research objectives.

After his home was burglarized, Rich became concerned about the safety of his wife and three children since he often traveled out-of-town on business. To prevent further burglaries and ensure his family's safety, Rich decided to purchase a home security system from ADT Security Systems. Rich's expectation that an ADT home security system will protect his family and prevent future burglaries is influenced by his ________

derived service expectations

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

difference between customer expectations and perceptions.

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.

While the zones of tolerance may vary because of differing personality types, they are stable with relation to the importance of the service dimensions.

false

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

The Provider gap that is the difference between customer expectations of service and company understanding of those expectations.

gap 1 (listening gap)

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.

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.

If customers believe they have multiple service providers to choose from for a particular service, or if they can provide the service for themselves, their levels of adequate service are ________ those of customers who believe it is not possible to get better service elsewhere.

higher than

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 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.

Denise said all she expected from the day care at the gym she belonged to was to get her children back at the end of an hour and learn the police had not been called because of something they did. She uses this particular gym because the day care will let her unruly children stay even though it provides only the nominal supervision. Denise has ________ expectations about the day care.

minimum tolerable

When applying the "bucket theory" of marketing, what will increase the number of or size of the "holes" in the bucket?

not keeping promises to existing customers

The growth of property offerings for travellers on sites like AirBnB.com and Vrbo.com has primarily impacted the hotel industry by which factor influencing desired and predicted service?

perceived service alternatives

An important influence in desired service expectations is ________, the customer's underlying generic attitude about the meaning of service and the proper conduct of service providers.

personal service philosophy

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

provider

In acquaintance relationships, firms generally focus on

providing value comparable to the competition.

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

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 researchers would conduct ________ research if they wanted to test the hypothesis that customers do not like the checking account and credit card services of Benford Bank.

quantitativeCorrect

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

When consumers have problems with a Web site, they use ________ dimensions to evaluate e-service quality.

responsiveness, compensation, and contact

The sources of customer expectations are market-controlled factors such as

sales promises.

Key Energy was a company that provided quality oilfield construction, drilling, and other services. The company's top management felt stakeholders did not have a clear image of the company and were considering changing the name to clarify the organization's position in the market. The company conducted an hour long interview with four of its largest customers. Only 25 questions were asked and much probing was done to find out exactly what the participants meant. This is an example of a(n)

service expectation meeting and review.

Elmer Jennings is a government auditor and works for the Bracken and Leach firm. He is the one who checks to see that city and county governments have complied with accounting principles. As an auditor, Jennings sometimes will spend six weeks in one office while he checks its accounting records. The closeness of the relationship that Jennings builds with the government employees he works with was realized by Bracken and Leach when Jennings left the firm, went to work for another one and took his clients with him. This is an example of how ________ benefits can be both helpful and harmful.

social

WedSafe is the name of a company that provides wedding insurance. For example, in the event that a wedding is called off, the couple can insure themselves against loss of their nonrefundable deposits. If WedSafe's primary marketing effort is to make engaged couples aware of its services, the company is in which stage of the customer relationship evolution?

strangers

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

target market

At the partnership stage of the customer relationship, the firm is most concerned with

the enhancement of its relationship with the customer.

Which of the following is NOT an example of technical outcome quality?

the sales associate greeting a customer in a specialty clothing store

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

trailer calls

Companies that emphasize acquiring new customers rather than retaining current customers are using _____ marketing.

transactional

Every service encounter is an opportunity to build satisfaction and quality.

true

Inappropriate physical evidence can result in provider Gap 2 (The service design and standards gap).

true

One of the major difficulties associated with provider Gap 4 (The communications gap) is that communications to consumers typically involve issues that cross organizational boundaries.

true

The absence of customer-defined standards will broaden provider Gap 2 (The service design and standards gap).

true

The extent to which customers recognize and are willing to accept variation in service performance is called the ________:

zone of tolerance