Service Marketing

The economic value of transforming goods into services is illustrated by paying:

$7 for a cup of coffee in a five-star restaurant.

Which of the following statements is NOT true?

Goods are intangible-dominant.

) Which of the following statements about the pricing of services (compared to the pricing of goods) is false?

The demand for services tends to be more elastic than the demand for goods.

The written "showpiece" for the firm should be its:

brochure

The strategy that surrounds the technical core of the operation with input and output components is called:

buffering

A perishability-related strategy that increases the supply of services by forming a co-op with other service providers is referred to as:

capacity sharing.

The suggested communication strategy to use when the product is tangible dominant is to:

create an intangible image for the product.

Which of the following is NOT a component of a service firm's physical evidence?

customer satisfaction

Which of the following sets of terms best describes a service?

deeds, effort, and performances

The role of the firm's communications strategy is to:

do all of these.

All of the following are components of a service firm's physical evidence except:

employee skill set.

Which of the following could NOT be included in the airline molecular model?

financing arrangements

Costs that are planned and are accrued during the operating period regardless of the level of production and sales are called _____ costs.

fixed

If the goal of the pricing strategy is to reduce the amount of perceived risk associated with the purchase and appeal to target markets that value certainty, then the appropriate pricing strategy would be:

flat-rate pricing.

The ____ is an overall favorable impression or unfavorable impression based on early stages of the service encounter.

halo effect

Which of the following is an example of decoupling?

handling routine transactions by mail or email

All of the following are examples of creating flexible capacity except:

handling routine transactions by mail or email.

One of the advantages of requiring employees to wear uniforms is that it reduces the customer's perception of:

heterogeneity

The service characteristic that reflects the variation in consistency from one service transaction to the next is:

heterogeneity

Which of the following scenarios is likely to lead to the highest level of customer dissatisfaction?

higher demand than optimal supply levels

Services are characterized by all of the following characteristics except:

homogeneity

A willingness to pay more for a service because of the top-notch reputation of the company providing it is related to _____ value.

image

Businesses such as fast food restaurants would fall where along the scale of market entities?

in the middle of the continuum

The perishability-related strategy that may sometimes be associated with consumer feelings that the service firm may be attempting to distance itself from consumers is:

increasing the amount of consumer participation.

Effective service providers enhance the ____ value of services.

inelastic

Like many services, the demand for medical care tends to be more ____ in that an increase in price does not greatly affect demand.

inelastic

Word-of-mouth communication networks are particularly important for service firms because:

service customers tend to rely more on nonpersonal than personal sources of information

The ____ reflects the view that the intangible aspects of products are becoming the key features that differentiate the products in the marketplace.

service imperative

When targeting users versus nonusers, which form of communication can be used more often with the former than the latter?

service provider

A customer who notices dirty silverware and a dirty floor in his/her favorite restaurant and loses his/her appetite has been influenced by which of the following components of the servuction model?

servicescape

Total customer cost consists of all of the following components except _____ cost.

social

Solutions used to minimize the marketing problems attributed to heterogeneity include:

standardizing or customizing the service.

The ____ model helps explain the effects of the service environment on consumer behavior.

stimulus-organism-response

The suggested communication strategy to use when the product is intangible dominant is to:

surround it with physical cues and tangible evidence.

Most people tend to associate this term with being "green" and protecting the environment.

sustainability

A consumer's price sensitivity will increase as:

switching costs increase.

The most common mistake made when constructing a service blueprint is:

the blueprint is one-sided − representing only the firm's perception of the process.

The array of communication tools available to marketers including advertising, personal selling, publicity, sales promotions, and sponsorships are called:

the communication mix.

A consumer's price sensitivity will increase as:

the customer's ability to build an inventory decreases

Marketing challenges posed by inseparability include all of the following except:

the difficulty to achieve service standardization and quality control.

Possible solutions that minimize the problems caused by intangibility include all of the following except:

the effective management of consumers.

The strategy of breaking up large, unfocused plants into smaller units buffered from one another so that each can be focused separately is referred to as:

the plant-within-a-plant concept.

Which of the following would NOT be considered a tangible clue?

the quality of instruction in an educational setting

A consumer's price sensitivity will decrease as:

the shared costs with third parties increase.

The place within an organization where its primary operations are conducted is called the:

the technical core.

The primary solution to overcome the centralized mass production challenges attributed to inseparability is:

the use of multisite locations to distribute services.

Communication cues on which consumers base initial impressions include all of the following except:

the welcome letter.

All of the following are advantages of standardized services except:

they meet the customer's exact needs.

Total customer value consists of all of the following components except _____ value.

time

A buyer's perception of value is considered a trade-off between:

total customer value and total customer cost.

Which of the following is NOT a SMART term?

transformative

Service staff that predominantly fill an operations role are considered:

type 1 service staff.

Service staff who are required to deal with customers quickly and effectively in "once only" situations where large numbers of customers are present are considered:

type 1 service staff.

The typical McDonald's employee who works the front counter would be considered:

type 1 service staff.

A travel agent planning trips for clients would be considered:

type 3 service staff.

Consultants who need to have highly developed communication skills because of extended and complex interactions with customers would be considered:

type 3 service staff.

Divesting an operation of different services and concentrating on providing only one or a few services in order to pursue a specialization position strategy is called:

unbundling the service.

The suggested communication strategy to use when the service firm is a restaurant that offers food and service is to:

use both abstract and concrete elements.

Production-lining a service operation can be achieved through:

utilizing hard and soft technologies.

The ____ refer(s) to printed materials through which the professional image of the firm can be consistently transmitted, including firm brochures, letterhead, envelopes, and business cards.

visual pathway

All of the following are examples of the technical core within an organization except the:

waiting area at a dentist's office.

Which of the following is NOT a marketing challenge posed by intangibility?

Consumers are involved in the service production process.

Which of the following statements about the pricing of services (compared to the pricing of goods) is true?

Cost-oriented pricing is more difficult for services.

Which of the following is NOT a communications objective during the maturity and decline stages of the product life cycle?

Create brand awareness.

Which one of the following communication approaches would be appropriate during the growth and maturity stages of the product life cycle?

Create brand awareness.

It is almost impossible for a service operation to achieve 100% perfect quality on an ongoing basis.

Customers always prefer customized services over standardized services.

____ is the study of the use of physical evidence to create service environments and its influence on the perceptions and behaviors of individuals.

Environmental psychology

Prudential's "piece of the rock" is a good example of which of the following guidelines for developing service communications?

Make the service more abstract.

Which of the following is NOT a recommended guideline for developing service communications?

Make the service more abstract.

The pricing strategy that charges customers for services actually used as opposed to overall "membership" fees is:

benefit-driven pricing.

A firm that offers "service guarantees" is attempting to accomplish which of the following guidelines for developing service communications?

Reduce consumer fears about variation in performance.

What is the first step in managing the service communication process?

Select target markets.

Which of the following statements is false?

Services are first produced, then sold, then consumed.

Which of the following is a marketing challenge posed by intangibility?

Services have no costs of goods sold.

Prudential's "piece of the rock" is a good example of which of the following guidelines for developing service communications?

Tangibilize the intangible.

Which of the following businesses would be characterized as a pure service?

There is no such thing as a pure service.

Which of the following is NOT an advantage of requiring employees to wear uniforms?

Uniforms provide price expectations to customers.

Servicescape consists of which of the following features?

all of these

Strategies to increase the efficiency of service operations include all of the following except:

allocating

Possible solutions that firms use to minimize the problems caused by inseparability include all of the following except:

appealing to market segments with different demand patterns.

The encapsulation of the benefits of a product in the consumer's mind is called the:

benefit concept.

The appropriate communications content during the introduction stage of the product life cycle is:

informational

Which one of the following communication approaches would be appropriate during the growth and maturity stages of the product life cycle?

informational and persuasive

The centralized mass production of services is difficult due to:

inseparability

The fact that services are sold and then produced and consumed simultaneously is attributed to:

inseparability

The unique service characteristic that reflects the interconnection between the service firm and its customer is called:

inseparability

Of the four unique service characteristics that distinguish goods from services, the one that is the primary source of the other three characteristics is:

intangibility

When pricing a service, the service provider should consider all of the following except _____ considerations.

intuitive

The primary cost of producing a service is:

labor

When demand for the service is infrequent and therefore the success of the communication strategy may not be realized until a later point in time, it is called the _____ effect.

lagged

Which of the following fields would be least likely to be described as intangible-dominant?

manufacturing

Which of the following is an example of intangible-dominant?

math tutoring

Which of the following is NOT one of the broad categories of strategies used to overcome the problems of service operations?

maximizing the servuction system

On the scale of market entities, with tangible-dominant to the extreme left and intangible-dominant to the extreme right, investment management services would appear:

mid-right.

The technique that allows consumers to either buy Service A and Service B together or purchase one service separately is called _____ bundling.

mixed

The ____ involves a pictorial representation of the relationship between the tangible and intangible elements of a firm's operation.

molecular model

The actual dollar price paid by the consumer for a product is _____ cost.

monetary

The most important piece of regular communication with clients should be the firm's:

newsletter

The positioning strategy that increases divergence so that the operation can tailor the service experience to each customer is referred to as a:

niche positioning strategy.

The continuum that ranges from tangible-dominant to intangible-dominant is referred to as the

scale of market entities.

Which of the following is NOT a step in the construction process of a service blueprint?

segmenting customers based on the content of the script

The objective of decoupling is:

separating the technical core of the operation from the high customer contact areas of the firm so that efficiencies may be achieved.

Differentiation approaches such as delivery, installation, customer training, consulting services, and repair are forms of _____ differentiation.

service

Adaptive pricing strategies include all of the following except:

offering guarantees.

The component of the SOR model that describes the recipient of the set of stimuli in the service encounter is

organism

A customer attempted to pay his bill with his American Express credit card; however, the service firm did not accept American Express. Which of the following components of the servuction model negatively influenced the customer's experience?

organization and systems

If an office did not schedule as many people as were needed during a busy period, which of the following components of the servuction model has negatively influenced the customer's experience?

organization and systems

Which of the following components of the servuction model is invisible to consumers?

organization and systems

The component of the servuction model over which most service firms have the least control is:

other customers.

The positioning strategy that increases complexity by adding more services and/or enhancing current services to capture more of the market is referred to as:

penetration strategy.

The unique service characteristic that deals specifically with the inability to inventory services is:

perishability

Differentiation approaches such as competence, courtesy, reliability, and responsiveness are forms of _____ differentiation.

personnel

effective service providers enhance the ____ value of services.

personnel

The plan for differentiating the firm from its competitors in consumers' eyes is referred to as the firm's:

positioning strategy.

The pricing strategy that is a form of relationship pricing is:

price bundling.

Charging customers different prices for essentially the same service is called:

price discrimination.

According to the servuction model, factors that influence the customer's service experience include all of the following except:

price.

An automatic teller machine (ATM) is an example of:

production-lining.

Complications attributed to perishability include all of the following except:

products are sold at a transfer price from one department to another within the same company.

Which of the following is NOT a major role of a service firm's physical evidence?

providing a means for customer price comparisons

The mental energy spent by customers to acquire a service is referred to as:

psychic costs.

Sheila saw the advertised price for carpet cleaning as too low and instead went with a higher-priced competitor. Sheila saw the price as a(n):

quality cue.

The strategy that resorts to triage when the demands placed on the system by the environment exceed its ability to handle them is referred to as:

rationing

A specialization positioning strategy is accomplished by:

reducing complexity.

A volume-oriented positioning strategy is achieved by:

reducing divergence.

Which pricing strategy encourages the customer to expand his/her dealings with the service provider?

relationship pricing

All of the following are a form of satisfaction-based pricing except:

relationship pricing.

Consumers exchange their money, time, and effort for the bundle of benefits the service offers. Economic theory suggests that consumers will have a(n) ____ that captures the value they place on these benefits.

reservation price

Soft technologies refer to the:

rules, regulations, and procedures that facilitate the production of a standardized product.