chapter 3

Question 1

desired service level

Answer 1

the level of service the customer hopes to receive

A blend of what the customer believes can be and should be

Question 2

normative expectations

Answer 2

should expectations: as expensive as this restaurant is, it ought to have excellent food service

Question 3

experience based norms

Answer 3

most of the times this restaurant is very good, but when it gets busy the service is slow

Question 4

acceptable expectations

Answer 4

i expect this restaurant to serve me in an adequate manner

Question 5

Minimum tolerable expectations

Answer 5

I expect terrible service from this restaurant but come because the price is low

Question 6

zone of tolerance

Answer 6

the zone inbetween desired service and adequate service

Question 7

Different customers possess different zones of tolerance

Answer 7

the zone of tolerance of an individual customer increases or decreases depending on a number of factors, including company controlled factors such as price. When prices increase, customers tend to be less tolerant of poor service. In this case, the zone of tolerance decreases because the adequate service level shifts upward.

Question 8

Zones of tolerance vary for service dimensiosn

Answer 8

The more important the factor, the narrower the zone of tolerance is likely to be. In general, customers are likely to be less tolerant about unreliable service (broken promises or service errors) than about other types of service deficiency, which means that they have higher expectations for this factor.

Question 9

sources of desired service expectations

Answer 9

personal needs: those states or conditions essential to the physical or psychological well being of the customer, are pivotal factors taht shape what customers desire in service. (hofstedes dimensions are the needs)

Lasting service intensifiers: are individuals, stable factors that lead the customer to a heightened sensitivity to service. One of the most important of htese factors can be alled derived service expectations, which occur when customer expectations are driven by another person or group of people. A niece from a big family who is planning a 19th birthday party for a favorite aunt is representing the entire family in selecting a restaurant for a successful celebration.

Question 10

Five factors that influence adequate service

Answer 10

temporary service intensifiers

Perceived service alternatives

Self-perceived service role

situational factors

Predicted service

Question 11

Temporary service intensifiers:

Answer 11

consist of short term, individual factors that make a customer more aware of the need for service. Personal emergency situations in which service is urgently needed (such as you locked yourself out of your appartment) raise the level of adequate service expectation, particularly the level of responsiveness required and considered acceptable.

Question 12

factors that influence desired service

Answer 12

Personal needs

lasting service intensifiers

Explicit service promises

Implicit service promises

Online and offline word of mouth

Past experience

Question 13

Perceived service alternativesq

Answer 13

are other providers from whom the customer can obtain service. If customers have multiple service providers to choose form, or if they can provide the service for themselves (such as lawn care or personal grooming), their levels of adequate service are higher than those of customer swho believe it is not possible to get better service elsewhere.

E.g. an airline customer who lives in a provincial town with a small airport, for example, has a reduced set of options in airline travel. This customer will be more tolerant of the service performance of the carriers in the town because few alternatives exist. He or she will accept the scheduling and lower levels of service more readily than will the customer in a big city who has myriad flights and airlines to choose from

Question 14

Customers self perceived service role

Answer 14

we define this as customers perceptions of the degree to which customers exert an influence on the level of service they receive. In other words, customers expectaitons are partly shaped by how well they believe they are performing their own roles in service delivery.

Question 15

situational factors

Answer 15

defined as service performance conditions that customer view as beyond the control of the service provider. For example, where personal emergencies such as serious car accidents would be likely to intensify customer service expectations of insurance companies (because they are temporary service intensifiers), catastrophes that affect a large number of people at one time (floods or storms) may lower service expecatiotns because customers recognize that insurers are inudated with demands for their service

Question 16

Predicted service

Answer 16

the level of service that customer believe they are likely to get

Question 17

sources of both desired and predicted service expectations

Answer 17

explicit service promises

Implicit service promises

Online and offline word of mouth communication

Past experiennces

Question 18

Implicit service promises

Answer 18

are service-related cues other than explicit promises that lead to inferences about what the service should and will be like. These quality cues are dominated by price and the tangibles associated with the service. in general, the higher the price and the more impressive the tangibles, the more a customer will expct from the service

Question 19

Online and offline word of mouth communication

Answer 19

these personal and sometimes non persronal statements made by parties other than the organization convey to customers what the service. Word of mouth communication carries particular weight as an information source, because it is perceived as unbiased . WOM tends to be very important in services that are difficult to evaluate before purchase and before direct experience of them

Question 20

Past experience

Answer 20

the customers previous exposure to service that is relevant to the focal service is another force in shaping predicitons and desires. The service relevant for prediction can be previous exposure to the focal firms service.

Question 21

exceeding customer expectations

Answer 21

while under promising makes service expectations more realistic, thereby narrowing the gap between expectations and perceptions, it may also reduce the competitive appeal of the offer. Some research has also indicated that under-promising may also have the inadvertent effect of lowering customers perceptions of service, particularly in situations in which customers have little experience with a service.