chapter 5

Question 1

Gap 1-4

Answer 1

1) not knowing what customers expect

2) not selecting the right service quality designs and standards

3) not delivering the service designs and standards

4) not matching performance to promises

Question 2

Key factors leading to provider gap one

Answer 2

inadequate marketing research orientation (insufficient arkeing research, research not focused on service quality)

Inadequatae use of marketing reserach
(lack of upwrd communication, lack of interaction between management and customers, insufficient communication between contact employees and managers, too many layers between contact personnel and top management)

Insufficeint relationship focus
(lack of market segmentation, focus on transactions rather than relationships, focus on new customers rather than relationship customers)

Question 3

key factors leading to gap 2

Answer 3

Poor service design (unsystematic new service developement process, vague, undefined service designs, failure to connect service design to service positioning)

Absence of customer-driven standards (lack fo customer-driven service standards, absence of process management focusing on customer requirements, absence of formal process for setting service quality goals)

inappropriate physical evidence and servicescape(failure to develop tangibles in line with customer expectations, servicescape design that does not meet customer and employee needs, inadequate maintenance and updating of the servicescape)

Question 4

Key factors leading to provider gap 3

Answer 4

Deficiencies in human resource policies

Customers who do not fulfil roles

problems with service intermediaries

Failure to match supply and demand

Inadequte service recovery

Question 5

key factors leading to provider gap 4

Answer 5

lack of integrated marketing communications

Ineffective management of customer expectations

over promising

Inadequate horizontal communication