chapter 6 (1)

Question 1

The information available in a database can be categorized into the following groupings

Answer 1

Information on purchasing behavior (services purchased, timing and method of purchase, trends)

Information on customer loyalty (relationship length, value and profitability)

Information on customer response (to marketing communications, new products, price changes, etc.)

Question 2

Big data

Answer 2

an all encompassing term for any collection of data sets so large and complex that it becomes difficult to process using traditional data processing applications

Question 3

Data mining

Answer 3

software is often used to select explore and model this big data in order to uncover previously unknown relationships and patterns of behavior

Question 4

Marketing research is

Answer 4

the key vehicle for understanding customer expectations and perceptions of service.

Question 5

Research programs

Answer 5

Elements of service marketing that help companies identify customer expectations and perceptions

Question 6

the following are the most common research objectives in services

Answer 6

To discover customer requirements or expectations for service

To develop customer defined standards for service delivery

To monitor and track performance

to assess overal company performance compared with that of competitors

Question 7

to be effective complaint solicitation requires

Answer 7

Rigorous recording of numbers and types of complaints through many channels and then working to eliminate the most frequent problems

Question 8

Complaint solicitation

Answer 8

Companies that seek complaints to communications about what can be done to improve their service and the performance of their service employees

Question 9

relationship surveys

Answer 9

Pose questions about all elements in the customers relationship with the company (including service, product and price)

This comprehensive approach can help a company diagnose its relationship strengths and weaknesses.

Question 10

SERVQUAL sale

Answer 10

Involved a survey containing 21 service attributes grouped into the five service quality dimensions of reliability responsiveness assurance empathy adn tangibles

Question 11

Data gathered through a SERVQUAL survey can be used for a variety of purposes

Answer 11

To determine the average gap score between customer perceptions and expectations for each service attribute

To assess a companies service quality along each of the five SERVQUAL dimensions

To track customers expectations and perceptions (on individual service attributes and or on the servqual dimenions over time

To compare a companys SERVQUAL scores against that of another

Question 12

Disconfirmation paradigm: Grönroos suggested three problems when measuring comparisons between expectations and experiences over a number of attributes

Answer 12

1) If expectations are measured after the service experience has taken place, which frequently happens for practical reasons, then what is measured is not reall yexpectations but something which has been influenced by the service experience

2) It may not make sense to measure expectations prior to the service experience either because the expectation that exists before a service is delivered may not be the same as the factors that a person uses when evaluating their experiences. For example a customer in a restaurant may place no importnace on the background music playing before the meal, but the quality or volume of the music heard during the meal may alter a customers view of th factors to consider in evaluating the quality of the dining experience

3) A customers view of their experience in a service encounter is influenced by their prior expectations

Consequently if expectations are measured then experiences are measured then the measures are not independent of each other and the expectations are actually being measured twice

Question 13

The purpose of SERVQUAL survey is usually to

Answer 13

Gauge the overall relationship with the customer, the purpos of transaction surveys is to capture information about one or all of the key service encounters with the customer.

Question 14

In transactional surveys

Answer 14

Custoemrs are asked a short list of questions immediately after a particular transaction (hence the name exit surveys) about their satisfaction with the transaction and contact personnel with whome they interacted.

Question 15

transactional surveys are timed

Answer 15

to occur close to service transactions and are therefore useful in identifying sources of dissatisfaction and satisfaction