Exam 1 Flashcards
Characteristics of services
1 Time dependent
2 Place dependent
3 Presence of consumer in service production place (i.e. in the service “factory”)
4 Cannot be inventoried
Marketing mix (7 P’s)
Product Price Place Promotion People Physical evidence Processes
What is a service?
- an act or a performance offered by one party to the other
- may be tied to a physical product but is intangible
- something that may be bought or sold, but which cannot be dropped on your foot
What makes services different from products?
The service experience is created in real-time
Explain: Services are time dependent
- real time delivery; wait-time issues; time of service (24/7?)
- fluctuating demand, problems in capacity utilization
- Perishability and lack of inventory exacerbate the problem
Explain: Services are place dependent
- where the service takes place is largely dependent on the consumer
- mass production of services must be broken down into “factories in the field”
- – or limited to one or few locations
- – services on the wheels
- ex: can’t open a lot of Mayo Clinics because they are so specialized
Why could multiple production sites be challenging?
it makes quality control difficult
What role do consumers play in the factory?
Consumers are almost always involved in the factory
- changing the factory requires changes in consumer behavior (changing from full service to self service gas station)
benefit concept (def)
the sum of the bundle of benefits in a consumer’s mind which a particular product or brand delivers.
-For example, for some plane travelers, the benefit concept of a particular airline might be simply speedy arrival at the desired destination, while for others it might include safety, in-flight entertainment and superior service
How does changing the benefit concept impact the factory?
this requires the factory to change as well (such as a barbershop to a hair salon - customers are going to expect a different experience from a hair salon than from a barbershop)
Who is delivering the service?
Everyone who comes into contact with the consumer
- greater variance and unhappy employees can ruin a service
- do you go to McDonald’s or Starbucks for your coffee?
What is delivering the service?
Everything that comes into contact with the consumer (facilities, equipment, etc)
- high variability
- is there a bug in your food? is the machine broken?
Services cannot be inventoried
- spare capacity cannot be saved
- services are consumed at the point of production
- the lack of inventory hampers statistical quality control
- Marketing and operations are constantly intertwined
What is a challenge to the lack of inventory?
it hampers statistical quality control
What is the relationship between marketing and operations?
they’re constantly intertwined (see exhibit 1 and fill in later)
7Ps: People
- frontline staff interacting with consumers creates experience called service
- – people are critical; employees play a key role
- – job design, re-design, selection, training, leadership, reward system, and other HR policies acquire added significance in services (b/c employees can’t be inspired to be customer-oriented via slogans
- – need internal marketing (as opposed to external)
External marketing
setting up the promise
internal marketing
enabling the promise
interactive marketing
delivering the promise
7Ps: Physical Evidence
- products are self defining but services are not
- services are partially defines as servicescapes (physical facility, looks, dress, demeanor, ambiance, etc)
7Ps: Processes
- Real-time production
- The customer is present and experiencing it
- how production process unfolds is critical
- Who would care more about production process: a person buying a PC or a person buying a restaurant meal? (the one buying the meal)
Halo effect
employers rate the performance of certain employees more highly than others based on their overall positive impression of those employees
- some people are famous just for being famous (the Kardashians)
Placebo effect
patients experience treatment effects based on their belief that a treatment will work
- they are given sugar pills but since they are told that the pills will help their symptoms they start to feel better anyway (obviously the sugar pills aren’t actually helping)
Demand Characteristics (def)
participants in an experiment or interview provide responses and act in ways that they believe are expected by experimenter or interviewer
Hawthorne effect
employees are more productive based on their belief that changes made to the environment will increase productivity
- moving from Summerfield to CapFed increased the productivity of the people who worked in those offices
Pygmalion effect
Students perform better or worse based on the expectations of their teacher
- ACT scores are an example – girls are often told they’ll do worse on STEM areas and Asians are often told they will do better on these areas based on stereotypes and then they tend to fulfill the prophecy
Rosenthal effect
teachers treat students differently based on their expectations of how students will perform
When are services evaluated?
During and after their use
Types of customer expectations
- Will expectations
- Should expectations
- Zone of tolerance
Will expectations
predicted level of service “what will be” (adequate/acceptable)
– average
Should expectations
desired level of service “what CAN or SHOULD be”
— desired
Zone of tolerance
level below “adequate” that customer will NOT tolerate
5 Dimensions customers evaluate services on
Reliability Responsiveness Assurance Empathy Tangibles
Customer expectation (and therefore, the zone of tolerance) varies from:
- Customer to customer
- Transaction for the same customer
- Across the five dimensions
Reliability
dependable and accurate
Respobsiveness
willing and provide prompt service
Assureance
knowledgeable, courteous, convict trust and confidence
Tangibles
the ambiance
Tangibles
the ambiance
Which dimension is the zone of tolerance the narrowest for?
Reliability
– relates to “core” of service - whether the service will be delivered
Which dimensions is the zone of tolerance broader for?
Tangibles, Empathy, Assurance, Responsiveness
– relates to the “process” or how service is delivered
How do expectations of desired service level change over time?
They usually go up because if you do something that I really liked then I’ll expect that from you (Will expectations) and I’m just going to want more from you the next time (should expectations)
Factors affecting customers’ expectation levels and tolerance zones:
- Enduring Service Intensifiers
- Personal needs
- Transitory service intensifiers
- Perceived service alternatives
- Self-perceived service role
- Explicit service promises
- Implicit service promises
- Word-of-mouth communication
- Past Experience
Enduring Service Intensifiers
factors that intensify the customer’s sensitivity to service on an ongoing basis
- expectations of an affiliated party such as the customer’s customer
- Dr. has x-ray machine in office to make it more convenient
Personal needs
individual requirements dictated by customer-specific physical, psychological, social, or resource characteristics
- individuals with disabilities vs. those without
Transitory service intensifiers
factors that heighten the customer’s sensitivity to service on a temporary basis
- personal emergencies, problems with the initial service