All Related Questions of Service Marketing

Q: Is there evidence that improving customer satisfaction leads to improved financial returns

Is there evidence that improving customer satisfaction leads to improved financial returns for shareholders?

Q: What are the most common bases used in segmentation? Provide examples

What are the most common bases used in segmentation? Provide examples for each of these bases.

Q: Provide two examples of service firms that use service levels (other

Provide two examples of service firms that use service levels (other than airlines, hotels, and car rentals) to differentiate their products. Explain the determinant attributes and service levels used...

Q: Think of three services you buy or use either mostly or exclusively

Think of three services you buy or use either mostly or exclusively via the internet. What is the value proposition of this channel over alternative channels (e.g., phone, mail, or branch network)?

Q: What advice would you give to (a) A weight

What advice would you give to (a) A weight reduction clinic, (b) A pest control company, and (c) A university offering undergraduate courses about going international?

Q: Which strategy for entering a new international market should (a

Which strategy for entering a new international market should (a) An architectural design firm (b) An online discount broker (c) A satellite TV channel consider, and why?

Q: An entrepreneur is thinking of setting up a new service business (

An entrepreneur is thinking of setting up a new service business (you can choose any specific business). What advice would you offer regarding the distribution strategy for this business? Address the...

Q: How might revenue management be applied to (a) A

How might revenue management be applied to (a) A professional service firm (e.g., a law firm), (b) A restaurant, and (c) A golf course? What rate fences would you use and why?

Q: If you were exploring your current university or researching the degree program

If you were exploring your current university or researching the degree program you are now in, what could you learn from blogs and any other online word of mouth you can find? How would that informat...

Q: What tangible cues could a diving school or a dentistry clinic use

What tangible cues could a diving school or a dentistry clinic use to position itself as appealing to upscale customers?

Q: Register at Amazon.com and Hallmark.com and analyze their

Register at Amazon.com and Hallmark.com and analyze their permission-based communications strategy. What are their marketing objectives? Evaluate their permission-based marketing for a specific custom...

Q: Which elements of the Services Marketing Communications Mix would you use for

Which elements of the Services Marketing Communications Mix would you use for each of the following scenarios? Explain your answers. 1. A newly established hair salon in a suburban shopping center 2...

Q: Explain the Flower of Service concept and identify each of its petals

Explain the Flower of Service concept and identify each of its petals. What insights does this concept provide for service marketers?

Q: Discuss the significance of search, experience, and credence attributes for

Discuss the significance of search, experience, and credence attributes for the communications strategy of a service provider. Assume that the objective of the communications strategy is to attract ne...

Q: Identify one website that is exceptionally user friendly and another that is

Identify one website that is exceptionally user friendly and another that is not. What are the factors that make for a satisfying user experience in the first instance and a frustrating one in the sec...

Q: Explain how flexible capacity can be created in each of the following

Explain how flexible capacity can be created in each of the following situations: (a) A local library, (b) An office-cleaning service, (c) A technical support help desk, (d) An Interflora franchis...

Q: Visit a service environment, and have a detailed look around.

Visit a service environment, and have a detailed look around. Experience the environment, and try to understand how the various design elements shape what you feel and how you behave in that setting....

Q: Visit a self-service environment and analyze how the design dimensions

Visit a self-service environment and analyze how the design dimensions guide you through the service process. Which elements do you find most effective, and which seem least effective? How can the env...

Q: Select a bad and a good waiting experience, and contrast the

Select a bad and a good waiting experience, and contrast the two situations with respect to the service environment and the other people waiting.

Q: Why do different customers and service staff respond very differently to the

Why do different customers and service staff respond very differently to the same service environment?

Q: Explain the dimensions of ambient conditions and the ways in which each

Explain the dimensions of ambient conditions and the ways in which each can influence customer responses to the service environment.

Q: What are the roles of signs, symbols, and artifacts?

What are the roles of signs, symbols, and artifacts?

Q: Why is it important to consider the distribution of core and supplementary

Why is it important to consider the distribution of core and supplementary services both separately and jointly?

Q: What are the implications of the fact that service environments are perceived

What are the implications of the fact that service environments are perceived holistically?

Q: What tools are available for aiding our understanding of customer responses and

What tools are available for aiding our understanding of customer responses and for guiding the design and improvement of service environments?

Q: What are the four main purposes service environments fulfill?

What are the four main purposes service environments fulfill?

Q: Describe how the Mehrabian-Russell Stimulus- Response Model and Russell’s

Describe how the Mehrabian-Russell Stimulus- Response Model and Russell’s Model of Affect explain consumer responses to a service environment.

Q: What is the relationship or link between Russell’s Model of Affect and

What is the relationship or link between Russell’s Model of Affect and the services cape model?

Q: An airline runs a recruiting advertisement for cabin crew that shows a

An airline runs a recruiting advertisement for cabin crew that shows a picture of a small boy sitting in an airline seat and clutching a teddy bear. The headline reads: “His mom told him not to talk t...

Q: Which issues do you see as most likely to create boundary-

Which issues do you see as most likely to create boundary-spanning problems for employees in a customer-contact center at a major internet service provider? Select four issues and indicate how you wou...

Q: Identify the factors needed to make service teams successful in (

Identify the factors needed to make service teams successful in (a) An airline, (b) A restaurant, and (c) A customer contact center.

Q: How can front-line employees be effectively motivated to deliver service

How can front-line employees be effectively motivated to deliver service excellence?

Q: Why is role modeling a desirable quality in service leaders?

Why is role modeling a desirable quality in service leaders?

Q: How can the pricing tripod approach to service pricing be useful in

How can the pricing tripod approach to service pricing be useful in setting a good pricing point for a particular service?

Q: How can a firm select the best suited candidates from a large

How can a firm select the best suited candidates from a large number of applicants?

Q: What are the key types of training service firms should conduct?

What are the key types of training service firms should conduct?

Q: Describe the key components of the Service Talent Cycle.

Describe the key components of the Service Talent Cycle.

Q: What can a service firm do to become a preferred employer and

What can a service firm do to become a preferred employer and receive a large number of applications from the best potential candidates in the labor market?

Q: Identify the factors needed to make service teams successful in (

Identify the factors needed to make service teams successful in (a) An airline, (b) A restaurant, and (c) A customer contact center. What are the factors that favor a strategy of employee empowerm...

Q: How can a service firm build a strong service culture that emphasizes

How can a service firm build a strong service culture that emphasizes service excellence and productivity?

Q: What is the relationship among organizational culture, climate for service,

What is the relationship among organizational culture, climate for service, and leadership?

Q: Why are service personnel so important for service firms?

Why are service personnel so important for service firms?

Q: What is emotional labor? Explain the ways in which it may

What is emotional labor? Explain the ways in which it may cause stress for employees in specific jobs. Illustrate with suitable examples.

Q: What are the key barriers for firms to break the Cycle of

What are the key barriers for firms to break the Cycle of Failure and move into the Cycle of Success? How should an organization trapped in the Cycle of Mediocrity proceed?

Q: What are the three broad target audiences of service communications?

What are the three broad target audiences of service communications?

Q: List five ways in which investment in hiring and selection, training

List five ways in which investment in hiring and selection, training, and ongoing motivation of employees will have a positive impact on customer satisfaction for organizations such as (a) A restauran...

Q: Why are loyalty programs often important for a customer loyalty strategy?

Why are loyalty programs often important for a customer loyalty strategy?

Q: What is the role of CRM in delivering a customer relationship strategy

What is the role of CRM in delivering a customer relationship strategy?

Q: Why benefits are related to the core service (e.g

Why benefits are related to the core service (e.g., customization, transaction convenience, and service priority) generally more effective in building loyalty than rewards that are unrelated to the co...

Q: What is the role of churn management in an effective loyalty strategy

What is the role of churn management in an effective loyalty strategy, and what tools can be used to understand and reduce customer churn?

Q: How do the various strategies described in the Wheel of Loyalty relate

How do the various strategies described in the Wheel of Loyalty relate to one another?

Q: How can a firm build a foundation for loyalty?

How can a firm build a foundation for loyalty?

Q: What is tiering of services? Explain why it is used.

What is tiering of services? Explain why it is used. What are its implications for firms and their customers?

Q: Identify some key measures that can be used to create customer bonds

Identify some key measures that can be used to create customer bonds and encourage long-term relationships with customers.

Q: Why is customer loyalty an important driver of profitability for service firms

Why is customer loyalty an important driver of profitability for service firms?

Q: What are the typical design elements of a service blueprint?

What are the typical design elements of a service blueprint?

Q: Why is targeting the ‘right customers’ so important for successful customer

Why is targeting the ‘right customers’ so important for successful customer relationship management?

Q: What would be an appropriate service recovery policy for a wrongly bounced

What would be an appropriate service recovery policy for a wrongly bounced check for (a) Your local savings bank, (b) A major national bank, and (c) A private bank for high net-worth individuals?...

Q: How generous should compensation be? Review the following incident and comment

How generous should compensation be? Review the following incident and comment. Then evaluate the available options, comment on each, select the one you recommend, and defend your decision. “The shri...

Q: Why should a service recovery strategy be proactive, planned, trained

Why should a service recovery strategy be proactive, planned, trained, and empowered?

Q: Why don’t many more unhappy customers complain? What do customers expect

Why don’t many more unhappy customers complain? What do customers expect the firm to do once they have filed a complaint?

Q: Why would a firm prefer its unhappy customers to come forward and

Why would a firm prefer its unhappy customers to come forward and complain?

Q: What is the service recovery paradox? Under what conditions is this

What is the service recovery paradox? Under what conditions is this paradox most likely to hold? Why is it best to deliver the service as planned, even if the paradox does hold in a specific context?...

Q: How can a firm make it easy for dissatisfied customers to complain

How can a firm make it easy for dissatisfied customers to complain?

Q: How generous should compensations related to service recovery be?

How generous should compensations related to service recovery be?

Q: How should service guarantees be designed? What are the benefits of

How should service guarantees be designed? What are the benefits of service guarantees over and above a good complaint handling and service recovery system?

Q: Describe the building blocks for managing capacity and demand.

Describe the building blocks for managing capacity and demand.

Q: Under what conditions is it not suitable to introduce a service guarantee

Under what conditions is it not suitable to introduce a service guarantee?

Q: What are the different types of jay customers? How can a

What are the different types of jay customers? How can a service firm deal with such customers?

Q: How do customers typically respond to service failures?

How do customers typically respond to service failures?

Q: In what ways can you, as a consumer, help to

In what ways can you, as a consumer, help to improve productivity for at least three service organizations that you patronize? Which distinctive characteristics of each service make some of these acti...

Q: What are the main tools service firms can use to analyze and

What are the main tools service firms can use to analyze and address service quality problems?

Q: What are the main objectives of an effective customer feedback system?

What are the main objectives of an effective customer feedback system?

Q: What are the key customer feedback collection tools? What are the

What are the key customer feedback collection tools? What are the strengths and weaknesses of each of these tools?

Q: Why is productivity more difficult to measure in service than in manufacturing

Why is productivity more difficult to measure in service than in manufacturing firms?

Q: How can you integrate all the tools in a nine-step

How can you integrate all the tools in a nine-step approach to improve the quality and productivity of customer service processes?

Q: How do concepts such as TQM, ISO 9000, Six Sigma

How do concepts such as TQM, ISO 9000, Six Sigma and the Malcolm Baldrige and EFQM approaches relate to managing and improving service quality and productivity?

Q: How can customer choice between services in their consideration set be modeled

How can customer choice between services in their consideration set be modeled?

Q: Explain the relationships between service quality, productivity, and profitability.

Explain the relationships between service quality, productivity, and profitability.

Q: Identify the gaps that can occur in service quality and the steps

Identify the gaps that can occur in service quality and the steps that service marketers can take to prevent them.

Q: Why are both soft and hard measures of service quality needed?

Why are both soft and hard measures of service quality needed?

Q: What is the difference between enhancing and facilitating supplementary services? Give

What is the difference between enhancing and facilitating supplementary services? Give several examples of each type by referring to services you have used recently.

Q: What are the different options for service delivery? What factors do

What are the different options for service delivery? What factors do service firms need to take into account when using each of these options?

Q: How are the four levels of service performance defined? Based on

How are the four levels of service performance defined? Based on your own service experiences, provide an example of a company for each category.

Q: How can a service firm compute its unit costs for pricing purposes

How can a service firm compute its unit costs for pricing purposes? How does predicted and actual capacity utilization affect unit costs and profitability?

Q: In what ways do the objectives of services communications differ substantially from

In what ways do the objectives of services communications differ substantially from those of goods marketing? Describe four common educational and promotional objectives in service settings, and provi...

Q: How can fail-safe methods be used to reduce service failures

How can fail-safe methods be used to reduce service failures?

Q: What is meant by productive capacity in services?

What is meant by productive capacity in services?

Q: What is the distinction between important and determinant attributes in consumer purchase

What is the distinction between important and determinant attributes in consumer purchase decisions?

Q: How is branding used in services marketing? What is the distinction

How is branding used in services marketing? What is the distinction between a corporate brand such as Marriott and the names of its various inn and hotel chains?

Q: What are the key factors driving the place and time decisions of

What are the key factors driving the place and time decisions of service distribution?

Q: What is the role of non-monetary costs in a business

What is the role of non-monetary costs in a business model, and how do they relate to the consumer’s value perceptions?

Q: What can you learn from the Services Marketing Communications Funnel?

What can you learn from the Services Marketing Communications Funnel?

Q: Why is it important to develop service standards and targets?

Why is it important to develop service standards and targets?

Q: Explain what is meant by the core product and supplementary services.

Explain what is meant by the core product and supplementary services.

Q: Why is capacity management particularly important for service firms?

Why is capacity management particularly important for service firms?

Q: Why should service firms focus their efforts? Describe the basic focus

Why should service firms focus their efforts? Describe the basic focus strategies, and give examples of how these work.

Q: How can service firms build brand equity?

How can service firms build brand equity?

Q: What risks and opportunities does a retail service firm face when it

What risks and opportunities does a retail service firm face when it adds electronic channels of delivery (a) paralleling a channel involving physical stores or (b) replacing the physical stores with...

Q: Why can’t we compare competitor prices dollar-for-dollar in

Why can’t we compare competitor prices dollar-for-dollar in a service context?

Q: What are some challenges in service communications? How can they be

What are some challenges in service communications? How can they be overcome?

Q: How can consumer perceptions and emotions be considered in the design of

How can consumer perceptions and emotions be considered in the design of service processes?

Q: What actions can firms take to adjust capacity to match demand more

What actions can firms take to adjust capacity to match demand more closely?

Q: What are the six questions for developing an effective positioning strategy?

What are the six questions for developing an effective positioning strategy?

Q: How can brands be used to tier service products?

How can brands be used to tier service products?

Q: What is meant by “distributing services?” How can an experience

What is meant by “distributing services?” How can an experience or something intangible be distributed?

Q: Why should service marketers be concerned with new developments in mobile communications

Why should service marketers be concerned with new developments in mobile communications?

Q: What is revenue management? How does it work? Which types

What is revenue management? How does it work? Which types of service operations benefit most from good revenue management systems, and why?

Q: Why is periodic service process redesign necessary? What are the typical

Why is periodic service process redesign necessary? What are the typical symptoms that indicate a service process is not working well?

Q: How can firms identify the factors that affect demand for their services

How can firms identify the factors that affect demand for their services?

Q: How can positioning maps help managers better understand and respond to competitive

How can positioning maps help managers better understand and respond to competitive dynamics?

Q: What are the approaches firms can take to create new services?

What are the approaches firms can take to create new services?

Q: What marketing and management challenges are raised by the use of intermediaries

What marketing and management challenges are raised by the use of intermediaries in a service setting?

Q: Explain the difference between physical and nonphysical rate fences using suitable examples

Explain the difference between physical and nonphysical rate fences using suitable examples.

Q: What roles do personal selling, advertising, and public relations play

What roles do personal selling, advertising, and public relations play in a. Attracting new customers to visit a service outlet and b. Retaining existing customers?

Q: What are the four key objectives of service process redesign?

What are the four key objectives of service process redesign?

Q: Why is the pricing of services more difficult than the pricing of

Why is the pricing of services more difficult than the pricing of goods?

Q: What actions can firms take to adjust demand to match capacity more

What actions can firms take to adjust demand to match capacity more closely?

Q: Describe what is meant by positioning strategy. How do the market

Describe what is meant by positioning strategy. How do the market, customer, internal, and competitive analyses relate to positioning strategy?

Q: Why is franchising a popular way to expand distribution of an effective

Why is franchising a popular way to expand distribution of an effective service concept? What are some disadvantages of franchising, and how can they be mitigated?

Q: Why are ethical concerns important issues when designing service pricing and revenue

Why are ethical concerns important issues when designing service pricing and revenue management strategies? What are potential consumer responses to service pricing or policies that are perceived as u...

Q: What are the different forms of online marketing? Which do you

What are the different forms of online marketing? Which do you think would be the most effective online-marketing strategies for a. An online broker and b. A new high-end club in Los Angeles?

Q: What efforts are typically involved in service process redesign?

What efforts are typically involved in service process redesign?

Q: How can marketing mix elements be used to reshape demand patterns?

How can marketing mix elements be used to reshape demand patterns?

Q: Why do new services often fail? What are the factors associated

Why do new services often fail? What are the factors associated with the successful development of new services?

Q: How can we charge different prices to different segments without customers feeling

How can we charge different prices to different segments without customers feeling cheated? How can we even charge the same customer different prices at different times, contexts, and/or occasions and...

Q: Why is permission-based marketing gaining so much focus in service

Why is permission-based marketing gaining so much focus in service firms’ communications strategies?

Q: What are the 5 Ws along which the Integrated Service Communications Model

What are the 5 Ws along which the Integrated Service Communications Model is structured?

Q: Why does the customer’s role as a co-creator need to

Why does the customer’s role as a co-creator need to be designed into service processes?

Q: What do you see as the advantages and disadvantages of the different

What do you see as the advantages and disadvantages of the different types of queues for an organization serving large numbers of customers? For which type of service might each of the queuing types b...

Q: What are the key drivers for the increasing globalization of services?

What are the key drivers for the increasing globalization of services?

Q: What are the six key decisions managers need to make when designing

What are the six key decisions managers need to make when designing an effective pricing schedule?

Q: Why is word of mouth important for the marketing of services?

Why is word of mouth important for the marketing of services? How can a service firm that is the quality leader in its industry induce and manage word of mouth?

Q: Explain what factors make customers like and dislike self-service technologies

Explain what factors make customers like and dislike self-service technologies (SSTs).

Q: How can firms make waiting more pleasant for their customers?

How can firms make waiting more pleasant for their customers?

Q: What factors do service companies need to understand in order to choose

What factors do service companies need to understand in order to choose a distribution strategy for going international that still allows it to control its intellectual property and sources of value c...

Q: How can you test whether an SST has the potential to be

How can you test whether an SST has the potential to be successful, and what can a firm do to increase its chances of customer adoption?

Q: What are the benefits of having an effective reservations system?

What are the benefits of having an effective reservations system?

Q: How does blueprinting help us to better understand the service process from

How does blueprinting help us to better understand the service process from the perspectives of the key actors (i.e., customers and the employees from different service departments and functional area...

Q: How can companies use corporate design to differentiate themselves?

How can companies use corporate design to differentiate themselves?

Q: How can service firms use residual service capacity after all strategies of

How can service firms use residual service capacity after all strategies of matching supply and demand have been exhausted?

Q: What are the potential ways to implement IMC?

What are the potential ways to implement IMC?

Q: What are the five dimensions of service quality?

What are the five dimensions of service quality?

Q: How can you measure service quality?

How can you measure service quality?

Q: Visit the websites of the following national statistical bureaus: U.

Visit the websites of the following national statistical bureaus: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (www. bea.gov); Eurostat (ec.europa.eu/eurostat); and the espective websites for your country if they...

Q: Give examples of how Internet and telecommunications technologies (e.g

Give examples of how Internet and telecommunications technologies (e.g., mobile commerce [M-Commerce] and apps) have changed some of the services you use.

Q: Why would growth in business services help individual firms and entire economies

Why would growth in business services help individual firms and entire economies become more productive?

Q: Explain how the concepts in Chapter 1 are relevant to the marketing

Explain how the concepts in Chapter 1 are relevant to the marketing of a religious institution, or a non-profit organization such as World Wildlife Fund.

Q: Describe the four broad “processing” categories of services, and

Describe the four broad “processing” categories of services, and provide examples for each.

Q: What is the difference between ideal capacity and maximum capacity? Provide

What is the difference between ideal capacity and maximum capacity? Provide examples of a situation where (a) The two might be the same and (b) The two are different.

Q: What is so special about services marketing that it needs a special

What is so special about services marketing that it needs a special approach?

Q: “The 4 Ps are all a marketing manager needs to create

“The 4 Ps are all a marketing manager needs to create a marketing strategy for a service business.” Prepare a response that argues against this, and support it with examples.

Q: Why do the marketing, operations, human resource management, and

Why do the marketing, operations, human resource management, and IT functions need to be closely coordinated in service organizations?

Q: What are the implications of the service–profit chain for service

What are the implications of the service–profit chain for service management?

Q: What are the main reasons for the growing share 0f the service

What are the main reasons for the growing share 0f the service sector in all major economies of the world?

Q: What are the five powerful forces transforming the service landscape, and

What are the five powerful forces transforming the service landscape, and what impact do they have on the service economy?

Q: What are the backstage elements of a. A car repair

What are the backstage elements of a. A car repair facility, b. An airline, c. A university, and d. A consulting firm? Under what circumstances would it be appropriate or even desirable to allow c...

Q: What are “moments of truth”?

What are “moments of truth”?

Q: Describe the difference between high-contact and low-contact services

Describe the difference between high-contact and low-contact services, and explain how the nature of a customer’s experience may differ between the two.

Q: How do the concepts of theater, role theory, and script

How do the concepts of theater, role theory, and script theory help to provide insights into consumer behavior during the service encounter?

Q: What are the elements of a customer-driven services marketing strategy

What are the elements of a customer-driven services marketing strategy?

Q: Describe the relationship between customer expectations and customer satisfaction.

Describe the relationship between customer expectations and customer satisfaction.

Q: What is service quality? How is it different from customer satisfaction

What is service quality? How is it different from customer satisfaction?

Q: Explain the three-stage model of service consumption.

Explain the three-stage model of service consumption.

Q: What is the difference between the linear compensatory rule and the conjunctive

What is the difference between the linear compensatory rule and the conjunctive rule?

Q: Describe search, experience, and credence attributes, and give examples

Describe search, experience, and credence attributes, and give examples of each.

Q: Explain why services tend to be harder for customers to evaluate than

Explain why services tend to be harder for customers to evaluate than goods.

Q: Why do consumer’s perceptions of risk play an important role in choosing

Why do consumer’s perceptions of risk play an important role in choosing between alternative service offers? How can firms reduce consumer risk perceptions?

Q: How are customers’ expectations formed? Explain the difference between desired service

How are customers’ expectations formed? Explain the difference between desired service and adequate service with reference to a service experience you’ve had recently.

Q: Choose an industry you are familiar with (such as cell phone

Choose an industry you are familiar with (such as cell phone services, credit cards, or online music stores) and create a perceptual map showing the competitive positions of different service provider...

Q: Imagine that you have been hired as a consultant to give advice

Imagine that you have been hired as a consultant to give advice to the Palace Hotel. Consider the options facing the hotel based on the four attributes in the positioning charts (Figures 3.15 and Figu...