Exam 13: Services: the Intangible Product

Marcia booked a room at the Pleasant Valley Resort because, as advertised on its website, she expected that her room would be ready, the swimming pool would be heated, the resort singer would be able to sing, and the breakfast would be fresh. When she arrived, she had to wait for her room, found the swimming pool to be 50 degrees, realized the singer could not carry a tune, and the free continental breakfast was stale. The Pleasant Valley Resort was experiencing a severe ________ gap.

Many states have enacted "lemon" laws providing rights to consumers who purchase cars that need an excessive number of repairs. Service departments at auto dealerships quickly figure out which new models are going to create problems and often what the problems will be. If you were the service manager at a dealership, what would you do to address service problems like these?

The ________ gap can be reduced by managing consumers' expectations and promising only what can be delivered or possibly even a little less.

The old cliché "Service with a smile" recognizes the fact that

Empowerment is when ________ are authorized to make decisions to help their customers and, as a result, service quality generally improves.

Bank of America uses a complex polling system coupled with a customer response measurement system to assess consumers' responses to new products and services. Bank of America is using a(n) ________ program to improve service quality and service offerings.

Training service providers to know exactly what a "good job" entails is setting service

Cheryl will let only Martiné cut her hair. She has tried other stylists, but she knows from experience that Martiné cuts her hair well every time. For Cheryl, ________ is the most important of the five service quality dimensions.

To define the zone of tolerance, firms ask a series of questions about each service quality dimension that relate to all of the following except

Managers of fast-food restaurants struggle with a rapid turnover of personnel. Employee turnover rates of 100 to 200 percent annually are common. The work environment is difficult and customers can often be demanding. One of the first steps managers can take to help workers deliver quality service is to

All products and services are intangible.

Many product-dominant firms use quality service

What are the potential gaps in the Service Gaps Model? What is it designed to do?

The ________ gap can be closed by getting employees to meet or exceed service standards when the service is being delivered by empowering service providers, providing support and incentives, and using technology where appropriate.

Most customers want to achieve a fair solution following a service failure. All of the following factors affect a person's perceptions of "fairness" in these kinds of situations except

When choosing where to eat lunch, Veronica's major service criterion is speed: being seated promptly and served her meal quickly. For Veronica, ________ is the most important of the five service quality dimensions.

A(n) ________ gap exists when a firm knows what it needs to do to meet customers' service expectations, but sometimes fails to do it.

Nicole knows her restaurant is understaffed today. She is hoping to get through the day without falling below her customers' ________, the difference between what her customers want and what they will accept before going elsewhere.

Although firms such as restaurants have difficulty controlling service quality from day to day, they do have control over

Explain the concepts of distributive fairness and procedural fairness. Give an example of each.