Exam 12: Services: The Intangible Product

Along the service-product continuum,which of the following would be considered the most product dominant?

The customers at Marielle's coffee shop want to grab a quick cup of coffee before boarding the commuter train into the city.The sign in the window promises "Quick,In-and-Out Service," and usually Marielle's keeps that promise.But one morning,customers were frustrated when the staff behind the counter was more interested in gossiping about their social lives than in waiting on customers.Marielle's shop is suffering from a:

For years,the Mogul Sheraton,a four-star hotel overlooking the Taj Mahal in India,offered free elephant and camel rides to hotel visitors,assuming that this service would be attractive to hotel guests.But few customers took advantage of the service.This is an example of a __________ gap in services marketing.

Service employees at the airlines' flight cancellation desks frequently encounter travelers who get emotional about canceled or delayed flights.The first thing these employees should do is to:

Medical services,assisted living care,and active senior travel are all examples of:

When marketers state that services are __________,they are referring to the fact that services are produced and consumed at the same time.

Barnes & Noble bookstores have PCs available for associates to use to search for books requested by customers and to place special orders.These computers are an example of __________.

Marketers can take advantage of the variable nature of services by:

__________ represents the systems and equipment resources that service providers need to be able to close the delivery gap.

Because services are __________,it is often difficult for marketers to convey the benefits to consumers.

An excellent,inexpensive,and readily accessible method for assessing customers' service expectations is:

When there is a significant difference between the service customers receive and the service the firm promotes,the firm has a:

Cheryl will only let Martiné cut her hair.She has tried other hairdressers,but she knows from experience that Martiné cuts her hair well every time.Cheryl has found that Martiné does an excellent job with __________,one of the service quality dimensions.

Empowering employees as a means of reducing service delivery gaps is particularly important in situations where:

Service providers often encounter rude and unreasonable consumers.Services marketing managers can reduce the delivery gap,even for these customers by:

Because customers have different needs and expectations,the key to distributive fairness in service recovery is to:

The owners of hotels whose services are produced and consumed at the same time know that consumers do not have the opportunity to try out their service before purchasing.Many hotels use __________ to overcome the problem of inseparability of services.

Airline passengers in Europe receive much greater monetary compensation when they are bumped due to overbooking than do passengers in the United States.How do airline passengers determine what is "fair" when there is a service failure?

A __________ gap can be closed by getting employees to meet or exceed service standards.

Physicians regularly overstate the expected recovery time from surgery,knowing that managing patients' expectations will reduce the __________ gap associated with their service.