Department of Marketing, Mitchell College of Business

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• Student PowerPoint Slides for Chapter 10
• Services and Other Intangibles Marketing the
  Product That Isnt There

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Characteristics of Services
Perishability
Intangibility
Variability
Inseparability
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Characteristics of Services

• 1. Intangibility customers cant see, touch, or
  smell the service.
• 2. Perishability services cannot be
  inventoried use it or lose it.
• 3. Variability services are difficult to
  standardize. Even the same service provider may
  vary in the way he/she performs a task.
• 4. Inseparability cannot separate the
  production of a service from the consumption of
  the service. The service provider is the service.

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The Service Encounter

• The service encounter, or interaction between the
  customer and service provider, is the service to
  most customers and must be managed accordingly.
• If customers experience negative encounters
  often, the firm may chose disintermediation
  (e.g., automation) in order to eliminate the need
  for customers to interact with service personnel.
  
• Because services are intangible, physical
  evidence of the service is often communicated
  through the servicescape, the environment through
  which the service is delivered. Servicescapes
  include both interior elements such as colors,
  furniture, and smells, and exterior elements such
  as the design of the building, parking
  facilities, and landscaping.

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Service Qualities

• 1. Search qualities characteristics that the
  customer can examine prior to purchase. Example
  a customer might compare styling, handling, and
  gas mileage when buying a car.
• 2. Experience qualities characteristics that
  the customer can compare during and after the
  service. Example a customer doesnt know how
  much he will like a movie until he sees it.
• 3. Credence qualities characteristics that are
  difficult to evaluate even after receiving the
  service. Example a patient doesnt really know
  whether a doctor has diagnosed her illness
  correctly even after an office visit.

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The Service Continuum
Tangible (pure product)
Intangible (pure service)
Salt
House
Tailored Suit
Restaurant
Air Travel
Doctor
Teaching
Search qualities
Experience qualities
Credence qualities
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Dimensions of Service Quality
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Dimensions of Service Quality
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Measuring Service Quality Gap Analysis
Gap 5
Gap 1
Gap 2
Gap 4
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Service Failure and Service Recovery
Service failure occurs when a customer has a
dissatisfying experience. How the service
provider reacts to a customer complaint
determines whether service recovery will occur.
Service recovery is the recapturing of a
customer following a dissatisfying experience by
resolving the problem. The key to service
recovery is speed the quicker complaints are
resolved, the better.