Marketing
Order Description
Answer any 5 of the 11 Discussions Questions on p 72-73 of your textbook.
? Answer 1 of any of the 3 Exercise Questions on p 73 of your textbook.
? Answer any 5 of the 9 Discussion Questions on p 105-106 of your textbook.
? Answer 1 of any of the 5 Exercise Questions on p 106 of your textbook.
? All answers to the Discussion Questions must be a minimum of 5 sentences in length. Provide fact and personal
insight in your responses.
? All answers to Exercise Questions must be a minimum of 8 sentences in length. Provide fact and personal insight
in your responses
D 72 Part Two Focus on the Customer
franchise-immutable customer loyalty-wcornpanies must not only consistently
exceed the adequate service level but also reach the desired service level. Exceptional f f
service can intensify customers’ loyalty to a point at which they are impervious to 1 .1;
competitive options. 7
Firms might also consider how they present their promises to customers relative
to the competition. In Chapter 14 we describe various techniques for communicating
a firm’s promises, but for now consider two options. First, if the salesperson knows
that no competitor can meet an inflated sales promise in an industry, he could point
that fact out to the customer, thereby refuting the promise made by competitive sales-
people. The second Option is for the provider to follow a sale with a “reality check”
about service delivery. One of us bought a new house from a builder. Typical sales .7 i
promises were made about the quality of the home, some less than accurate, to make 1
the sale. Before closing on the house, the builder conducted a final check on the g. T
house. At the front door, the builder pointed out that each new home has between
3,000 and 5,000 individual elements and that in his experience the typical new home
has 100 to 150 defects. Armed with this reality check, the 32 defects found in the
house then seemed to be a relatively small amount. ‘1
4 Summary Using a conceptual framework of the nature and determinants of customer expecta-
tions of service, we showed in this chapter that customers hold two types of service
expectations: desired service, which reflects what customers want, and adequate ser- i;
vice, or the minimum level of service customers are willing to accept. The desired
service level is less subject to change than the adequate service level. A zone of toler-
ance separates these two levels of expectations. This zone of tolerance varies across j
i customers and can expand or contract for the same customer.
i Customer expectations are influenced by a variety of factors. Desired service
expectations are influenced by personal needs, personal service philosophy, derived
service expectations, explicit service promises, implicit service promises, word-of-
mouth communication, and the customer’s past experience. Adequate service expecta- 3‘
i ‘ tions are influenced by perceived service alternatives and situational factors. These
f : . sources of expectations are the same for end consumers and business customers, for 3
pure service and product-related service, and for experienced customers and inexpe-
p ‘ rienced customers.
7D,.i5c’u’55’ion 1. What is the difference between desired service and adequate service? Why wouldiffg
Questions , a service marketer need to understand both types of service expectations? .f
i ‘ ” ‘ ‘ 2. C’Onsider a recent service purchase that you have made. Which of the factors}:
Q ,_ ‘ ” ,, ‘ ” ‘ influencing expectations were the most important in your decision? Why?
7. – g ‘ i ” i , ‘ ” 3. Why are desired service expectations more stable than adequate service
j ‘ expectations? ‘ . q
i 5; ; , .i ,, . 4. How do the technology changes discussed in the Technology Spotlight‘in this
chapter influence customer expectations?
if T ,.. ~. 5. Describe several instances in which a service company’s explicit service promisesfi
é g . , , . , , were inflated and led you to be disappointed with the service outcome.
