Exam 13: Services: the Intangible Product

Firms can attempt to close the knowledge gap by setting appropriate service standards.

Because services like airline flights and movies at the theater are ________, many marketers attempt to match demand with supply using pricing strategies.

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

All products and services are intangible.

The customers at Monica's pastry shop want to grab a quick breakfast before boarding an airplane. The sign on the counter promises "Quick In-and-Out Service," and usually Monica's keeps that promise. But one morning, customers were frustrated when the staff behind the counter showed more interest in gossiping about their social lives than in waiting on customers. Monica's shop is suffering from a ________ gap.

Sometimes all that needs to be done to satisfy a customer complaint is to listen to the customer.

One approach marketers are using to reduce service ________ is to replace people with machines whenever appropriate.

When choosing where to eat lunch, Sharon looks for restaurants where she will be seated promptly and served her meal quickly. For Sharon, ________ is the most important of the five service quality dimensions.

One of the reasons service failures need to be addressed quickly is to

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

Listening to the customer is the first step in service recovery.

The Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colorado, maintains its five-star rating by focusing on five service characteristics: reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangibles. The hotel has been updating rooms built in the early part of the 20th century to meet the needs of 21st-century visitors. To accomplish this, it spent millions in improvements, renovating rooms, and adding a new outdoor pool complex. These renovations focus on the ________ service characteristic.

The Federal Aviation Administration posts monthly percentage on-time arrival data for all the major airlines on its website. Some airlines are regularly on the top of the list, while others are frequently on the bottom of the list. What type of service gap does this list illustrate? What can airlines on the bottom of the list do to address this gap?

Explain the concept of "management by walking around."

MaryAnne was employee of the month at Jimmy John's, primarily because she provided excellent customer service by serving food quickly. This relates to the reliability service dimension.

When travelers are bumped from overbooked flights, they are frequently offered vouchers good for future travel. The dollar value of the voucher is the airline's estimate of

What does it mean to say that a service is perishable? Name three services that would be considered perishable.

Gina booked a room at the Whispering Sands Resort because, as advertised on its website, she expected to check in at 11:00 am, the swimming pool would be heated, the talent in the dining area 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 Whispering Sands Resort was experiencing a severe ________ gap.

________ fairness refers to the perceived fairness of the process with which a firm handles customer complaints.

Calvin Hardware was in bad financial shape. It owed so much money that vendors put the store on a cash-only delivery basis. As a result, the store had a dwindling inventory of goods to sell. The owner directed the sales staff to tell any customer asking about an unavailable item that it was on backorder and would be in stock the following week. When customers returned a week later as instructed, the item would still be unavailable. The owner's policy created a(n)________ gap.