48) Because services like cruises and car rentals are perishable, many marketers use
A) pricing strategies to match supply with demand.
B) service quality to extend the life of the product.
C) incentives to encourage staff to deliver according to standards.
D) training to standardize delivery.
E) machines to replace people for standard transactions.
49) The Service Gaps Model is designed to highlight those areas where
A) service providers provide the best possible service.
B) manufacturers are cutting corners on product quality.
C) customers believe they are getting less or poorer service than they should.
D) service providers know more than their customers.
E) delivered service exceeds expected service.
50) When the delivery of a service fails to meet customers‘ expectations, a ________ gap exists.
A) service
B) knowledge
C) standards
D) production
E) procedural
51) A ________ gap reflects the difference between customers’ expectations and the firm’s
perception of those customer expectations.
A) seniority
B) knowledge
C) standards
D) delivery
E) communication
52) Firms can close the ________ gap by matching customer expectations with actual service
through use of marketing metrics.
A) seniority
B) knowledge
C) standards
D) delivery
E) communication
53) 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.
A) communications
B) knowledge
C) standards
D) delivery
E) acceptance
54) 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.
A) communications
B) knowledge
C) standards
D) delivery
E) expectations
55) If there is a difference between the firm’s perceptions of customers’ expectations and the
service standards the firm has set, a ________ gap exists.
A) seniority
B) knowledge
C) standards
D) delivery
E) communication
56) By setting appropriate service standards and measuring service performance, firms can
attempt to close a ________ gap.
A) seniority
B) knowledge
C) standards
D) delivery
E) communication
57) 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.
A) empathy
B) reliability
C) assurance
D) tangibles
E) responsiveness
58) The Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colorado, maintains its five-star rating by
focusing on five service characteristics: reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and
tangibles. Employees are instructed to always address a guest by name, if possible. To
accomplish this, employees are trained to listen and observe carefully to determine a guest’s
name. Which service characteristic is this an example of?
A) empathy
B) tangibles
C) responsiveness
D) assurance
E) reliability
59) For years, the Mogul Sheraton, a four-star hotel overlooking the Taj Mahal in India, offered
free elephant and camel rides to hotel visitors. Few customers took advantage of this service.
This is an example of a ________ gap in services marketing.
A) seniority
B) knowledge
C) standards
D) delivery
E) communication
60) Jackson manages an upscale French restaurant in the Washington, DC, area. His restaurant
offers a few specials each evening in addition to its regular menu. Jackson has trained his servers
to report comments and requests for items that have previously been offered only as specials.
Jackson uses this information to reduce the ________ gap in services marketing.
A) seniority
B) knowledge
C) standards
D) delivery
E) communication
61) To meet or exceed customers’ expectations, marketers must
A) know where customers live.
B) know how often consumers buy their products.
C) determine what those expectations are.
D) recognize that expectations are tangible.
E) empower customers to meet their own expectations.
62) Colin has been directed by his boss to determine if the company is meeting customers’
service quality expectations. One of Colin’s problems is that services are ________, making
evaluation of service quality difficult.
A) quantifiable
B) substantial
C) unequally distributed
D) intangible
E) indefinable
63) Customers determine overall service quality using all of the following dimensions except
A) assurance.
B) reliability.
C) acceptability.
D) responsiveness.
E) empathy.
64) 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.
A) assurance
B) reliability
C) tangibles
D) responsiveness
E) empathy
65) Professor Guillory is a seasoned professor. When students seek her out to advise them, she
never turns them away because she believes that with all her years of experience, she can help
them. The students, in turn, are confident in her and trust her advice. For these students,
________ is the most important of the five service quality dimensions.
A) assurance
B) reliability
C) tangibles
D) responsiveness
E) empathy
66) Gerald’s Tire Service provides each employee with a clean, sharp-looking uniform. It also
instructs employees to put all tools back where they belong and keep the work area clean and
uncluttered. Gerald’s Tire Service emphasizes ________ in the five service quality dimensions.
A) assurance
B) reliability
C) tangibles
D) responsiveness
E) empathy
67) Because services are intangible, it is often difficult for customers to determine how a service
meets their expectations, which marketers call
A) service perceptions.
B) service efforts.
C) service quality.
D) service aspirations.
E) service feedback.
68) A systematic ________ program collects customer inputs and integrates them into
managerial decisions.
A) quality gap analysis
B) empowerment
C) zone of tolerance
D) standards analysis
E) voice-of-customer
69) 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.
A) quality gap analysis
B) empowerment
C) zone of tolerance
D) standards analysis
E) voice-of-customer
70) 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) assurance
B) reliability
C) tangibles
D) responsiveness
E) empathy
71) 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
A) the desired and expected level of service for each dimension, from low to high.
B) customers’ perceptions of how well the focal service performs, from low to high.
C) customers’ perceptions of how well a competitive service performs, from low to high.
D) the importance of each quality service dimension.
E) the desired and expected level of service for each dimension, from high to low.
72) 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.
A) voice-of-customer quotient
B) empowerment standard
C) tangibles gap
D) zone of tolerance
E) quality gap
73) Customers have a defined ________ when it comes to waiting in line at a retail checkout
counter. The amount of time consumers are willing to wait varies with the type of store.
A) voice-of-customer quotient
B) empowerment standard
C) tangibles gap
D) zone of tolerance
E) quality gap
74) An excellent, inexpensive, and readily accessible method for assessing customers‘ service
expectations is
A) customer complaints.
B) syndicated data services.
C) employee empowerment programs.
D) distributive fairness analysis.
E) management by objective programs.
75) Training service providers to know exactly what a “good job” entails is setting service
A) knowledge.
B) quality.
C) delivery.
D) standards.
E) empowerment.
76) Kayla is the new manager of a resort hotel. She knows from reviewing customer complaints
that service quality at the hotel is not consistently meeting customers’ expectations, and she
believes that the biggest problem is that her employees are not sure what is expected of them. To
improve service quality, Kayla will
A) empower customers to meet their own service needs.
B) establish a broad zone of intolerance to reduce customer complaints.
C) narrowly define a knowledge gap.
D) separate intangibles from tangibles.
E) set specific, measurable goals based on customers’ expectations.
77) Services marketing managers have learned that more employees will support a quality–
oriented process if
A) they are involved in setting the goals.
B) perishable services are replaced with tangible services.
C) they are required to diverge from existing standards.
D) customers are responsible for setting service quality standards.
E) the process involves both part-time and full-time employees.
78) When corporate headquarters announced new service quality standards for pizza franchise
owners, Roland knew he would have trouble gaining employees‘ support because
A) they were not involved in setting the goals.
B) perishable services were being replaced with tangible services.
C) they were not allowed to diverge from existing standards.
D) customers were required to create service quality standards.
E) the process involved both part-time and full-time employees.
79) What is the problem associated with service quality standards such as “be nice” or “do what
the customers want”?
A) They create low expectations.
B) They are not specific.
C) They do not allow for the voice-of-customer process.
D) Most employees are unwilling to do what customers want.
E) They create a delivery gap.
80) By changing a standard from “be nice to customers” to “greet every customer with a smile,”
a services marketing manager has created a(n) ________ goal.
A) insurmountable
B) invisible
C) empowerment
D) measurable
E) inseparable
81) Saltdust Grill is known as the premier restaurant in town. With its elegant dining area,
extensive wine list, and gourmet chef, residents and tourists flock to the restaurant. Recently,
Trey took a large group to the Saltdust Grill and almost every diner sent their entrée back to the
kitchen. The Saltdust Grill was experiencing a(n) ________ gap in service quality.
A) knowledge
B) communication
C) standards
D) delivery
E) empowerment
82) A(n) ________ gap exists when a firm knows what it needs to do to meet customers’ service
expectations, but sometimes fails to do it.
A) knowledge
B) communication
C) standards
D) empowerment
E) delivery
83) ________ means allowing employees to make decisions about how service is provided to
customers.
A) Endorsement
B) Quality control
C) Standardization
D) Empowerment
E) Authorization
84) Empowerment is when ________ are authorized to make decisions to help their customers
and, as a result, service quality generally improves.
A) consultants
B) middle managers
C) corporate executives
D) production control managers
E) frontline employees
85) Using technology and ________ are two ways a delivery gap can be reduced in size.
A) empowering employees
B) variability analysis
C) voice-of-customer analysis
D) zone of tolerance analysis
E) public relations
86) Empowerment of employees helps address the delivery gap because
A) employees directly involved with the customer can respond effectively at the moment the
problem occurs.
B) customers appreciate feeling empowered.
C) management then doesn’t need to devote time and energy to resolving service delivery
problems.
D) employees spend less time resolving problems than managers would.
E) it ultimately contributes to employee knowledge and retention.
87) When Dr. Horton checked in at the Ritz-Carlton, it was 3 a.m. He had been traveling for over
12 hours and was exhausted. His suit, which he needed for a speech that morning, looked like he
had slept in it. Karen, the night clerk, offered to find a 24-hour dry cleaner and have the suit
cleaned while Dr. Horton got a few hours of sleep. Karen’s actions are an example of
A) the variability associated with service quality performance.
B) empowerment of employees to meet customers’ needs.
C) procedural fairness.
D) specific service standards.
E) public relations to increase puffery.