Retailing Management, 10e (Levy)
Chapter 17 Customer Service
1) A standardized service approach requires that service providers tailor their services to meet each
customer’s personal needs.
2) McDonald’s, with its use of specific policies and procedures to provide an acceptable, consistent
service quality, would best be described as using the personalized approach for customer service.
3) Customers are satisfied when their expectations exceed the perceived service.
4) Customer expectations are based on a customer’s knowledge and experiences.
5) Empathy refers to the caring, individualized attention provided to customers.
6) Retailers can reduce the knowledge gap and develop a better understanding of customer
expectations by undertaking customer research.
7) To reduce the delivery gap and provide a consistent service, retailers should ensure that
employees get approval from their managers before making any decisions regarding customer
service.
8) Empowerment means allowing employees at a firm’s lowest levels to make important decisions
regarding how service will be provided to customers.
9) The steps in effective service recovery are listening to the customer, providing a fair solution,
and resolving the problem quickly.
10) Procedural fairness is a customer’s perception of the benefits received compared with his or her
costs in terms of inconvenience or monetary loss.
11) Which of the following statements is true of customer service?
A) The retail offerings of a company are not influenced by customer service.
B) It is relatively easy for a company to duplicate the services offered by a competitor.
C) It does not provide major strategic advantages for a company.
D) It increases the value customers receive from the merchandise they buy.
E) Customer service perceptions are developed mostly by interacting with top management.
12) Providing high-quality service is difficult for a retailer because
A) competitors often easily duplicate the services.
B) services availed by customers are generally tangible.
C) most employees show a similar performance level.
D) the quality of service can vary dramatically across stores.
E) all employees are not involved in activities that increase customer value.
13) Richard purchased a coffee maker from Amazon. As he was completing his purchase, the site
suggested some brands of coffee for him to purchase. This is an example of
A) standardization.
B) information overload.
C) mobile marketing.
D) sales promotion.
E) personalization.
14) ________ makes it hard to provide and maintain high-quality service because retailers cannot
easily measure or check the service before it gets delivered to customers.
A) Intangibility
B) Flexibility
C) Assurance
D) Empathy
E) Instrumental support
15) Catherine visited American Eagle, an apparel store, to browse through the new spring
collection. The sales associate greeted her when she entered the store, showed her the new
collection, and stayed with her throughout her shopping experience, bringing her additional items
while Catherine was in the dressing room. This sales service can best be described as
A) a standardized service.
B) wardrobing.
C) micromanagement.
D) a personalized service.
E) a perceived service.
16) Personalized service
A) does not require trained employees.
B) is more consistent than standardized service.
C) increases the consistency of service quality.
D) is based on establishing a set of rules for providing service.
E) depends on the judgment and capability of service providers.
17) A shopper is most likely to receive standardized customer service in
A) McDonald’s.
B) Nordstrom.
C) Ritz Carlton Hotel.
D) Bass Pro Shops.
E) Marriott Hotel.
18) Glamour Looks is a beauty salon. It offers various skin and hair treatment packages based on
customer requests. Which of the following types of services is Glamour Looks offering?
A) Standardized service
B) Wardrobing
C) Micromanagement
D) Perceived service
E) Personalized service
19) Bronson has shopped at several toy stores. However, he really likes The Toy Corner because of
the broad assortment offered for different age groups. Moreover, if a particular toy is not available
at the store, Bronson can place an order and have it delivered directly to his home at a discounted
price. Hence, Bronson feels that the service offered by The Toy Corner
A) is poor due to lack of instrumental support.
B) does not conform to promised delivery dates.
C) exceeds customer expectations.
D) does not provide value to customers.
E) is limited to specific customers.
20) Which of the following statements is true of perceived service?
A) Retailers need to consider only the actual customer service delivered in order to build a
reputation.
B) Employees providing the service do not have an impact on customer satisfaction.
C) Customers’ perceptions of a retailer’s customer service depend on the actual service delivered.
D) Customers are influenced solely by the outcome of the service.
E) The store design and policies do not impact the service.
21) Which of the following factors does not affect customers’ perceptions of service quality?
A) Reliability
B) Assurance
C) Tangibility
D) Responsiveness
E) Triviality
22) ________ is the ability to perform the service dependably, accurately, and as promised.
A) Reliability
B) Assurance
C) Tangibility
D) Empathy
E) Responsiveness
23) ________ is the knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to convey trust and
confidence.
A) Reliability
B) Assurance
C) Tangibility
D) Empathy
E) Responsiveness
24) Karen ordered four books from Book Your Choice.com. She was informed that her order
would be processed in two working days and she would receive the books three days from the date
of ordering. The books were promptly delivered on the third day. Karen was immensely satisfied
with the service provided by the website. Which customer service characteristic affecting
perceptions of service quality is seen in the given scenario?
A) Instrumental support
B) Empathy
C) Tangibility
D) Reliability
E) Distributive fairness
25) ________ helps in the prompt resolution of service issues.
A) Procedural rigidity
B) Intangibility
C) Employee empowerment
D) Knowledge gap
E) Service gap
26) ________ means to provide customer service personnel and sales associates that really want to
help customers and provide prompt service.
A) Reliability
B) Assurance
C) Tangibility
D) Empathy
E) Responsiveness
27) Dust-free, clean, and organized stores with updated dressing rooms and kiosks are examples of
a retailer’s commitment to customer service through
A) reliability.
B) assurance.
C) tangibility.
D) empathy.
E) responsiveness.
28) When the customer’s perception of the service delivered by a retailer fails to meet the
customer’s expectations, a(n) ________ results.
A) standardized service
B) service gap
C) personalized service
D) procedural fairness
E) assurance
29) When Donna ordered a refrigerator, she expected the people who delivered it to install the
refrigerator. However, the refrigerator was left at her door, and Donna’s expectations were not met.
Which of the following terms best describes the given scenario?
A) Procedural fairness
B) Distributive fairness
C) Learned response
D) Service gap
E) Services cape
30) Autumn calls the most reputable plumber in the community to repair the faucet in her kitchen.
She pays the plumber for his work. However, the next day, Autumn sees the faucet leaking again
and is stunned to see the repair was done with a strip of duct tape. This reaction from Autumn can
be attributed to a(n)
A) faulty service agreement.
B) procedural fairness.
C) services cape.
D) service gap.
E) motivational guide.
31) Which of the following terms is not one of the gaps that contributes to the service gap?
A) Knowledge gap
B) Standards gap
C) Performance gap
D) Communication gap
E) Delivery gap
32) A retailer would be reducing the ________ by developing a better understanding of customer
expectations and perceptions.
A) communications gap
B) standards gap
C) performance gap
D) knowledge gap
E) delivery gap
33) When Amir opened his seafood market in Alabama, he was amazed at the number of
customers who asked him to clean and prepare the fresh lobster, shrimp, and crawfish they had just
purchased. When setting up his store, he had not set aside a place for performing this service.
Therefore, a ________ resulted which could have been overcome by Amir through customer
research.
A) brand gap
B) knowledge gap
C) delivery gap
D) standards gap
E) communication gap
34) An electronic retailer surveys its customers to understand the factors that they consider before
making a purchase decision. The retailer is trying to bridge the ________ by using customer
research.
A) delivery gap
B) standards gap
C) performance gap
D) knowledge gap
E) communication gap
35) When Peridot, a department store, centralized all its buying activities, the store and department
managers were able to spend more time working with sales associates and talking with customers.
As a result, the company was able to better understand the expectations of the customers. Which of
the following gaps was reduced as a result of the centralization process?
A) Knowledge gap
B) Communication gap
C) Delivery gap
D) Standards gap
E) Research gap
36) Six weeks after Samuel purchased six portable computers for his realty business, he was called
by the retailer who sold him the computers and asked if he was satisfied with the purchase and if
there was anything that he would change about the way the store does business. In this scenario,
the retailer is trying to reduce its
A) delivery gap.
B) standards gap.
C) production gap.
D) knowledge gap.
E) communication gap.
37) The ________ can be closed by developing specific guidelines and systems for delivering
high-quality service.
A) communication gap
B) standards gap
C) research gap
D) knowledge gap
E) delivery gap
38) Customers at Chapter One Bookstore complained about how long they had to wait while the
sales clerk manually checked the books to see which ones were available in the store’s inventory.
The owner, therefore, decided to install a computer and database management program to manage
the store’s inventory. Implementing customers’ feedback and using technology reduced the store’s
A) communication gap.
B) standards gap.
C) research gap.
D) brand gap.
E) knowledge gap.
39) Jane, the manager of a bookstore at Warren Wilson College, hires additional employees during
the first few weeks of each semester but does not clearly define their responsibilities. Hence,
during busy times, the students end up waiting for more than ten minutes to check out because
there are not enough clerks ringing up sales. Some students get frustrated and leave without
buying. This situation indicates a
A) standards gap.
B) communication gap.
C) brand gap.
D) research gap.
E) delivery gap.
40) Service excellence will occur only when the
A) top management provides leadership and demonstrates commitment.
B) top management refrains from empowering front-line service providers.
C) top management centralizes its decision-making activities.
D) retailer sets service standards based on internal operations rather than customers’ perceptions.
E) retailer provides standardized services rather than personalized services when purchase
decisions involve high risks.
41) Who among the following would be the best person to make sure that high-quality customer
service standards are achieved by retailers?
A) Human resources manager
B) Marketing manager
C) Store manager
D) Advertising manager
E) Financial manager
42) At the Sonic Drive-In restaurant, employees are timed to measure how quickly an order is
taken and delivered to customers. When employees’ performance consistently meets or exceeds
the norms, the restaurant manager gives them a $10.00 bonus check. The purpose of this incentive
is to reduce the
A) communication gap.
B) research gap.
C) standards gap.
D) knowledge gap.
E) brand gap.
43) Retailers reduce their ________ by utilizing mystery shoppers to assess service quality.
A) standards gap
B) knowledge gap
C) responsiveness
D) reliability
E) tangibility