Zones of tolerance are a source of desired expectations.
In a service culture, good service is a way of life and it comes naturally to the members
of the organization because it is an important norm.
When customers and firms reach the friend level of their customer relationship, firms
generally focus on providing value comparable to the competition.
Service blueprints are most useful when developed for a particular customer or
customer segment, assuming that the service varies across segments.
Traditionally, organizations have measured their performances almost completely on
the basis of financial indicators.
There is no way to calculate the relationship value of a customer.
Customers who experience a service failure and do not complain are more likely to
make a repurchase than those who do complain.
Customer-defined standards should be established based on customer complaints and
other forms of reactive feedback.
Hurricanes and tornadoes that affect a large number of people are examples of personal
situational factors.
To be successful, a service provider must accept the fact that the customer is always
right.
To be effective and efficient in their jobs, service workers require internal support
systems that are aligned with their needs to be customer-focused.
The only role performed by the servicescape is to attract or deter entry; it does not
actually influence the degree of success consumers experience in executing their plans
once inside.
A person/role conflict is most likely to arise in jobs where the service provider relies on
commissions rather than a salary for his or her income.
An advantage of a single-queue configuration is that customers have an opportunity to
select a particular service provider.
The service blueprint can be analyzed horizontally if the purpose is to understand the
integration of the service process or to identify for particular employees where they fit
into the bigger picture.
Loss leadership is the term typically used when providers place a familiar service on
special to draw the customer to the store and then reveal other levels of service
available at higher prices.
Even though some service providers would like to reduce customer participation in the
service delivery, it cannot be done.
A potential benefit of empowerment is quicker responses to dissatisfied customers
during service recovery.
When determining its demand capacity, a service provider should not consider random
demand fluctuations.
Well-implemented retention strategies will have long-term success even if there is no
solid base of service quality and customer satisfaction to build on.
Vertical lines cutting across the line of internal interaction represent internal service
encounters.
According to the concept of derived services, the value derived from physical goods is
really the service provided by the good, not the good itself.
Attributions influence perceptions of satisfaction with services.
The synchronizing of supply and demand will narrow provider gap 4.
Market testing is used to pilot run a new service to be sure the operational details are
functioning smoothly.
Service encounters that occur without any human contact are referred to as impersonal
encounters.
On the service blueprint, the line of visibility separates all contact employee actions that
are visible to the customer from those that are not.
The category of complainers called irates has a very optimistic sense of the potential
positive consequences of all types of complaining.
Word-of-mouth communication about a service may be either personal or nonpersonal,
but it is always verbal.
If a company’s goal is to manage customer expectations, it should avoid offering
service guarantees.
An insurance company that used advertising showing satisfied customers thanking the
company for their prompt payment after a flood would be addressing service
intangibility.
Customers’ adequate service levels are less stable than their desired levels.
To develop an effective physical evidence strategy, a service firm should use a
cross-functional team approach.
The first step in the process for setting customer-defined standards is to translate
customer expectations into behaviors and actions for each service encounter.
Because a product is tangible, it cannot be inventoried.
Every service encounter is an opportunity to build satisfaction and quality.
One way of promoting teamwork is to encourage the attitude that “everyone has a
customer.”
Many companies that have adopted a customer retention strategy are now using the
extent of _________ as their main measure of customer loyalty.
A. Word-of-mouth
B. Personalized direct mail
C. Network television advertising
D. Publicity
E. Advertising in prestige magazines
American Woman Fitness Centers offer first-time customers a 3-month membership for
$79, a saving of $20 off the regular 3-month membership price. American Woman
Fitness Centers’ pricing strategy is aligned with which of the following customer
definitions of value?
A. Value is all that I get for all that I give
B. Value is everything I want in a service
C. Value is low price
D. Value is reliable service
E. Value is the quality I get for the pace I pay
In which of the following situations will compatibility management be of little or no
importance?
A. The service environment attracts a homogeneous customer mix
B. Customers are in close proximity to each other
C. The core service is compatibility
D. Customers must wait for the service
E. Customers engage in numerous and varied activities
Telepizza S.A. Is a Spanish pizza restaurant chain that offers children membership in its
magic club. The magic club gives its members small prizes, usually simple magic
tricks, with each order their parents place. Telepizza has 65 percent of the Spanish
market as a result of using _____ marketing.
A. Transactional
B. Developmental
C. Proactive
D. Relationship
E. Acquisition
How would you describe the sustainability of competitive advantage in the
acquaintance stage of the customer relationship evolution?
A. Non-existent because the company’s primary goal is to induce trial
B. Generally low with some variation on how the competition creates unique value
C. High even though it depends on how unique the service offering is
D. Medium because customer are heterogeneous
E. Generally low because of the expense associated with mass customization
At Pronto, a discount store chain, if the shelf price is not on an item, checkout clerks
can take the customer’s word for prices up to $20. The customer does not have to wait
for the clerk to check the price with someone on the floor. By giving its employees the
authority to make decisions on the customer’s behalf, Pronto is:
A. Including employees in the company vision
B. Empowering employees
C. Measuring and rewarding strong service performers
D. Promoting teamwork
E. Developing service-oriented internal processes
A dental office that provides patients a variety of magazines to read and TV to watch
while they are waiting is using which of the following waiting line strategies?
A. Establishing a reservation process
B. Making waiting more pleasurable
C. Expanding waiting room capacity
D. Differentiating waiting customers
E. Employing operational logic
Which of the following service organizations has an elaborate environment?
A. Six Flags over Texas
B. Dave’s Dry Cleaners
C. Nancy’s Nails
D. The Cutting Edge Hair Salon
E. New Attitudes Car Wash
Compatibility management is most important in which of the following services?
A. An Internet service provider
B. A home correspondence course
C. A do-it-yourself house cleaning
D. Mental health support group
E. Long distance telephone service
Clarifying expectations after the sale is a strategy for:
A. Conducting market research
B. Resetting customer expectations
C. Managing customer education
D. Managing horizontal communications
E. Exceeding customer expectations
_____ means transmitting information across functional boundaries in an organization
to align all functions with customer expectations.
A. Managing service promises
B. Resetting customer expectations
C. Communicating with customers
D. Managing horizontal communications
E. Exceeding customer expectations
After an airplane arrives at its gate and passengers disembark, it is cleaned, restocked
with food and beverages and refueled by maintenance workers before the next set of
passengers board and the airplane departs on its next flight. The activities performed by
maintenance workers to prepare the airplane for its next flight is part of which section
of the service blueprint?
A. Customer actions
B. Onstage contact employee actions
C. Backstage contact employee actions
D. Support processes
E. Audience actions
In order to manage fluctuating demand in a service business, an organization must
understand all of the following EXCEPT:
A. How to chart demand patterns
B. Random demand fluctuations
C. Demand patterns by market segment
D. Predictable demand cycles
E. Vertical demand configurations
Two decades ago, travelers who were looking for a place to rest for the night looked for
the large, multi-colored Holiday Inn signs. Eventually, the signs started looking dated
and seemed to remind people of early times even though the motel chain knew travelers
wanted to stay in modern rooms with all the latest amenities. Because the signs were
sending the wrong message, Holiday Inn used physical evidence strategy to create more
modern signage. During which step of the physical evidence strategy would this change
have occurred?
A. The blueprinting of the physical evidence of service
B. Updating and modernizing of ambient evidence
C. The creation of a cross-functional service artifact
D. The updating and modernizing of physical evidence
E. Mapped the service encounter points
The best known and most widely respected approach that executives use for making
decisions about service quality investments is:
A. Total quality management returns
B. Observational research
C. Focus groups
D. Return on service quality
E. Ethnographic research
For their wedding anniversary, Beth and Rick wanted to go skydiving. They enrolled in
a skydiving class at the local airport at a cost of $260. After a 30-minute training course
in which everything that was going to happen to them was carefully explained, Beth
and Rick were sent up in an airplane with two skydiving experts. Each was placed in a
harness arrangement with one of the experts and did what is called a tandem dive. With
a tandem dive, Beth and Rick get to enjoy the experience without having to worry about
when to open the parachute. The skydiving expert does that for them. This tandem jump
illustrates the _____ characteristic of services.
A. Versatility
B. Heterogeneity
C. Simultaneous production and consumption
D. Perishability
E. Intangibility
The _____ dimension of service quality refers to the willingness to help customers and
provide prompt service.
A. Reliability
B. Responsiveness
C. Assurance
D. Empathy
E. Tangibles
All of the following are examples of operational measures within the balanced
performance scorecard EXCEPT:
A. Process quality
B. Throughput time
C. Number of cross sales
D. Reduction in waste
E. Transaction time
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel trains each employee to note the likes and dislikes of regular
customers and record this information into a computerized guest history profile that
provides information on the preferences of 240,000 repeat Ritz-Carlton customers.
Through the use of this customer database, the Ritz-Carlton is able to provide more
personalized service to its guests. If, for example, a guest prefers a feather pillow or
always orders a glass of sherry before retiring, this information can be entered in the
database and these needs can be anticipated and met. By providing more personalized
service, the Ritz-Carlton is narrowing provider _____ of the gaps model of service
quality.
A. Gap 1
B. Gap 2
C. Gap 3
D. Gap 4
An ad in a dental journal noted that if dentists would bulk buy a flowable composite
used to build bridges and caps, the dentist purchasing the composite would receive
Delta Air Lines Sky Miles to add to his or her existing Sky Miles. Both companies, the
composite marketer and Delta, benefit from this offer. By allowing the composite
marketer to offer free Sky Miles to customers, Delta Air Lines is further implementing
its _____ growth strategy.
A. Share building
B. Market development
C. Service development
D. Diversification
E. Market integration
Which of the following is an example of an SST?
A. A haircut
B. Mowing your own grass
C. An x-ray
D. A car repair
E. An electronic hotel checkout
Offering choices to the customer is a strategy for:
A. Avoiding the perception of service inconsistency
B. Managing service promises
C. Managing customer expectations
D. Managing horizontal communications
E. Improving customer education
When customers feel uncertain about their ability to evaluate services with high levels
of credence qualities such as banking and insurance, the ________ dimension of service
quality is likely to be particularly important.
A. Reliability
B. Responsiveness
C. Assurance
D. Empathy
E. Tangibles
Based on servicescape usage, a dance studio is a(n) _____ environment.
A. Self-service
B. Vertical service
C. Remote service
D. Flexible service
E. Interpersonal services
Which of the following is NOT an example of an effective formal service goal?
A. Deliver products quickly
B. Call the customer back within 2 hours
C. Replace lost credit cards within 48 hours 98 percent of the time
D. Answer phones within 3 rings
E. Connect new cable service on the date promised
When Tony got in line to pay for his groceries, he picked the line in which he was
required to scan the prices of his groceries and bag them himself. He was pleased with
his use of a(n) _______ because he could take extra care in getting his eggs home
unbroken without the risk of a store bagger dropping a melon on top of them.
A. Promotable differentiator
B. Ergonomic layout
C. SST
D. ISP
E. Robot
A review of two decades of studies examining the links among customer satisfaction,
service quality and firm performance concluded that improvements in customer
satisfaction have _________ impact on firms’ financial performance.
A. A significant and positive
B. Absolutely no
C. A small negative
D. An undetermined
E. A large negative
Hyatt Hotels has installed automated check-in machines at some of its hotels. To check
in and get a room key, guests insert a credit card into the machine. Hyatt is
experimenting with the use of:
A. Self-service technologies
B. Functional symbols
C. Robotics
D. Compatibility management
E. Output dimensions
The owner of Fiori Flower and Gift Shop has noticed a gradual decline in its number of
customers over the last three years. The owner suspects that it is experiencing _____
due to the recent opening of a Kroger supermarket in the community.
A. Customer defection
B. Customer empowerment
C. An ethical dilemma
D. Customer autonomizing
E. Customerization
______ are the most common types of new services.
A. Major innovations
B. Start-up businesses
C. Service line extensions
D. Service improvements
E. Style changes
Which of the following would result in a broadening of provider gap 1?
A. The service intermediary for a cruise line wants to only sell those cruises on which it
would receive the highest commissions
B. The ski resort has an over-reliance on price to smooth demand for its resort facilities
C. The marketing research done by the motel chain includes insufficient research about
what its target market wants
D. The ads for the language program over-promise how quickly the average person will
be able to learn a foreign language
E. All of the above would result in a broadening of provider gap 1
The ad for the rental company showed top-of-the-line furniture and appliances with
low monthly rental rates. Maureen expected to see similar furniture and appliances
when she visited the company’s nearby store. But when Maureen entered the store to
rent living room furniture and a television, she saw poorly made furniture and appliance
seconds. This is an example of which service communication problem?
What is the second step in the process for setting customer-defined standards?
What is the fundamental issue underlying supply and demand management in
services?
What does the text state is another appropriate name for a service encounter?
Which elements of the services marketing mix are influenced by the techniques used to
recruit and train new employees as telemarketers?
What area of the balanced performance scorecard is a company studying when it
examines transaction time, throughput time, reduction in waste and process quality?
Name an elaborate self-service servicescape.
Describe the five principles central to service design thinking?
A resort that has identified young upper-middle class parents as a market segment
charges $1,750 for a four-day, three-night package for a mother, father and two
children. The package includes golf fees and tennis court fees for the parents and a
five-hour a day adult-supervised camp for the children. The ordinary four-day,
three-night package for four costs $1,200. A single day at the camp for any child
between the ages of 3 and 11 is $60. What kind of market segmentation pricing strategy
is the resort using?
Rosa Wilkins gives 30-minute therapeutic massages at a local gym. All of her Monday
and Friday appointments are taken and she has a waiting list for those who would like
to move their regular massage to the first or the last day in the week. At the end of those
days Wilkins is exhausted. Demand on Tuesdays and Thursdays is at an acceptable
level, but no one seems to want a massage on Wednesday. Wilkins wishes she could
convince some of her Monday and Friday customers to come on Wednesday. Can you
give her some ideas to help shift the demand for her service?
Bianca teaches computer classes on campus as a part of a university continuing
education program. One of her most popular classes is called, “Social Media Sanity”. In
a typical week she teaches three sections of this class and each class meets one day a
week for six weeks. Bianca currently teaches 20 students per class. She spends a lot of
time preparing her class lectures and makes sure that the class meets the needs of the
students in it. Demand for her classes has tripled and she has to turn students away each
term. Discuss how Bianca can use ‘stretch” strategies to adjust the class capacity.
Lorenzo attended his first antique auction last night. When he asked about bidding, he
was told to get a bidder’s number and that no bid would be accepted unless it was made
by raising the card with the number on it. What kind of on-site orientation was Lorenzo
being given?
As defined by the service marketing triangle, what are the two types of internal
communications?
What is provider gap 3 of the gaps model of service quality?
What is considered to be a more credible as a source of information than any other?
List the three factors that influence adequate service.
What is the first step in developing physical evidence strategy?
What kind of a guarantee is a dentist giving that guarantees patients will wait no more
than 15 minutes past their appointment or they will be given $5?