A customer’s refusal to comply with park regulations when riding a roller coaster in an
amusement park will have no effect on his or her level of satisfaction.
In its role as socializer, the servicescape should only be designed to aid in the
socialization of customers.
A customer’s perceived service alternatives are a source of desired expectations.
All services have about the same number of service encounters.
Firms can train employees to develop technical skills by teaching them to engage in
pleasant conversation, ask questions, or use humor as they interact with customers.
Formal market research of lost customers’ motivations is a waste of resources.
Although consumer satisfaction tends to be measured at a particular point in time as if
it were static, satisfaction is a dynamic, moving target.
Salt, bricks and paper clips are three examples of tangible dominant products.
Demand-based pricing does not consider that customers might be sensitive to
nonmonetary prices and may judge quality on the basis of price.
The nature of many service jobs suggests that customer satisfaction will suffer slightly
when employees work as a team.
Pricing is easier when marketing services than when marketing goods.
Service providers need some formal mechanism to ensure ongoing idea generation.
People who do not complain often believe that complaining is a waste of time and
effort.
Once the sale is made, service provider can manage customer education by clarifying
expectations after the sale.
ROSQ (return on service quality) is used to help managers make decisions about
service quality investments.
In most service companies, the marketing and operations functions are seamlessly
integrated to facilitate the development of service quality standards.
Setting a service standard in broad conceptual terms is ineffective because the standard
is difficult to interpret, measure and achieve.
Deficiencies in human resources management policies will broaden provider gap 3.
Just as all service providers must advertise, all need integration across departments to
be able to deliver quality services.
When Brendan changes the oil in his truck, he is acting as a service competitor to the
maintenance department at a car dealership.
The first step in enhancing customer participation in service delivery is to manage the
customer mix, beginning with an assessment of the compatibility of segments.
Relationship marketing essentially represents a paradigm shift within marketing-away
from an acquisitions/transaction focus toward a retention/relationship focus.
It is impossible to manage customer expectations in a business-to-business situation.
Provider gap 2 is the difference between development of customer-driven service
standards and actual service performance by company employees.
Empowerment is simply giving employees the authority to make decisions on the
customer’s behalf.
A pharmacy that installs a computer system that automatically checks to see if a new
prescription is compatible with other medication a customer is currently taking has used
a one-time fix.
In mixed-leader pricing, the price of a catered reception may be less if the bride buys
her wedding cake from the same caterer and pays full price for the cake.
The ability to segment customers narrowly based on profitability implications may
raise questions of privacy for customers.
Provider gap 1 is widened when the service provider promises delivery on Monday
when in fact there is no way the service provider can deliver until the following
Thursday.
Customer perceptual measures are leading indicators of financial performance.
There is no way to improve the education of the customer after the sale is made.
The primary goal of relationship marketing is to build and maintain a base of profitable
and committed customers through attraction, retention and customer enhancement.
Inadequate vertical communications will broaden provider gap 4.
Despite the importance of services and the bottom-line profit potential for services,
consumers perceive that overall the quality of service they are receiving is declining.
Research indicates that yield management approaches are most appropriate when a
service market is targeting one large market segment.
To develop a customer franchiseimmutable customer loyaltycompanies must not only
consistently exceed the adequate service level but also reach the desired service level.
The four-tiered system for measuring customer profitability uses usage segmentation.
For the organization, relationship marketing increases customer purchases, lowers costs
and creates free word-of-mouth advertising.
From the customer’s point of view, internal marketing activities, as defined by the
service marketing triangle, are the most significant.
A primary issue that marketers face in relation to service perishability is ensuring
service quality over time.
Boston Symphony Orchestra realized the classic music market was generally becoming
older and needed to learn how to appeal to younger concert-goers. It hired a research
agency to identify the positive and negative attributes of going to concerts. In other
words, the research agency conducted a:
A. Complaint solicitation
B. Requirements research
C. Relationship surveys
D. Trailer call
E. Process checkpoint evaluation
The benefits of offensive marketing have been documented through the use of:
A. PIMS (profit impact of marketing strategy)
B. Multiple regression analysis
C. Return on investment (ROI) analysis
D. Financial ratios
E. All of the above
Lois Kay is an experienced baker. She has decided to bake and decorate her daughter’s
wedding cake instead of ordering one at the bakery. What service delivery role is Kay
performing?
A. Customer mix manager
B. Competitor
C. Productive resource
D. Contributor to quality and satisfaction
E. Recruiter
Which of the following service businesses is LEAST likely to experience wide
fluctuations in demand over time?
A. Baptist Hospital emergency room
B. Landmark Trust Bank
C. McDonald’s restaurants
D. Houston Police Department
E. Becker and Rosen Accounting Services
Hotels next to universities experience _____ fluctuations in demand over time and have
peak demand that _____.
A. Wide; can usually be met without a major delay
B. Wide; regularly exceeds capacity
C. Narrow; can usually be met without a major delay
D. Narrow; regularly exceeds capacity
E. Wide, can never be met
Which of the following is NOT a benefit provided by a service guarantee?
A. The ability to generate meaningful and relevant feedback from customers
B. The ability to set clear standards for the organization
C. A way to improve employee morale
D. A way to increase a customer’s sense of risk
E. A way to create useful feedback that can be integrated into continuous improvement
efforts
At Harrah’s Casinos and Hotels, a portion of employee compensation is linked to
customer satisfaction scores, so employees have an investment in achieving excellent
service levels. Employees also have a vested interest in the performance of the entire
team in serving customers exceptionally well. Outstanding employees are recognized
with special Chairman’s Awards, and their names are published in Harrah’s annual
report. Harrah’s is using which of the following human resources management
strategies for closing provider gap 3?
A. Hire the right people
B. Provide needed benchmarks
C. Retain the best people
D. Develop servicescapes to deliver service quality
E. Set service standards
Pandora is an Internet-based music discovery service that helps its customers find and
enjoy music that they like. A customer can create up to 100 unique ‘stations” by
identifying favorite songs or artists and then Pandora’s expert systems analyzes what
they like and provides suggestions based on this analysis. Pandora is using
____________ to develop and maintain customer relationships.
A. Customization bonds
B. Social bonds
C. Niche marketing
D. Focused marketing
E. Structural bonds
All of the following are causes for customer’s brand switching EXCEPT:
A. Ethical problems
B. Pricing
C. Inconvenience
D. A service paradox
E. Core service failure
In the first stage in the service marketing research process, the researcher:
A. Implements the research program
B. Reports his or her findings
C. Defines the problem and research objectives
D. Collects and tabulates data
E. Develops a services measurement strategy
Which of the following is NOT a factor that contributes to service communication
challenges?
A. Servicescape omniscience
B. Management of service promises
C. Service intangibility
D. Management of customer expectations
E. Customer education
Last Thursday Dylan and Tori had dinner at Pig Pete’s, a new restaurant they had a
heard about from friends. When they received their order of buffalo wings, Dylan
noticed the wings were cold and dried out instead of being hot and moist. Dylan
complained to their waitress, who apologized, brought out a plate of freshly cooked
buffalo wings and told Dylan and Tori that they would not be charged for the buffalo
wings. The couple’s experience at Pig Pete’s is an example of which type of service
encounter incident?
A. Recovery
B. Adaptability
C. Spontaneity
D. Credibility
E. Coping
The receptionist at Dr. Smith’s office is shut off from the waiting area by a glass
partition. She must open a small door to communicate with patients and at times, it is
difficult to get her attention. In this example, the servicescape could be improved with
respect to its role as a:
A. Package
B. Facilitator
C. Differentiator
D. Boundary spanner
E. Socializer
The patient examination room in a doctor’s office is a:
A. Servicespan
B. Service encounter arena
C. Servicescape
D. Service encounter place
E. Service ground
Once an organization that is developing a physical evidence strategy has recognized
the strategic impact of physical evidence, it should next:
A. Update and modernize this physical evidence
B. Clarify the tactical roles of the servicescape
C. Create a cross-functional work team
D. Blueprint the physical evidence of service
E. Map the service encounter points
_____ are used to report the findings from a service marketing research study that
collected data on the two levels of customer expectations-desired service and adequate
service-along with customer perceptions of company performance.
A. Zone of tolerance charts
B. Salience of dimensions and attributes graphs
C. Gap scores tracking graphs
D. Importance/performance matrices
E. Customer satisfaction indices
In the service marketing triangle, _____ marketing refers to all the activities the firm
must carry out to train, motivate and reward its employees to enable the service promise
to be delivered.
A. Interactive
B. Hierarchical
C. Tactical
D. External
E. Internal
Which of the following is an example of competition-based pricing strategy?
A. Cost-plus pricing
B. Going-rate pricing
C. Fee for service
D. Synchronized pricing
E. Simultaneous pricing
Customer panels:
A. Are conducted on an annual basis
B. Have moderate time costs
C. Have high monetary costs
D. Are statistically valid
E. Cannot be used to monitor changing customer expectations
By participating in the service delivery process, customers cocreate _____ for
themselves.
A. Value
B. Needs
C. Economic order
D. Loyalty
E. Economies of scale
The new owner of the Atlanta Falcons football team had research conducted to learn
why game attendance was low. The research revealed several reasons, including
shortage of toilet paper and straws, high prices for bad seats and inadequate parking.
Once all the problems were fixed, the team owner did not want to have any future
attendance problems. He set up kiosks in the football stadium where attendees could
give the team and the arena a “report card”. This would be an example of:
A. A trailer call
B. A critical incident study
C. Market-oriented ethnography
D. Requirements research
E. A SERVQUAL survey
Home Design is a reasonably priced source for home decorating items like bronze
bookends and silver candlesticks. Until its recent remodeling, customers who happened
into the store were often disappointed because they expected the store to be a discount
store. The front of the store had some masonry damage. Its parking lot needed repaving.
Its store windows were stained and one was cracked. Now customers who enter the
store expect to find unique decorating items because the outside of the store is so
tastefully done. This change in servicescape was a way to narrow provider _____ of the
gaps model of service quality.
A. Gap 1
B. Gap 2
C. Gap 3
D. Gap 4
Service providers like insurance companies that emphasize acquiring new customers
rather than retaining current customers are broadening provider _____ of the gaps
model of service quality.
A. Gap 1
B. Gap 2
C. Gap 3
D. Gap 4
Which of the following is NOT likely to be a source of money when a company uses a
defensive marketing effect?
A. Increased market share
B. Increased volume of purchases
C. Lower costs
D. Increased word-of-mouth communication
E. Increased price premium
In a __________ encounter, both verbal and non-verbal behaviors are determinants of
quality, as are tangible cues such as employee appearance and informational brochures.
A. Face-to-face
B. Public
C. Personal
D. Symbiotic
E. Customer-controlled
Jamie’s desires a haircut that will look just as attractive when she awakens in the
morning as it does when she is going out on a date. With the desired haircut, all she has
to do to fix her hair is to shake her head. A haircut is adequate when it doesn’t have any
stray long hairs and it hides her cowlick. Jamie’s recent haircut was in her _________
because while it didn’t look great all the time, a quick brushing was all that was needed
to fix it.
A. Zone of tolerance
B. Area of acceptability
C. Area of impartiality
D. Zone of endurance
E. Zone of minimal variation
The development of strong customer relationships is strongly influenced by:
A. Legal barriers to loyalty programs
B. The composition of the buying center
C. Barriers the customer faces in leaving a relationship
D. Differences in organizational cultures
E. All of the above
April wants to get her ears pierced. In the community in which she lives, she can get
them pierced at a jewelry store in a strip mall. She can get them pierced at the local
tattoo parlor or have them pierced by a friend’s mother who happens to be a nurse.
Avril’s mother has threatened her with dire punishment if she has them pierced and then
gets an infection because the person who pierces them was inept or unsanitary. Avril
chose the nurse because of a(n) _____, which makes her believe it is the method her
mother will most approve of.
A. Explicit service promise
B. Perceived service alternative
C. Word-of-mouth communication
D. Implicit service promise
E. Marketing testimonial
Kelly dined in a family-style restaurant in Mobile, Alabama, shortly after a hurricane
had brushed the coastal area. The server apologized because there were no iced drinks
available. The water supply had been contaminated by the storm’s high tides. The water
system was fine now, but after repairing other minor damages, the workers had not yet
had a chance to clean the ice machine. Kelly, a long-time resident of Mobile,
understood that _____ meant she would need to modify her service expectations.
A. Personal service influence
B. Predictable service influence
C. Uncontrollable situational factor
D. Spontaneous negative
E. Temporary personal need hindrance
Which of the following statements about customer satisfaction is true?
A. Satisfaction cannot be defined quantitatively
B. Customer satisfaction can only be analyzed if it is considered to be a static
occurrence
C. Customer satisfaction can only be determined through anecdotal evidence
D. Satisfaction may be associated with feelings of ambivalence when there is a mix of
positive and negative experiences
E. Customer satisfaction is not influenced by price
The type of complainer that is called a(n) _____ has an above average propensity to
complain. They have a very optimistic sense of the potential positive consequences of
all types of complaining.
A. Irate
B. Passive
C. Aggressive
D. Activist
E. Voicer
A telephone order taker for a catalog retailer is expected to treat each customer with
concern and courtesy and be willing to spend as much time as needed to get the order
taken, while not leaving other customers waiting on hold for too long. The telephone
order taker is likely to experience _____ tradeoff.
A. Demand/supply
B. Client/organization
C. Customization/standardization
D. Inclination/competency
E. Quality/productivity
Waiting time feels longer when customers:
A. Are relaxed while waiting
B. Are reading or drinking a beverage while waiting
C. Are alone while waiting
D. Know how long they will have to wait
E. Understand why they are waiting
At college, Marla is active in drama. This summer she plans to run a two-week drama
camp for the children in her neighborhood. She is planning to charge $75 per child. At
the end of the two-week period, she is hoping to have the group present a play she has
written. She plans on hiring her two brothers to assist her. The campers will learn all
about the theater by building the set, rehearsing the play, selling tickets, making
costumes and doing everything else needed to present the play. Discuss her activities in
terms of the service marketing triangle.
Another name for human factors design is _____, which could lead to the creation of
airline passenger seats that provide adequate back support and leg room.
A. Bioengineering
B. Physiological tooling
C. Physical factors design
D. Holistic design
E. Ergonomics
How are customers and employees responding to the proliferation of technology-based
services?
Before a trade show ever opens, personnel spend hours assembling the booths, making
sure they are all wired for electricity and ensuring the safety of the people who attend
the show. This is an example of which component of the service blueprint?
List the four core dimensions consumers use to evaluate Web sites.
When Allyn and Baylee received the catalog from the antique auction, they assumed
the auction would be of the highest quality antiques because the 32-page catalog was
filled with attractive color photos on slick high-quality paper and cost $2.50 to mail.
Categorize this catalog as a source of Allyn’s and Baylee’s desired and predicted service
expectations.
What are the two types of switching barriers that oftentimes prevent dissatisfied
customers from switching providers?
Environmental psychologists have researched people’s emotional responses to physical
settings. They have concluded that any environment will elicit emotions that can be
captured by two basic dimensions. What are they?
Why would a consumer be more likely to complain about a poorly mended prom dress
than burnt toast?
In many instances, “other customers” are present in the service environment and can
affect the nature of the service outcome or process. List and discuss four ways that
“other customers” can adversely affect the service delivery at a steak restaurant.
Discuss the special role that branding plays in service companies.
What is ROSQ? Why would the manager of a large management consulting firm use
ROSQ to determine which service offerings customers like and which customers don’t
really care for? Explain the assumptions that the manager must accept in order to use
this approach.
What kind of growth strategy is Procter and Gamble pursuing as it ventures into
services such as Tide Dry Cleaners and Mr. Clean Car Washes?
How can customers contribute to quality service delivery?
What are the overall goals of a customer participation strategy?
What are the three of benefits firms enjoy through relationship marketing?
Creating a memorable service experience is important to service providers. Restaurants
and hotels on the beach have to train their employees to deal with students who flood
the regions during spring break and who oftentimes have had too much to drink. Which
common theme of service are they involved with in this example?
Even though it is not a part of the monthly spraying, Crimmins Pest Control employees
are allowed to spray fire ant mounds when the customer requests it without asking
management. What human resources management strategy does this exemplify?