Companies can actually measure increases and decreases in revenue from the retention
and defection of customers.
Overuse or under use of service can directly contribute to provider gap 3 ” failure to
deliver what was designed and specified.
An inn near a ski resort would be using a synchro-pricing strategy if it had lower rates
in the summer months than in its busy season.
In business-to-business situations in which large accounts are involved, senior members
of the account team commonly conduct service expectation meetings and reviews.
Virtually all companies possess standards and measures that are company-defined.
Drugstores, airports, supermarkets and service stations are all using SSTs.
One of the benefits of conducting marketing research on the Internet is the composition
of the survey samples.
Requirements research is very basic and essential because it determines the type of
questions that will be asked on surveys and ultimately the improvements that will be
attempted by the firm.
The service recovery paradox states that all recovery service efforts deepen the
long-term relationship between the customer and the service provider.
A services research program can be defined as the composite of separate research
studies and types needed to address research objectives and execute an overall
measurement strategy.
Balanced scorecards sound good in theory, but they are nearly impossible to
implement; therefore, their use is nominal.
In order to increase efficiency, business-to-business service providers have eliminated
customer participation in service delivery.
Perceptions of equitable treatment by the service provider will affect customers’
perceptions of service.
The spatial layout and functionality are most important for interpersonal services
environments.
Service providers should never encourage word-of-mouth communication.
Attracting a new customer is five times as costly as retaining an existing one.
A trucking company that has a toll free number to call if the driver of the truck does not
follow the rules of the road is using a service recovery tool.
Because Bella Harasian, certified medical doctor, does not like to deal with people, she
can be described as having service competencies but not service inclinations.
Companies that ask customers about their service expectations raise the customers’
levels of expectations.
When a hospital with formerly monochromatic walls added murals honoring fire
fighters and police officers, it would be an example of a service improvement.
It is very difficult to surprise or delight customers by consistently delivering reliable
service.
The cracked and buckled pavement of the parking lot outside the superstore illustrates
how physical evidence can assume the role of package.
The musty smell of old papers at a used bookstore is an example of an ambient
condition.
Accountants, architects, interior decorators, marriage counselors and lawyers typically
use a _____ pricing strategy.
A. Going-rate
B. Perceived value
C. Fee for service
D. Price signaling
E. Cost-plus
Olivia and Ian were due to be wed last March when a tornado blew down the church
where the wedding was to be held. Even though the wedding was postponed and they
risked losing over one thousand dollars in deposits, they were not worried because they
had purchased wedding insurance. The salesperson had guaranteed they would have a
perfect wedding no matter what happened. When Ian called the insurance agent, he
learned that the policy did not provide coverage if the wedding was postponed due to an
act of nature such as a tornado. In this case, provider _____ of the gaps model of
service quality was apparent as their “perfect wedding” did not happen as promised.
A. Gap 1
B. Gap 2
C. Gap 3
D. Gap 4
Delta Airlines was dissatisfied with customer reactions to its attempt to offer
passengers their choice of cold deli sandwiches instead of the more traditional airplane
meal. Its intent was to provide passengers with better food. Passengers saw the move as
another way Delta was trying to skimp on service and save money. When trying to
deliver service quality, Delta forgot to:
A. Consider customer requirements
B. Create a service blueprint
C. Offer relevant employee training
D. Consider the services marketing triangle
E. Estimate production/quality tradeoffs
The owner of a small but growing business, Terry Franklin was becoming overwhelmed
with requests from his outside customer service representatives for decisions about
solutions to customer problems. Noting the mountain of his own work that was piling
up, he instituted a policy change and informed the representatives. “Keep the customers
happy,” he said. “f it’s a problem that takes less than $100.00 to fix, there’s no need to
call me. Use your judgment and go ahead and fix it.” Terry Franklin is using
empowerment to narrow provider __________ of the gaps model of service quality.
A. Gap 1
B. Gap 2
C. Gap 3
D. Gap 4
Which of the following are determinants of service quality in a face-to-face service
encounter?
A. Verbal behavior of employees
B. Decor of physical environment
C. Verbal behavior of customers
D. Appearance of employees
E. All of the above
_____ involves identifying the benefits and the attributes that customers expect in a
service.
A. Complaint solicitation
B. Requirements research
C. A relationship survey
D. A key client study
E. A customer panel
Allstate changed its insurance billing procedure after research revealed customers
wanted flexible payment plans and billing information presented in an easy-to-read
format. What type of research would Allstate most likely have used to discover how
customers perceived Allstate’s billing procedure?
A. Trailer calls
B. Mall intercept interviews
C. Role-playing experiments
D. Critical incident technique
E. Thematic apperception tests
Service companies can close provider gap 2 by doing all of the following EXCEPT:
A. Using a systematic new-service development process
B. Developing customer-defined service standards
C. Designing and using an appropriate servicescape
D. Improving communication between the marketing and operations departments
E. Creating formal process for setting service quality standards
The health industry in the U.S. is an $840 trillion business. Adam.com is trying to cash
in on some of that money by providing an Internet service that will answer
health-related questions for customers. After a year in operation, Adam.com did an
informal survey of its customers. It used open-ended questions to determine what
people like and dislike about its service. Adam.com was conducting _____ research.
A. Qualitative
B. Functional
C. Inferential
D. Secondary
E. Quantitative
Addison White is an event planner who specializes in family reunions. He creates
situations in which family members can visit, share memories and get to know each
other more intimately. He may rent the family a large house in the mountains or
schedule them for a picnic in a national forest. White relies on ______ behavior to make
the reunions a success.
A. Social interaction
B. Cognitive
C. Avoidance
D. Ergonomic
E. Holistic
Two decades ago, travelers needing 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. Holiday Inn recognized the signs
were sending the wrong message during which stage of the physical evidence strategy?
A. Map the physical evidence of the service
B. Assess and identify physical evidence opportunities
C. Clarify roles of the servicescape
D. Recognize the strategic impact of physical evidence
E. Update and modernize the physical evidence
Whether a household or a firm chooses to produce a particular service for itself or
contract externally for the service depends upon all of the following EXCEPT:
A. Psychic rewards
B. Trust
C. Empathy
D. Resource capacity
E. Control
Participants in the Coffee Café’s loyalty program get a free large cup of coffee after
every 10th cup of coffee purchased. After purchasing 100 cups of coffee from the
Coffee Café, loyalty program participants receive a $10 gift certificate good for food
and beverage items or merchandise. Coffee Café’s uses _____ to encourage its
customers to remain loyal
A. Financial bonds
B. Social bonds
C. Customization bonds
D. Structural bonds
E. Security bonds
If the purpose of the service blueprint is to understand the customer’s view of the
process, the blueprint should be analyzed:
A. As a whole
B. Vertically, from the top to the bottom
C. From left to right
D. Vertically, from the bottom to the top
E. From right to left
All of the following are among the criteria for an effective service research program
EXCEPT:
A. Includes perceptions and expectations
B. Includes measures of loyalty or behavioral intentions
C. Measures priorities or importance
D. Considers only qualitative research
E. Occurs with appropriate frequency
Ruth recently visited a day care center that is convenient to her work. Ruth is thinking
of letting the day care workers care for her infant son while she is at work. The first
thing Ruth noticed when she walked in the door of the facility was the smell of urine.
There was a dead plant in the window. Toys were strewn about the floor and Ruth
almost tripped over a tricycle. In this example, Ruth experienced negative aspects of the
_____ element of the day care center’s services marketing mix.
A. Product
B. Production
C. Process
D. Place
E. Physical evidence
Which of the following is an example of the people element of an airline company’s
services marketing mix?
A. Pilots
B. Baggage handlers
C. Customers
D. Flight attendants
E. All of the above
Shelton Elementary School only needs its gymnasium from Monday through Friday.
On the weekends it rents the facilities to an Upward Bound basketball program
sponsored by a local church. By renting its facilities, the elementary school is:
A. Adjusting capacity to match demand
B. Creating optimal supply
C. Optimizing its demand pattern
D. Outsourcing
E. Smoothing peaks and valleys of demand
Which of the following factors in managing demand and capacity does NOT lead to
provider gap 3, failure to deliver what was designed and specified?
A. Lack of communication between contact personnel and company management
B. Under use of service capacity
C. Failure to smooth the peaks and valleys of demand
D. Overuse of service capacity
E. The attraction of an inappropriate customer mix in an effort to build demand
A chiropractor published a newspaper insert ad that contains almost 1,000 words and
described in detail how he has helped patients who have been diagnosed with
rheumatoid arthritis and other debilitating diseases to the point where they no longer
have to rely on medication and no longer need to have any assistance when walking.
The chiropractor is __________ to address service intangibility.
A. Presenting vivid information
B. Using narrative
C. Using viral marketing
D. Using brand icons
E. Focusing on the tangibles
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 many of its regular
customers are now buying flowers at the newly opened Kroger supermarket. It would
be appropriate for the owner to institute _____ marketing.
A. Guerrilla
B. Flanking-movement
C. Vertical integration
D. Defensive
E. Offensive
Every Thursday afternoon for almost twenty years, Jasmine and Tanya have gotten a
manicure at the same location. The manicure salon has changed ownership three times
and has had two different names during that same period, but Jasmine and Tanya still
find it a convenient place to meet and share news about friends and relatives. Jasmine
and Tanya’s relationship with the manicure salon exemplifies how a service provider
uses _____ to support its customer retention strategy.
A. Economic bonds
B. Social bonds
C. Customization bonds
D. Structural bonds
E. Security bonds
One of the Four Seasons Hotel’s customer-defined standards is ‘staff will speak to
guests in an attentive, natural, and courteous manner. This is an example of a(n)
________ customer-defined standard.
A. Responsive
B. Intangible
C. Informal
D. Measurable
E. Soft
With which service recovery strategy is the reliability dimension of service quality
most closely associated?
A. Make the service fail safe
B. Learn from lost customers
C. Treat customers fairly
D. Encourage and track complaints
E. Respond quickly
When Selena purchased a new refrigerator from Sears, she was told by the salesperson
that the refrigerator would be delivered to her apartment Thursday between the hours of
1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. However, the refrigerator was not delivered until 4:00 p.m. on
Friday. The late delivery caused Selena to be dissatisfied with Sears’s delivery service.
Selena’s dissatisfaction with Sears’ delivery service resulted from:
A. Inadequate management of service promises
B. Over-promising and over-delivering
C. Inadequate customer education
D. Excessive horizontal communication
E. Differences in policies and procedures across distribution units
When customers complained that employees at Freddy’s Fast Stop Stores were
unfriendly, Freddy’s instituted its Smiling Service program, which required all
employees to greet and make eye contact with every customer and always smile and
offer help whenever the customer appeared to need any. Mystery shoppers were used
extensively to make sure the employees were adhering to the Smiling Service program.
In terms of the process for developing service standards, the mystery shoppers were an
example of:
A. Benchmarking
B. Trailer surveys
C. Relationship research
D. Feedback mechanisms
E. Experiential research
Banjo Bob repairs guitars, banjos, and other stringed instruments for a living. Banjo
Bob promises his customers “100 percent satisfaction in every repair.” Which service
recovery strategy is Banjo Bob?
A. Make the service fail safe
B. Learn from lost customers
C. Treat customers reactively
D. Implement the service paradox
E. Use procedural fairness
The most critical stage in the service marketing research process is when the marketing
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
The employees at Franklin Credit Union correspond to the _____ in the
stimulus-organism-response model.
A. Organic motivator
B. Stimulus
C. Organism
D. Referent
E. Role players
Customers often cannot accurately evaluate the technical qualities of legal work like
that provided when a homeowner refinances his or her property. Which of the following
cues would the homeowner be likely to use to evaluate the legal services?
A. Courtesy of the lawyer and staff
B. Diplomas on wall
C. How the lawyer dresses
D. The lawyer’s use of humor and empathy
E. All of the above
In many instances, customers develop loyalty to an organization in part because of
costs involved in changing to and purchasing from a different firm. These costs are
called:
A. Financial inertia
B. Opportunity costs
C. Switching costs
D. Fixed costs
E. Retained costs
Before going out to dinner with her husband at Formia Ristorante, a contemporary
Italian restaurant in New Jersey, Jennifer read a review of Formia in the local
newspaper. The review indicated Formia is an unpretentious and unassuming, but
exceptionally fine, contemporary Italian restaurant. Five servers who are under the
owner’s watchful eye attentively care for the fourteen roomy tables in the single large
dining room. What the servers may lack in experience is more than compensated for by
tempered enthusiasm and sincere desire to ensure guests are comfortable. The review of
Formia that Jennifer read is a(n):
A. Explicit service promise
B. Implicit service promise
C. Word-of-mouth communication
D. Past experience influence
E. Marketing testimonial
Many people expect checkered tablecloths and bottles of Chianti wine at Italian
restaurants and fortune cookies at Chinese restaurants. These are both examples of
which composite dimension?
A. Ambient conditions
B. Functional forms
C. Spatial shapes
D. Signs, symbols and artifacts
E. Holistic icons
A Marriott hotel is able to charge four times as much as an Econo-Lodge for a room
because of the amenities the Marriott offers. These amenities include a swimming pool,
room service, exercise equipment, in-room iron, hair dryer and coffee maker and more.
The Econo-Lodge provides guests with a clean room to sleep in and little else.
Marriott’s ability to charge a premium price is the result of its _____ strategy.
A. Defensive
B. Price skimming
C. Neutral
D. Guerrilla
E. Flanking
Discuss the following statement: “The terms satisfaction and quality can be used
interchangeably”.
What area of the balanced performance scorecard is a company studying when it
examines overall customer service perceptions?
A catalog retailer that sells boxed fruit would like its customers to think of the operation
as a gift provider. Its operators are trained to help customers pick out just the right
customized gift for family members and friends. Which two dimensions of service
quality are most evident in this example?
What kind of consumer presence is required during physical therapy after hip
replacement surgery?
Research has indicated service providers need to focus on the “back end” of the service
encounter sequence. What does this mean for an airline?
A hotel porter overhears a guest crying because she left a pair of newly purchased
shoes at the counter of a retail store some blocks away. The porter volunteers to pick up
and deliver the guest’s new shoes in time for her to wear them to the banquet at 7 p.m.
The porter is trying to make the service encounter memorable. This type of action is in
response to what service theme?
What is a service’s physical evidence?
Describe the three strategies associated with the complementary pricing of a service?
What does it mean when a company says its standards are predictive rather than
reactive?
Will and Jason NaJami are going to open a swimming pool service this summer. They
will put in pools, repair damaged ones and provide a pool-cleaning service. Why should
they consider designing and implementing an effective service recovery strategy?
Discuss the two major ways that technology has influenced the customer gap.
List and define the four strategies of tangibilization. Give one example of each.
Describe the three new elements of the service marketing mix.
Will and Jason NaJami are going to open a swimming pool service this summer. They
will put in pools, repair damaged ones and provide a pool-cleaning service. They have
decided to use a service guarantee as their primary service recovery tool. How can they
make sure that their service guarantee is effective?
Callie’s Canine Cottage has 45 kennels for boarding dogs. During June, July, August,
November and December, each of the kennels is booked. During these months, Callie’s
always charges its regular price of $15 per day per kennel. When business is slow,
Callie’s sometimes charges a discounted rate of $13 per day per kennel for the first 25
kennels booked and $15 for the rest. On September 15th, Callie’s filled 25 kennels at
$13 per day and 10 kennels at $15 per day. Calculate Callie’s yield for September 15th.
Which service dimension is most important if the service provider has made the service
failsafe as its primary service recovery strategy?