_____ cost refers to the effort invested in identifying and selecting a service from your
consideration set.
A. Convenience
B. Monetary
C. Psychological
D. Time
E. Search
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
Many frequent flyers have missed their flights due to long, slow security checks before
being allowed to enter the airline’s terminal. This policy designed to ensure safe flights
has resulted in problems associated with perceived:
A. Functional equity
B. Procedural fairness
C. Interactional fairness
D. Service equity
E. Outcome fairness
At Hawkes and Wellington, an upscale men’s clothing store, classical music plays softly
in the background, while the store’s fragrance-a blend of oak, leather and fine tobacco
wafts from carefully placed heat-sensitive pellets. The music and fragrance at Hawkes
and Wellington correspond to the _____ in the stimulus-organism-response model.
A. Stimulus
B. Service motivator
C. Response
D. Referent
E. Organism
An innovative research trend involves examining ________, which are clusters of
integrated touchpoints that consumers experience before, during, and after using a
service.
A. Customer journeys
B. Lost customer maps
C. Customer panels
D. Process checkpoint evaluations
E. Hierarchical needs matrices
Dentists have to earn 40 continuing education (C.E.) hours every two years to stay
licensed. Dental Learning Systems Co. (DLSC) prepared and presented dental seminars
around the United States to help provide dentists with the access to continuing
education courses. During the 1990s, DLSC introduced a journal that could be used like
a correspondence course for earning C. E. hours. A dentist gets a list of upcoming
articles/lessons, registers for one that meets his or her need, studies the information
provided in the journal and fills out paperwork for DLSC, which then sends notification
of completion and the C.E. hour(s) earned to the accrediting bureau. The Dental
Learning Systems journal is a:
A. Major innovation
B. New service for the currently served market
C. Service line extension
D. Service improvement
E. Style change
Historically, the Japanese have had poor dental care. As part of their beauty regimen,
the Japanese do have a habit of lightening and whitening their skin. Teethart has
developed “tooth manicure” salons, which allow Japanese to match their teeth
coloration to their skin. A personalized whitening mouthpiece is developed for each
patient. The mouthpiece is placed around the teeth and a cleaning solution is added. The
patient listens to soothing music and sits in a comfortable chair while his or her teeth
are whitened. Monthly treatments in this spa-like environment reflect the _____
element of Teethart’s service mix.
A. Product
B. Production
C. Process
D. Place
E. Promotion
Ambient conditions will have the least effect on customer behavior in which of the
following servicescapes?
A. A bakery shop
B. An air-conditioned hotel on a hot July day
C. An open five-story parking garage
D. Bookstore with an in-store coffee cart
E. A movie theater
The Cirque du Soleil fused elements of theater with traditional circus skills to create a
whole new form of entertainment. Cirque du is an example of a:
A. Major innovation
B. New service for the currently served market
C. Service line extension
D. Service improvement
E. Style change
Which of the following products has the highest degree of nonsearchability?
A. Motor oil
B. Fresh doughnuts
C. A wedding veil
D. Fast food
E. Massage therapy
_____ occurs in markets with a high concentration of sellers. Any price offered by one
company will be matched by its competitors in order to avoid giving the low-price
seller a distinct advantage.
A. Cost-plus pricing
B. Price signaling
C. Value pricing
D. Price lining
E. Price standardization
US Franchise System, Inc. (USFS) franchises its brand names such as Microtel Inns &
Suites, Hawthorn Suites and Best Inns to independent hotel owners and operators.
Every three months, employees from a different franchise overseen by USFS conduct
customer satisfaction telephone surveys. Among the employees who regularly
participate in the survey process are senior managers, who are trained and certified to
conduct survey interviews. Which type of interaction activity is USFS using to improve
upward communication?
A. Employee suggestions
B. Employee internal satisfaction surveys
C. Research on intermediate customers
D. Executive listening approaches
E. Executive visits to customers
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
All aspects of the organization’s physical facility are collectively referred to as the:
A. Servicespan
B. Service encounter arena
C. Servicescape
D. Service encounter place
E. Service ground
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
Rhonda does not want to use the self-checkout lane at the supermarket because it “just
seems too complicated.” What factor primarily has determined her reluctance to try the
new self-service technology?
A. Customer readiness
B. Capability management
C. Emotional resources
D. The empowerment of technology
E. Personal autonomy
Sunoco in Canada realizes the importance of physical evidence to determining the value
of the service being provided. As a result, it has refurbished its restrooms and
committed its station operators to maintaining hygienic restrooms. A clean-smelling
restroom is an example of a positive:
A. Artifact
B. Functional form
C. Ambient condition
D. Spatial format
E. Service symbol
Hertz Car Rental has a customer loyalty program called Gold Plus Rewards that
rewards members with one point per dollar spent on qualifying rentals. Free weekend
rentals can be earned for as few as 500 points. By having a customer loyalty program,
Hertz is using __________ marketing.
A. Transactional
B. Developmental
C. Proactive
D. Relationship
E. Acquisition
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. A guest using Hyatt
Hotel’s automated check-in machine is playing the role of a:
A. Customer mix manager
B. Competitor
C. Productive resource
D. Contributor to quality and satisfaction
E. Recruiter
Which of the following is NOT an example of an effective pricing strategy to use when
the customer defines value as “all that I get for all that I give?”
A. Price framing
B. Price skimming
C. Complementary pricing
D. Results-based pricing
E. Price bundling
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
Compatibility management is LEAST important in which of the following services?
A. Airplane flights
B. Movie theater
C. College basketball game
D. Theme park
E. Long distance telephone service
Elysian Events, a wedding planning company, noted how many couples had a wedding
catastrophe of some kind. As a result, it abandoned wedding planning and began
offering wedding insurance to protect couples from financial losses due to weather
emergencies, stolen wedding rings, damaged wedding dresses, etc. Elysian Events is
using a _____ growth strategy.
A. Share building
B. Market development
C. Service development
D. Diversification
E. Market integration
The Oaks at Ojai is an award-winning destination spa in California. Two thirds of The
Oaks’ guests are repeat visitors who return to the spa for a fun and relaxing service
experience unsurpassed by other spas. Just before heading home, each guest is asked to
complete a questionnaire and provide feedback about his or her experience. Questions
are specific and management meets weekly to review and discuss the improvements
suggested by guests. Each guest who completed a questionnaire receives a letter of
thanks with a promise to follow up on any issues mentioned. By conducting research
and focusing on customer relationships, The Oaks is closing provider _________ of the
gaps model of service quality.
A. Gap 1
B. Gap 2
C. Gap 3
D. Gap 4
During two-day orientation and extensive on-the-job training, each Ritz-Carlton Hotel
employee learns the Ritz-Carlton Gold Standards, which contain a credo, 20 basics of
service, knowledge of one’s work area, answering the telephone with a smile, wearing
immaculate uniforms and the three steps of service. The three steps of service are
comprised of a warm and sincere greeting, anticipation and compliance with guests’
needs and a fond farewell using the guest’s name, if possible. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel is
using which of the following human resource strategies?
A. Hiring the right people
B. Providing needed support systems
C. Eliminating employee churn
D. Developing people to deliver service quality
E. Creating supportive servicescapes
Convention hotels provide meeting rooms and banquet hotels to convention
participants. Sometimes a specific convention may involve 2000 members or only 75
members. To take care of both sizes of groups, convention hotels have movable walls
that allow them to expand or contract a facility as needed by the group. By modifying
its facility, the convention hotels are able to:
A. Adjust capacity to match demand
B. Create optimal supply
C. Optimize its demand pattern
D. Outsource its requirements
E. Smooth peaks and valleys of demand
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
Century Business Systems, Inc. offers all of the non-technical support a business would
need to operate successfully – everything from auditing to management consultant to
financing to marketing advice. Which of the following types of interaction activities is
it likely to use to gain information about its business customers and still be able to have
only a minimal investment of time and money in the research?
A. Employee suggestions
B. Employee internal satisfaction surveys
C. Research on intermediate customers
D. Executive listening approaches
E. Executive visits to customers
In service blueprinting terms, _____ are those steps and activities that contact
employees, like desk clerks and receptionists, perform that are visible to customers.
A. Customer actions
B. Onstage contact employee actions
C. Backstage contact employee actions
D. Support processes
E. Audience actions
Extron Electronics makes coaxial cables for connecting computers to all types of
peripheral devices like printers, modems, and fax machines. For the benefit of its
customers, Extron provides a laminated card with pictures of all the possible cable
connections that a customer could need. With this card, a customer can order from one
to any number of connectors with as many feet of cable as is needed. Orders can be
placed using a toll-free number, a fax number or an e-mail address. Company reps are
also available 24-hours a day in case the customer is not sure which drawing on the
card matches his or her needs. Orders are shipped within 48-hours of receipt. If a
customer is not completely satisfied with his or her order, Extron has a 100 percent
satisfaction guaranteed return policy. Which of the following trends that has influenced
the development of services marketing concepts and strategies as illustrated by Extron’s
focus on customer service?
A. The increasing importance of service industries to the U.S. and world economies
B. The increase of government regulation of service industries
C. The growth in information-based technology
D. Increased competition in professional services
E. Manufacturing firms are placing increased emphasis on providing services