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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Using your own personal examples, discuss the general importance of customers in the successful
creation and delivery of service experiences.
This question focuses on understanding the importance of both the customer him/herself as well as
other customers in the successful delivery of service. This topic is novel and can result in a lively and
interesting discussion. The discussion can focus first on the role and importance of the customer
The discussion can then turn to the role of other customers in the successful delivery of service.
Classroom settings offer an obvious and relevant example here, and it should be apparent to students
2. Why might customer actions and attitudes cause the service performance gap to occur? Use your
own examples to illustrate your understanding.
This question allows students to see the relevance of customer actions and attitudes within the context
of the Service Quality Gaps model. Even when the service is designed to meet customer needs and
3. Using Table 12.1, think of specific services you have experienced that fall within each of the three
levels of customer participation: low, moderate, high. Describe specifically what you did as a
customer in each case. How did your involvement vary across the three types of service situations?
This question focuses students on understanding the variety of levels of involvement of customers in
the service delivery process. By using their own examples, the levels of participation become more
4. Describe a time when your satisfaction in a particular situation was increased because of something
another customer did. Could (or does) the organization do anything to ensure that this experience
happens routinely? What does it do? Should it try to make this a routine occurrence?
Examples of types of situations where customers are most likely to influence each other positively are
discussed in the chapter. Students will provide their own examples, and this discussion can lead
right setting (e.g., schools and universities, health clubs, certain types of recreation and resort settings,
5. Describe a time when your satisfaction in a particular situation was decreased because of something
another customer did. Could the organization have done anything to manage this situation more
effectively? What?
The discussion of this question can be combined with Question 4. Strategies for effectively handling
[Note: Questions 6, 7, and 8 focus students on the three primary roles of customers in service
delivery. By using their own concrete examples in each case, the abstract ideas take on more
meaning. The global feature in this chapter, describing IKEA of Sweden, can serve as an excellent
focal point for discussing these questions. Any or all of the questions can lead effectively into a
lecture/discussion on strategies for enhancing customer participation.]
6. Discuss the customer’s role as a productive resource for the firm. Describe a time when you played
this role. What did you do and how did you feel? Did the firm help you to perform your role
effectively? How?
In serving as productive resources, customers can be viewed as “partial employees” of the
organization (as discussed in the text). They contribute time, effort, information, and other resources
7. Discuss the customer’s role as a contributor to service quality and satisfaction. Describe a time
when you played this role. What did you do and how did you feel? Did the firm help you to perform
your role effectively? How?
Through their effective participation, customers can contribute to service quality and to their own
satisfaction. In many services, such participation is essential (e.g., education, health care, weight loss
and counseling). Unless the customers perform their roles in these settings, they cannot receive
8. Discuss the customer’s role as a potential competitor. Describe a time when you chose to provide a
service for yourself rather than pay someone to provide the service for you. Why did you decide to
perform the service yourself? What could have changed your mind, causing you to contract with
someone else to provide the service?
The role of customers as potential competitors is discussed in the chapter. For many services
customers can actually choose to provide the service themselves, thus essentially competing with the
service provider who must convince them it can provide the service better, more conveniently, or at
