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CHAPTER 2:
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF THE BOOK:
THE GAPS MODEL OF SERVICE QUALITY
CHAPTER TOPICS
The Customer Gap
The Provider Gaps
Putting It All Together: Closing the Gaps
Technology Spotlight: Technology’s Critical Impact on the Gaps Model of Service Quality
Global Feature: An International Retailer Puts Customers in the Wish Mode to Begin Closing the
Gaps
Strategy Insight: Using the Gaps Model to Assess an Organization’s Service Strategy
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
1. Introduce a framework, called the gaps model of service quality, which is used to organize this
textbook.
2. Demonstrate that the gaps model is a useful framework for understanding service quality in an
organization.
3. Demonstrate that the most critical service quality gap to close is the customer gap, the difference
between customer expectations and perceptions.
4. Show that four gaps that occur in companies, which we call provider gaps, are responsible for the
customer gap.
5. Identify the factors responsible for each of the four provider gaps.
LECTURE TIPS & AIDS
1. One way to get the class more actively involved in the discussion of the Gaps model is to get them to
discuss the various pieces of the model. There are two ways to split the class for such a discussion,
depending on the size of the class. For relatively small classes, one way is to divide the class into five
groups and have them discuss each of the five gaps presented in the chapter. For larger classes, the
class could be split into 13 groups to cover each of the 13 chapters (Chapters 3 through 15) that are
further breakdowns of the Gaps model. An outline of the chapters and topics is provided below.
The Customer Gap
Chapter 3 – Customer Expectations of Service
Chapter 4 – Customer Perceptions of Service
Gap 1 – Not Knowing What Customers Expect (The Knowledge Gap)
Chapter 5 – Listening to Customers through Research
Chapter 6 – Building Customer Relationships
Chapter 7 – Service Recovery
Gap 2 – Not Having the Right Service Quality Designs and Standards (The Service Design
and Standards Gap)
Chapter 8 – Service Innovation and Design
Chapter 9– Customer-Defined Service Standards
Chapter 10 – Physical Evidence and the Servicescape
Gap 3 – Not Delivering to Service Standards (The Service Performance Gap)
Chapter 11 – Employees’ Roles in Service Delivery
Chapter 12 – Customers’ Roles in Service Delivery
Chapter 13 – Managing Demand and Capacity
Gap 4 – Not Matching Performance to Promises (The Communication Gap)
Chapter 14 – Integrated Service marketing Communications
Chapter 15 – Pricing of Services
Each group would be given three to eight minutes (depending on the number of groups) and asked to
discuss the following:
Provide a review/summary of the topic assigned.
Provide examples (ideally new ones) to illustrate the concepts/issues from the assigned topic.
Discuss how the assigned topic relates to the Gaps model.
Suggest ways (key strategies) that could be used to close a gap in the model.
QUESTIONS TO USE WITH CHAPTER OPENING VIGNETTE
Chapter 2: Service Quality at Trader Joe’s: The Specialty Store with Spirit
1. What are the service expectations of a new customer to Trader Joe’s? Of a returning (loyal) customer?
Are there any differences in how these different customers might perceive the service quality at
Trader Joe’s? If so, how might Trader Joe’s and its employees deal with this?
2. Discuss some of the specific ways in which Trader Joe’s works to close:
a. Provider Gap 1, The Listening Gap
b. Provider Gap 2, The Service Design and Standards Gap
c. Provider Gap 3, The Service Performance
d. Provider Gap 4, The Communication Gap
ACTIVE LEARNING ACTIVITIES
1. Choose an organization to interview and use the integrated gaps model of service quality as a
framework. Ask the manager whether the organization suffers from any of the factors listed in the
figures in this chapter. Which factor in each Figure 2.2 through 2.5 does the manager consider the
most troublesome? What does the company do to try to address these problems?
2. Use the Internet to locate the Website of Walt Disney, Marriott, Ritz Carlton, or any other well-known
high quality service organization. Which of the provider gaps does it appear the company has closed?
How can you tell?
3. Interview a nonprofit or public sector organization in your area (it could be some part of your school
if it is a state school). Find out if the integrated gaps model of service quality framework makes sense
in the context of their organizations.
POTENTIAL VIDEO CLIPS TO USE IN ILLUSTRATING CHAPTER 2 CONCEPTS
“Clerks” – In a short clip from this movie, a female customer enters a small video store and
asks clerk what he has heard about two movies she has picked up in the store. The clerk, who is
sitting on the counter reading a newspaper, does not pay any attention to customer, and then is fairly
rude to her. A “customer gap” is clearly evident in this scene.
“Meet the Parents” – Throughout this movie there are several clips where the main character
(Ben Stiller) has a series of interactions with an airline, including not allowing him to take his bag on
the plane, losing his bag, being placed on hold several times when he called in to check on the status
of his bag, waiting several days to deliver his bag, delivering the wrong bag, charging an extreme
amount when he wished to change his return date, making him wait for his row to be called at the gate
to board the plane (even though no one else was boarding), having a discussion on the plane about
stowing his bag, and finally getting thrown off the plane (literally). This clip could be used to discuss
several aspects of the Gaps model, and thus could also be used to illustrate points made in several
chapters.
POSSIBLE WEB SITES FOR CHAPTER 2
Company Location
IKEA www.ikea.com
Island Hotel (Cedar Key, FL) www.islandhotel-cedarkey.com
Marriott International www.marriotthotels.com
The Oaks at Ojai http://www.oaksspa.com
Ritz-Carlton www.ritzcarlton.com
United Parcel Service www.ups.com
The Walt Disney Company www.disney.com
APPROPRIATE CASES FOR CHAPTER 2
From previous Zeithaml, Bitner, and Gremler Services Marketing texts:
Zappos.com 2009: Clothing, Customer Service, and Company Culture [included in the sixth
edition of this text: Zeithaml, Bitner, and Gremler (2013) Services Marketing: Integrating
Customer Focus Across the Firm, New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies]
Michelin Fleet Solutions: From Selling Tires to Selling Kilometers [included in the sixth
edition of this text: Zeithaml, Bitner, and Gremler (2013) Services Marketing: Integrating
Customer Focus Across the Firm, New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies]
People, Service, and Profit at Jyske Bank [included in the sixth edition of this text: Zeithaml,
Bitner, and Gremler (2013) Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm,
New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies]
Using Services Marketing to Develop and Deliver Integrated Solutions at Caterpillar in Latin
America [included in the sixth edition of this text: Zeithaml, Bitner, and Gremler (2013) Services
Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm, New York, NY: McGraw-Hill
Companies]
easyCar.com [included in the fourth edition of this text: Zeithaml, Bitner, and Gremler (2006)
Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm, New York, NY: McGraw-Hill
Companies]
Virgin Atlantic Airways [included in the third edition of this text: Zeithaml and Bitner (2003)
Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm, New York, NY: McGraw-Hill
Companies]
EuroDisney: The First 100 Days [included in the second edition of this text: Zeithaml and Bitner
(2000) Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm, New York, NY:
McGraw-Hill Companies]
