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Chapter 13 - Services: The Intangible Product Marketing 6th
Answers to End of Chapter Learning Aids
Marketing Digitally
1 What services does Zipcar (www.zipcar.com) offer? Go to Zipcar’s website and click on “for
everybody.” Evaluate how quick it is to reserve a car in a major city or at a university that has
a dedicated Zipcar car pickup/dropoff location.
1 Go to Zappos’s website, www.zappos.com, and examine its customer service offerings. Next,
go to Reseller Ratings, www.resellerratings.com, and look up Zappos. Based on these
reviews, does Zappos have a service gap? If so, how can the company close it?
Marketing Applications
1 Those companies from which you purchase products and services are not pure sellers of
services, nor are they pure sellers of products. What services does Home Depot provide?
What goods does a health club provide?
The service–product continuum concept discussed in this chapter notes that a company can be service
2 You have been sitting in the waiting room of your mechanic’s shop for more than an hour.
With the knowledge that products are different from services, develop a list of the things the
shop manager could do to improve the overall service delivery. Consider how the shop might
overcome problems associated with the tangibility, separability, heterogeneity, and
perishability of services.
Providing great service is not easy, so companies must make diligent efforts to analyze their service
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Chapter 13 - Services: The Intangible Product Marketing 6th
• Separability: Services are inseparable, meaning that service production cannot be separated from
• Variability: Variability implies that services may vary because they are provided by humans. One way
• Perishability: Services are perishable because they cannot be stored for future use. One way to
3 You have conducted a zone of tolerance analysis for your local pizza place. You find that the
lengths of the reliability and responsiveness boxes are much greater than those of the other
three service quality dimensions. You also find that the restaurant is positioned above the
zone box on reliability but below the box on responsiveness. What should you tell the
manager to do?
Determining customers’ perceptions of a service’s ability to meet or exceed their expectations is difficult,
but the zone of tolerance offers an effective method. For the pizza place, students should examine the
company’s performance relative to customers’ expectations regarding the five service quality factors.
4 Assume you were hired by the local grocery store to help assess their service quality. How
would you go about undertaking this project?
Service quality is the customers’ perceptions of how well a service meets or exceeds their expectations.
It is often difficult for customers to evaluate service quality. There are five service dimensions to
determine overall service quality: reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangibles.
5 What should a restaurant server do who is faced with an irate customer who has received
undercooked food after a long wait? How can he or she avoid a service failure by being
empowered? What should the server do?
Despite a firm’s best efforts, sometimes service providers don’t meet customer expectations. When this
happens, the firm must make amends with the customer and learn from the experience. Service recovery
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Chapter 13 - Services: The Intangible Product Marketing 6th
6 What types of support and incentives could your university provide advisors to help make
them more attentive to students’ needs?
This question reminds students that universities provide services too and that advisors, as service
providers, often face the difficult task of dealing with unhappy students. Therefore, they must empathize
with advisors and consider what possible supports and incentives could make their lives easier.
7 What mobile apps do you use that help facilitate your transactions with a specific retailer or
service provider? Would you rather use the apps or engage in a face-to-face relationship with
a person? How, if at all, would your parents’ answer to these two questions differ?
Apps have become an increasingly important means of service delivery. Most students probably rely more
heavily on apps, whereas their parents might consider face-to-face interactions important for key personal
transactions.
8 A local health club is running a promotional campaign that promises you can lose an inch a
month off your waist if you join the club and follow its program. How might this claim cause a
communications gap? What should the club do to avoid a service failure?
The communications gap refers to the difference between the actual service provided to customers and
the service that the firm’s promotion program promises. This claim might cause a communications gap if
every client expects to lose an inch off their waist in a month. The club can avoid this service failure in
several ways:
Manage customer expectations. The club should offer a disclaimer that not everyone will achieve
The club should consider changing its line to promise only what it can deliver. Rather than promise
The club can manage customer expectations when the service is delivered. If a client is exercising,
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Chapter 13 - Services: The Intangible Product Marketing 6th
9 Suppose the health club didn’t listen to your advice and ran the promotional campaign as is. A
new member has come in to complain that not only did he not lose inches off his waist, he
actually gained weight. How should the health club manager proceed?
In taking the perspective of the health club manager, students must consider two elements of service
recovery: how to placate the disgruntled customer and then how to avoid such problems in the future.
10 You are hired by a career consulting firm that promises to market new graduates to
high-paying employers. The firm provides potential clients with an impressive list of
employers. It charges the clients a fee, and then a separate finder’s fee if the client gets a
position. The firm aggressively markets its services and has a large client base. You learn that
the firm simply takes submitted résumés and posts them to a variety of online job search
engines. The firm never actually contacts any firms on its clients’ behalf. The CEO, himself a
recent college grad, tells you that the firm never promises to actually contact potential
employers, only that it has access to employers and will distribute clients’ résumés. What do
you think of the career consulting firm’s practices?
This scenario forces student to question to what degree the career consulting firm’s practices might
violate their ethical standards. Using the ethical decision-making framework, students should evaluate
these practices to determine an appropriate course of action.
In applying the ethical decision-making framework:
• “Have you thought broadly of any ethical issues associated with the decision in question?” The
• “Have you involved as many possible people who might have a right to offer input into or have actual
• “Does this decision respect the rights and dignity of the stakeholders?” The clients believe that the
• “Does this decision produce the most good and the least harm to the relevant stakeholders?” The
• “Does this decision uphold relevant conventional moral rules?” It likely violates the community’s
• “Can you live with this decision alternative?” If the decision is to have the firm change its practices
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Chapter 13 - Services: The Intangible Product Marketing 6th
Quiz Yourself
1 Which of the following represents the most fundamental difference between a product and a service?
a. heterogeneity
b. tangibility
c. perishability
d. serviceability
e. inseparability
11 The Gaps Model is designed as a diagnostic tool to highlight specific areas where
a. marketers deliver better quality service compared to the physical goods they sell.
b. manufacturers are cutting costs on product quality.
c. marketers are falling short in their service delivery.
d. marketers can take advantage of unsuspecting customers.
e. there is a gap in product quality compared to service quality.
Chapter Case: Transportation Network Services: Uber vs. Lyft vs. Taxis
1 How can Uber and Lyft apply the Service Gaps Model to identify potential service failures?
Using the building blocks of service quality, how can Uber and Lyft ensure high service
quality?
Reliability is the ability to perform the service dependably and accurately. For Uber and Lyft, reliability
would involve having cars that are reliable and safe. In order to do this, Uber and Lyft should have their
Responsiveness is the willingness to help customers and provide prompt service. Uber and Lyft need to
Assurance is the knowledge of and courtesy of the employees. Uber and Lyft drivers need to be friendly
12 If Uber or Lyft fails to pick up a customer in a timely fashion, what should they do to rectify the
service failure?
Both companies should follow these steps:
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Chapter 13 - Services: The Intangible Product Marketing 6th
1. Listening to the Customers and Involving Them in the Service Recovery – allow the customer to
2. Finding a Fair Solution – provide the customer with a way to contact the company and offer
3. Resolving Problems Quickly – each company must have a clear policy for late pickups, adequate
Additional Teaching Tips
In this chapter, students learn the difference between marketing a product vs. marketing a service.
Students find that since a service can’t be “seen” or measured with a quantifiable outcome, that the
marketing strategy must be different in marketing services. The building blocks of service quality are the
foundation of the chapter, which then dovetails into how to improve customer service through the methods
to reduce delivery gaps.
The Broadmoor Hotel example in the text is strongly recommended to allow students to apply the five
service quality areas. A good way to do this is to divide the class into 4 or 5 groups and have them
tackle the case. Then open classroom discussion by dialogue in comparing/contrasting the responses
from each of the groups. Of course, a good understanding of the five service qualities is needed before
assigning the case. One good way to do this after discussion/lecture on the topic is to divide the class into
groups. Have each group develop a role-play skit on (1) good customer service incorporating the five
service quality areas and an alternate skit on (2) bad customer service.
Students have fun with the skit exercise and it often brings out some humorous acting moments.
Instructors will want to assign different topics (popular food chain, hotel, college bookstore, retail chain,
etc.) to each group to get them focused on the skit and not thinking up “what” to complete the skit on.
Each group presents the “good” skit first in which the audience (the rest of the class) takes notes and
discussion takes place on how the five service qualities were present. The group then performs their “bad
service skit” in which discussion follows on how to incorporate good service techniques and improve the
service gaps.
On-line teaching tip: Instructors can have students complete this same exercise by having students
record individual skits/scenarios and uploading them to the online platform. Other learners in the online
environment can then post their analysis on the five service qualities and either their suggestions on
improving the delivery gaps or write a paper outlining the same concepts (meanwhile the other learners
are also preparing their own skits). Instructors may want to pair students on the responses in the online
forum. For fun, instructors may want to have the class use online voting to vote on the best
“performance.”
Connect Activities
Activity Type Learning Objectives 13-
01 02 03 04 05
Wegmans Services Its Employees and Its Customers Case Analysis X X
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Chapter 13 - Services: The Intangible Product Marketing 6th
Wegmans Services Its Employees and Its Customers
Activity Type: Case Analysis
Learning Objectives: 13-01, 13-03
Difficulty: Hard
Activity Summary: This case describes the unique customer service approach of Wegmans, a
supermarket chain. Students answer questions applying chapter concepts to the case.
Activity
Introduction: Many grocery stores strive to meet customers' needs. However, for Wegmans, that is
not enough. Wegmans works to exceed customers' needs and expectations on a daily basis. In an
Concept Review: Providing good customer service can add value to a firm's products. Even firms
Follow-Up Activity
For another, photo-intensive view of what’s good about Wegmans, show the following in class:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/rachelysanders/why-wegmans-is-the-greatest-supermarket-ever
You can ask students to note the following:
Which items on the list are related to products, and which to services? The list points out that grocery
The Wegmans formula truly creates loyal customers and fantastic word of mouth. Skim the comments
Note the number of items that have to do with the Tangibles component of service quality.
Services Marketing Differs from Product Marketing
Activity Type: Click & Drag
Learning Objectives: 13-01
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Chapter 13 - Services: The Intangible Product Marketing 6th
Difficulty: Medium
Activity Summary: Students are presented with eight statements about services—four related to a
health club and four related to a hotel. They must classify each of them in two ways: (a) by the
difference between products and services the statement represents, and (b) whether the statement
represents a customer experience or a marketing activity.
Activity
Introduction: Two national firms, the Prestige Hotel and Pro Fitness chains, strive to deliver quality
Concept Review: Economies of developed countries like the United States have become
Follow-Up Activity
In small groups, have students discuss how the four characteristics of services apply to university
education. Some ideas:
Intangibility: Although education has tangible elements, the actual learning process is intangible, and
Inseparability: The instructor and the student both have important roles in the delivery of educational
Perishability: If a class ends up having two or three empty spaces in the fall, those spaces can’t be
Variability: Many factors can contribute to variability in the educational experience. Obviously,
Understanding Service Gaps
Activity Type: Click & Drag
Learning Objectives: 13-02
Difficulty: Medium
Activity Summary: The student is presented with four examples of problems caused by service
gaps, and four possible solutions for problems related to gaps, and must classify these items
according to the related gap.
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Chapter 13 - Services: The Intangible Product Marketing 6th
Activity
Introduction: Apartment complexes often look for ways to recruit new tenants and retain current
Concept Review: Customers have certain expectations about how a service should be delivered. A
Follow-Up Activity
Divide the students into groups and have one student in each group briefly describe a service failure s/he
Netflix: Service Excellence 24/7
Activity Type: Video Case
Learning Objectives: 13-02
Difficulty: Medium
Activity Summary: This case explains how Netflix delivers quality service to its customers. After the
video ends, students are asked questions about the video and related course concepts.
Activity
Introduction: Netflix is an online movie rental service that distributes more than two million DVDs per
Concept Review: A knowledge gap occurs when marketers don't understand what their customers
Video: The video is presented to the student below the introductory information. The video plays
Follow-Up Activity
Class discussion: What new challenges does Netflix face in delivering quality service, now that so much
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Chapter 13 - Services: The Intangible Product Marketing 6th
Some possible answers:
The streaming service has fewer movies available than does the DVD service; this is especially true
for the newest and oldest titles. A DVD customer who switches to streaming might be disappointed if
With the DVD service, Netflix’s service quality is dependent on good performance by the US Postal
Sweetwater
Activity Type: Video Case
Learning Objectives: 13-02, 13-03, 13-05
Difficulty: Medium
Activity Summary: This case discusses Sweetwater Sound, an online retailer of audio equipment
and music-related products. After the video ends, students are asked questions about the video and
related course concepts.
Activity
Introduction: Sweetwater Sound was started in 1979 as a professional recording studio. Now named
simply Sweetwater, it has evolved into one of the leading online retailers of recording and audio
equipment, musical instruments, and accessories. Central to its success is the company's passion for
Concept Review: Today, services account for almost 80% of U.S. GDP. Beyond this economic
impact, providing exceptional customer service is a critical component in delivering value to
Video: The video is presented to the student below the introductory information. The video plays
embedded on the page, after which questions are presented.
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Chapter 13 - Services: The Intangible Product Marketing 6th
FedEx: Excellence in Customer Service
Activity Type: Video Case
Learning Objectives: 13-02, 13-03, 13-05
Difficulty: Medium
Activity Summary: FedEx prides itself on excellent customer service. This video case describes
some of its initiatives. After the video ends, students are asked questions about the video and related
course concepts.
Activity
Introduction: Delivering high-quality service is a top priority at FedEx. The company seeks to offer
Video: The video is presented to the student below the introductory information. The video plays
Follow-Up Activity
With an operation as large and complex as FedEx’s it is important to design and operate their services
efficiently and effectively. Have the students work in groups, with each group choosing one of the gaps in
Transportation Network Services: Uber vs. Lyft vs. Taxis
Activity Type: Case Analysis
Learning Objectives: 13-01, 13-02, 13-03, 13-04
Difficulty: Medium
Activity Summary: This case discusses how Uber and Lyft operate, how they compare to taxi
services, and the challenges they face. Students answer questions applying chapter concepts to the
case.
Activity
Introduction: Local transportation options have expanded recently due to the launch of Uber and
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Chapter 13 - Services: The Intangible Product Marketing 6th
Follow-Up Activity
Ask the class if anyone has used Uber or Lyft, and how the service experienced performed on the five
building blocks of service quality (reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangibles). Also,
ISeeIt Video Case: Service Quality
Activity Type: Video Case
Learning Objectives: 13-01, 13-03
Difficulty: Easy
Activity Summary: This video case explores different aspects of service quality for a coffee shop.
Activity
Introduction: Service quality is difficult to measure given that each customer has a different
expectation about a service experience. While the service gap, which is the difference between
customers' expectations and the service experienced, can be difficult to analyze, Martha can still
Video: The video is presented to the student below the introductory information. The video plays
embedded on the page, after which questions are presented.
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