Slide Marketing Service (7Ps)

Services Marketing 7e, Global Edition
Chapter 1:
New Perspectives On
Marketing in the
Service Economy
Slide © 2010 by Lovelock & Wirtz Services Marketing 7/e Chapter 1 – Page 1
Overview of Chapter 1
 Why Study Services?
 What are Services?
 Marketing Challenges Posed by Services
 Extended Marketing Mix Required for Services
 Integration of Marketing with Other Management Functions
 Developing Effective Service Marketing Strategies
Why Study Services?
Why Study Services?
 Services dominate most economies and are growing

rapidly:
➔ Services account for more than 60% of GDP worldwide
➔ Almost all economies have a substantial service sector
➔ Most new employment is provided by services
➔ Strongest growth area for marketing
 Understanding services offers you a personal competitive

advantage
Services Dominate the Global
Economy
Contribution of Service Industries to GDP Globally
Manufacturing 32%
Services 64%
Agriculture 4%
Source: The World Factbook 2008, Central Intelligence Agency
Estimated Size of Service Sector
in Selected Countries
Jersey (97%), Cayman Islands (95%), Hong Kong (92%)

Bahamas (90%), Bermuda ( 89%), Luxembourg (86%)
USA (79%), Fiji (78%), Barbados (78%), France (77%), U.K. (76%)
Japan (72%), Taiwan (71%), Australia (71%), Italy (71%)
Canada (70%), Germany (69%), Israel (67%)
South Africa (65%), Brazil (66%), Poland (66%)
Turkey (63%), Mexico (62%)
Argentina (57%), Russia (55%)

Malaysia (46%), Chile (45%)
Indonesia (41%), China (40%)
Saudi Arabia (35%)

Services as Percent of GDP
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Source: The World Factbook 2008, Central Intelligence Agency
Value Added by Service Industry
Categories to U.S. GDP
Business Services
12%
Transport, Utilities
& Communications
9% SERVICES
Wholesale & Retail

Trade 12%
Source: US Bureau of Economic Analysis, Industry Economics Accounts, 2007

Why Study Services?
 Most new jobs are generated by services

➔ Fastest growth expected in knowledge-based industries
➔ Significant training and educational qualifications required,

but employees will be more highly compensated
➔ Will service jobs be lost to lower-cost countries? Yes, some service

jobs can be exported
Changing Structure of Employment
as Economies Develop
Agriculture
Services
Employment
Share of
Industry
Time, per Capita Income

Source: IMF, 1997
Why Study Services?
 Powerful forces are transforming service markets

➔ Government policies, social changes, business trends,
advances in IT, internationalization
 Forces that reshape:

➔ Demand
➔ Supply
➔ The competitive landscape
➔ Customers’ choices, power, and decision making
Transformation of the
Service Economy
Social Business Advances
Changes Trends In IT
Government Globalization
Policies
▪ New markets and product categories
▪ Increase in demand for services
▪ More intense competition
Innovation in service products & delivery systems, stimulated by better technology
Customers have more choices and exercise more power
Success hinges on: ▪ Understanding customers and competitors

▪ Viable business models
▪ Creation of value for customers and firm
Increased focus on services marketing and management
Factors Stimulating Transformation
of the Service Economy
Policies
▪ Changes in regulations
▪ Privatization
▪ New rules to protect customers, employees,
and the environment
▪ New agreement on trade in services
Policies
▪ Rising consumer expectations

▪ More affluence
▪ More people short of time
▪ Increased desire for buying experiences vs.
things
▪ Rising consumer ownership of high tech
equipment
▪ Easier access to information
▪ Immigration
▪ Growing but aging population
Policies
▪ Push to increase shareholder value

▪ Emphasis on productivity and cost savings
▪ Manufacturers add value through service and
sell services
▪ More strategic alliances and outsourcing
▪ Focus on quality and customer satisfaction
▪ Growth of franchising
▪ Marketing emphasis by nonprofits
Policies
▪ Growth of Internet
▪ Greater bandwidth
▪ Compact mobile equipment
▪ Wireless networking
▪ Faster, more powerful software
▪ Digitization of text, graphics, audio, video
Policies
▪ More companies operating on transnational

basis
▪ Increased international travel
▪ International mergers and alliances
▪ “Offshoring” of customer service
▪ Foreign competitors invade domestic markets
What are Services?
What Are Services?
 The historical view

➔ Smith (1776): Services are different from goods because they are
perishable
➔ Say (1803): As services are immaterial, consumption cannot be
separated from production
 A fresh perspective: Benefits without Ownership

➔ Rental of goods:
(a) Payment made for using or accessing something – usually for a defined
period of time – instead of buying it outright and
(b) Allows participation in network systems that individuals and
organizations could not afford
What Are Services?
Five broad categories within non-ownership

framework of which two or more may be combined
Rented goods Defined space Labor and

services and place rentals expertise rentals
Access to shared Access to and

physical usage of systems
environments and networks
Definition of Services
 Services
➔ are economic activities offered by one party to another
➔ most commonly employ time-based performances to bring about
desired results
 In exchange for their money, time, and effort, service

customers expect to obtain value from
➔ access to goods, labor, facilities, environments, professional
skills, networks, and systems;
➔ normally do not take ownership of any of the physical elements
involved.
Value Creation is Dominated by
Intangible Elements
Physical Elements
High
Salt
Detergents
CD Player
Wine
Golf Clubs
New Car
Tailored clothing Plumbing Repair
Fast-Food Restaurant Health Club

Airline Flight
Landscape Maintenance
Consulting
Life Insurance
Internet Banking
Low High
Intangible Elements
Source; Adapted from Lynn Shostack
Service Products vs. Customer
Service & After-Sales Service
 A firm’s market offerings are divided into core product

elements and supplementary service elements
 Need to distinguish between:

➔ Marketing of services – when service is the core product
➔ Marketing through service – when good service increases the
value of a core physical good
 Manufacturing firms are reformulating and enhancing

existing added-value services to market them as stand-
alone core products
Service – A Process Perspective
 Differences exist amongst services depending on what is

being processed
 Classification of services into

➔ People processing
➔ Possession processing
➔ Mental stimulus processing
➔ Information processing
4 Categories of Services
People Processing
 Customers must:
➔ physically enter the service factory
➔ cooperate actively with the service operation
 Managers should think about process and output from

the customer’s perspective
➔ to identify benefits created and non-financial costs: Time, mental
and physical effort
Possession Processing
 Involvement is limited
 Less physical involvement
 Production and consumption are separable
Mental Stimulus Processing
 Ethical standards required:

➔ Customers might be manipulated
 Physical presence of recipients not required
 Core content of services is information-based

➔ Can be ‘inventoried’
Information Processing
 Most intangible form of service
 May be transformed:
➔ Into enduring forms of service output
 Line between information processing and mental

stimulus processing may be unclear
Marketing Challenges Posed
by Services
Services Pose Distinctive
Marketing Challenges
 Marketing management tasks in the service sector differ

from those in the manufacturing sector.
 Eight common differences between services and goods but

they do not apply equally to all services
What are marketing implications of these differences?
Differences, Implications, and
Marketing-Related Tasks
Difference Implications Marketing-Related Tasks

▪ Most service products ▪ Customers may be ▪ Use pricing, promotion,
cannot be inventoried turned away reservations to smooth
demand; work with ops to
manage capacity
▪ Intangible elements ▪ Harder to evaluate ▪ Emphasize physical clues,
usually dominate service & distinguish employ metaphors and vivid
value creation from competitors images in advertising
▪ Services are often ▪ Greater risk & ▪ Educate customers on

difficult to visualize & uncertainty perceived making good choices; offer
understand guarantees
▪ Interaction between ▪ Develop user-friendly

▪ Customers may be
customer & provider; equipment, facilities &
involved in co-
poor task execution systems; train customers,
production
could affect satisfaction provide good support
Differences, Implications, and
Marketing-Related Tasks
Difference Implications Marketing-Related Tasks

▪ People may be part of ▪ Behavior of service ▪ Recruit, train employees to
service experience personnel & customers reinforce service concept
can affect satisfaction ▪ Shape customer behavior
▪ Operational inputs and ▪ Hard to maintain quality, ▪ Redesign for simplicity and
outputs tend to vary consistency, reliability failure proofing
more widely ▪ Difficult to shield ▪ Institute good service
customers from failures recovery procedures
▪ Time factor often ▪ Time is money; ▪ Find ways to compete on

assumes great customers want service speed of delivery; offer
importance at convenient times extended hours
▪ Distribution may take ▪ Electronic channels or ▪ Create user-friendly,

place through voice communications secure websites and free
access by telephone
nonphysical channels
Extended Marketing Mix for
Services
Services Require
An Extended Marketing Mix
 Marketing can be viewed as:

➔ A strategic and competitive thrust pursued by top management
➔ A set of functional activities performed by line managers
➔ A customer-driven orientation for the entire organization
 Marketing is only function to bring operating revenues into

a business; all other functions are cost centers
 The “7 Ps” of services marketing are needed to create

viable strategies for meeting customer needs profitably
The 7Ps of Services Marketing
 Traditional Marketing Mix Applied to Services

➔ Product (Chapter 4)
➔ Place and Time (Chapter 5)
➔ Price (Chapter 6)
➔ Promotion and Education (Chapter 7)
 Extended Marketing Mix for Services

➔ Process (Chapter 8 & 9)
➔ Physical Environment (Chapter 10)
➔ People (Chapter 11)
Integration of Marketing with
Other Management Functions
Marketing to be Integrated with
Other Management Functions
Three management functions play central and interrelated

roles in meeting needs of service customers
Operations Marketing
Management Management
Customers
Human Resources
Management
Developing Effective Service
Marketing Strategies
Overview of Framework
Understanding Service Products, Consumers and

Markets
Part I: Chapters 1-3
Applying the 4 P’s of Marketing to Services

Part II: Chapters 4-7
The Extended Services Marketing Mix for

Managing the Customer Interface
Part III: Chapters 8-11
Implementing Profitable Service Strategies

Part IV: Chapters 12-15
Framework - Part I
Understanding Service Products, Consumers, and Markets
Chapter 1 New Perspectives on Marketing in the Service Economy

Chapter 2 Consumer Behavior in a Services Context
Chapter 3 Positioning Services in Competitive Markets
Framework - Part II
Applying the 4 P’s of Marketing to Services
Chapter 4 Developing Service Products: Core and Supplementary

Elements
Chapter 5 Distributing Services through Physical and Electronic
Channels
Chapter 6 Setting Prices and Implementing Revenue Management
Chapter 7 Promoting Services and Educating Customers
Framework - Part III
The Extended Services Marketing Mix for Managing the Customer

Interface
Chapter 8 Designing and Managing Service Processes

Chapter 9 Balancing Demand and Productive Capacity
Chapter 10 Crafting the Service Environment
Chapter 11 Managing People for Service Advantage
Framework - Part IV
Implementing Profitable Service Strategies
Chapter 12 Managing Relationships and Building Loyalty

Chapter 13 Complaint Handling and Service Recovery
Chapter 14 Improving Service Quality and Productivity
Chapter 15 Striving for Service Leadership
Summary
Services dominate Why Study Unique Services are often

the economy in many Services? Characteristics intangible, difficult to
nations. The majority visualize and understand,
of jobs are created in and customers may be
the service sector. involved in co-production.
CHAPTER 1
Services are a form
Product, Place & Time,
of rental (not
Price, Promotion &
ownership). They are
Extended Education, Process,
performances that What are
Marketing Physical Environment,
bring about a desired Services?
Mix People
result.
Chapter 2:
Consumer Behavior
in a Services Context
Overview Of Chapter 2
Customer Decision Making: Pre-purchase Stage

The Three-Stage Model of
Service Consumption
Service Encounter Stage
Post-encounter Stage
Pre-purchase Stage
Pre-purchase Stage - Overview
Pre-purchase Stage  Customers seek solutions to

aroused needs
 Evaluating a service may be
difficult
 Uncertainty about outcomes
Increases perceived risk
Service Encounter  What risk reduction strategies
Stage can service suppliers develop?
 Understanding customers’
service expectations
 Components of customer
expectations
Post-encounter Stage  Making a service purchase
decision
Need Arousal
 Decision to buy or use a service is triggered by need

arousal
 Triggers of need:
➔ Unconscious minds (e.g., personal identity and aspirations)
➔ Physical conditions (e.g., hunger )
➔ External sources (e.g., a service firm’s marketing activities)
 Consumers are then motivated to find a solution for their

need
Courtesy of Masterfile Corporation
Information Search
 Need arousal leads to attempts to find a solution
 Evoked set – a set of products and brands that a consumer

considers during the decision-making process – that is
derived from past experiences or external sources
 Alternatives then need to be evaluated before a final

decision is made
Evaluating Alternatives –
Service Attributes
 Search attributes help customers evaluate a product before

purchase
➔ E.g., type of food, location, type of restaurant and price
 Experience attributes cannot be evaluated before purchase

➔ The consumer will not know how much s/he will enjoy the food, the
service, and the atmosphere until the actual experience
 Credence attributes are those that customers find impossible to

evaluate confidently even after purchase and consumption
➔ E.g., hygiene conditions of the kitchen and the healthiness of the
cooking ingredients
How Product Attributes Affect
Ease of Evaluation
Most Goods Most Services
Easy Difficult
To Evaluate To evaluate
Clothing Restaurant Meals Computer Repair
Chair Lawn Fertilizer Education
Motor Vehicle Haircut Legal Services
Foods Entertainment Complex Surgery
High In High In High In

Search Experience Credence
Attributes Attributes Attributes
Source: Adapted from Valarie A. Zeithaml , “How Consumer Evaluation Processes Differ Between Goods & Services,” in J.H. Donelly and W. R. George, Marketing of
Services (Chicago: American Marketing Association, 1981)
Perceived Risks of Purchasing and
Using Services
 Functional–unsatisfactory performance outcomes
 Financial – monetary loss, unexpected extra costs
 Temporal – wasted time, delays leading to problems
 Physical – personal injury, damage to possessions
 Psychological – fears and negative emotions
 Social – how others may think and react
 Sensory – unwanted impact on any of five senses
How Might Consumers Handle
Perceived Risk?
 Seek information from respected personal sources
 Compare service offerings and search for independent

reviews and ratings via the Internet
 Relying on a firm with good reputation
 Looking for guarantees and warranties
 Visiting service facilities or going for trials before purchase

and examining tangible cues or other physical evidence
 Asking knowledgeable employees about competing services
Strategic Responses to Managing
Customer Perceptions of Risk
Free trial (for

services with Advertise (helps Display
high experience to visualize) credentials
attributes)
Use evidence
Encourage visit
management Offer
to service
(e.g., furnishing, guarantees
facilities
equipment etc.)
Give customers
online access
about order
status
Understanding Customers’
Service Expectations
 Customers evaluate service quality by comparing what they

expect against what they perceive
➔ Situational and personal factors also considered
 Expectations of good service vary from one business to

another, and differently positioned service providers in
same industry
 Expectations change over time
Factors Influencing Customer
Expectations of Service
Source: Adapted from Valarie A. Zeithaml, Leonard A. Berry, and A. Parasuraman, “The Nature and Determinants of Customer Expectations of
Service,”Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 21, no. 1 (1993): 1-12
Components of Customer
Expectations
Desired Service Level

• wished-for level of service quality that customer believes can and
should be delivered
Adequate Service Level

• minimum acceptable level of service
Predicted Service Level

• service level that customer believes firm will actually deliver
Zone of Tolerance
• Acceptable range of variations in service delivery
Purchase Decision
 Purchase Decision: Possible alternatives are compared and

evaluated, whereby the best option is selected
➔ Simple if perceived risks are low and alternatives are clear
➔ Complex when trade-offs increase
 Trade-offs are often involved
 After making a decision, the consumer moves into the

service encounter stage
Service Encounter Stage - Overview
Pre-purchase Stage ● Service encounters range from high-

to low-contact
● Understanding the servuction

system
Service Encounter ● Theater as a metaphor for service

Stage delivery: An integrative perspective
➔ Service facilities
➔ Personnel
Post-encounter Stage ➔ Role and script theories
 Service encounter – a period of time during which a

customer interacts directly with the service provider
➔ Might be brief or extend over a period of time (e.g., a phone call or
visit to the hospital)
 Models and frameworks:

1. “Moments of Truth” – importance of managing touchpoints
2. High/low contact model – extent and nature of contact points
3. Servuction model – variations of interactions
4. Theater metaphor – “staging” service performances
Moments of Truth
“[W]e could say that the perceived quality is realized at the

moment of truth, when the service provider and the service
customer confront one another in the arena. At that moment they
are very much on their own… It is the skill, the motivation, and
the tools employed by the firm’s representative and the
expectations and behavior of the client which together will create
the service delivery process.”
Richard Normann
Service Encounters Range from
High-Contact to Low-Contact
Distinctions between High-Contact
and Low-Contact Services
 High-Contact Services  Low-Contact Services

➔ Customers visit service ➔ Little or no physical contact
facility and remain ➔ Contact usually at arm’s
throughout service delivery length through electronic or
➔ Active contact physical distribution
➔ Includes most people- channels
processing services ➔ Facilitated by new
technologies
The Servuction System
Source: Adapted and expanded from an original concept by Eric Langeard and Pierre Eiglier
The Servuction System:
Service Production and Delivery
 Servuction System: visible front stage and invisible

backstage
 Service Operations
➔ Technical core where inputs are processed and service elements
created
➔ Contact people
➔ Inanimate environment
 Service Delivery
➔ Where “final assembly” of service elements takes place and service
is delivered
➔ Includes customer interactions with operations and other customers
Theater as a Metaphor for
Service Delivery
“All the world’s a stage and all the men

and women merely players. They have
their exits and their entrances and each
man in his time plays many parts.”
William Shakespeare
As You Like It
Theatrical Metaphor:
an Integrative Perspective
Good metaphor as service delivery is a series of events that

customers experience as a performance
Service facilities Personnel

• Stage on which drama • Front stage personnel are
unfolds like members of a cast
• This may change from • Backstage personnel are
one act to another support production team
Roles Scripts
• Like actors, employees • Specifies the sequences
have roles to play and of behavior for customers
behave in specific ways and employees
Implications of Customer
Participation in Service Delivery
 Greater need for information/training

➔ Help customers to perform well, get desired results
 Customers should be given a realistic service preview in

advance of service delivery
➔ This allows them to have a clear idea of their expected role and
their script in this whole experience
➔ Manages expectations and emotions
Post-Encounter Stage
Post-purchaseStage - Overview
Pre-purchase Stage
● Evaluation of service
performance
Service Encounter
Stage ● Future intentions
Post-encounter Stage
Customer Satisfaction with
Service Experience
 Satisfaction: attitude-like judgment following a service

purchase or series of service interactions
➔ Whereby customers have expectations prior to consumption,
observe service performance, compare it to expectations
 Satisfaction judgments are based on this comparison

➔ Positive disconfirmation (better)
➔ Confirmation (same)
➔ Negative disconfirmation (worse)
Customer Delight:
Going Beyond Satisfaction
 Research shows that delight is a function of three

components
➔ Unexpectedly high levels of performance
➔ Arousal (e.g., surprise, excitement)
➔ Positive affect (e.g., pleasure, joy, or happiness)
 Strategic links exist between customer satisfaction and

corporate performance
➔ By creating more value for customers (increased satisfaction), the
firm creates more value for the owners
Customer Delight:
Going Beyond Satisfaction
 Best Practice in Action 2.1:

Turkish Delight: Back-Up
Company Offers Customers
Surprisingly Innovative
Solutions
➔ Provided excellent customer

service whatever the time
and wherever the place.
Summary
• Key Steps • Customers face perceived risks

1. Need arousal which marketers should reduce
Pre-purchase 2. Information search with some strategic responses
Stage 3. Evaluation of alternative
solutions • Zone of tolerance: Adequate to
4. Purchase decision desired. Dissatisfaction if service
level falls below adequate level.
• Moments of Truth: importance of • Servuction model – variations of

Service Encounter effectively managing touchpoints interactions
Stage
• High/low contact service model – • Theater metaphor – “staging”
understanding the extent and service performances
nature of contact points
• In evaluating service performance, • Unexpectedly high levels of

Post- customers can have expectations performance, arousal, and
positively disconfirmed, confirmed, positive affect are likely to lead
encounterStage or negatively disconfirmed to delight
Chapter 3:
Positioning Services
in Competitive Markets
 Focus Strategies for Services
 Market Segmentation
 Service Attributes and Levels
 Positioning Distinguishes a Brand from its Competitors
 Developing an Effective Positioning Strategy
 Using Positioning Maps to Analyze Competitive Strategy
 Changing Competitive Positioning
Focused Strategies for
Services
Standing Apart from the
Competition
“A business must set itself apart from its

competition. To be successful it must identify and
promote itself as the best provider of attributes that
are important to target customers.”
George S. Day
Basic Focus Strategies for Services
Considerations for using Focused
Strategies
Fully focused: Limited range of services to narrow and specific

market
 Opportunities  Risks
➔ Developing recognized ➔ Market is too small to
expertise in a well-defined generate needed volume
niche may provide ➔ Demand may be displaced
protection against would- by generic competition
be competitors from alternative products
➔ Allows firms to charge ➔ Purchasers in chosen
premium prices segment may be
susceptible to economic
downturn
Considerations for using Focused
Strategies
 Market focused
➔ Narrow market segment with wide range of services
➔ Need to make sure firms have operational capability to do
anddeliver each of the different services selected
➔ Need to understand customer purchasing practices and
preferences
 Service focused
➔ Narrow range of services to fairly broad market
➔ As new segments are added, firm needs to develop knowledge and
skills in serving each segment
Considerations for Using
Focus Strategies
 Unfocused
➔ Broad markets with wide
range of services
➔ Many service providers fall
into this category
➔ Danger – becoming a “jack
of all trades and master of
none”
Market Segmentation
Market Segmentation
 Firms vary widely in their abilities to serve different types of

customers
 A market segment is composed of a group of buyers

sharing common characteristics, needs, purchasing
behavior,and consumption patterns
 Target segments should be selected with reference to

➔ Firm’s ability to match or exceed competing offerings directed at
the same segment
➔ Not just profit potential
Service Attributes and Levels
Developing Right Service Concept
for a Specific Segment
 Use research to identify and prioritize which attributes of a given

service are important to specific market segments
 Individuals may set different priorities according to:

➔ Purpose of using the service
➔ Who makes decision
➔ Timing of use
➔ Whether service is used alone or with a group
➔ Composition of that group
Important vs. Determinant Attributes
 Consumers usually choose between alternative service offerings

based on perceived differences between them
 Attributes that distinguish competing services from one another

are not necessarily the most important ones
 Determinant attributes determine buyers’ choices between

competing alternatives
➔ service characteristics that are important to purchasers
➔ customers see significant differences between competing alternatives on
these attributes
Establishing Service Levels
 Make decisions on service levels – level of performance firm

plans to offer on each attribute
➔ Easily quantified attributes are easier to understand – e.g.,vehicle speed,
physical dimensions
➔ Qualitative attributes subject to individual interpretation – e.g., physical
comfort, noise levels
 Can often segment customers according to willingness to trade

off price versus service level:
➔ Price-insensitive customers willing to pay relatively high price for high
levels of service
➔ Price-sensitive customers look for inexpensive service with relatively low
performance
Positioning Distinguishes a
Brand from its Competitors
Four Principles of Positioning
Strategy
 Must establish position for firm or product in minds of

customers
 Position should be distinctive, providing one simple,

consistent message
 Position must set firm/product apart from competitors
 A company cannot be all things to all people– must focus

its efforts
Principles of Positioning
What is value How does each

proposition for of our service
our current products differ
service products, from
and market competitors’? How well do
What customers segments? target customers
do we serve now, perceive our
and which ones service products
would we like to as meeting their
target? needs?
What does our Avoid trap of What changes

firm stand for in investing too must we make to
the minds of heavily in points strengthen our
current and of differences that competitive
potential position?
customers?
are easily copied!
Developing an Effective
Positioning Strategy
Developing an Effective Positioning
Strategy
 Positioning links market analysis and competitive analysis

to internal corporate analysis
 Market Analysis
➔ Focus on overall level and trend of demand and geographic
locations of demand
➔ Look into size and potential of different market segments
➔ Understand customer needs and preferences and how they
perceive the competition
Developing an Effective Positioning
Strategy
 Internal Corporate Analysis

➔ Identify organization’s resources, limitations, goals, and values
➔ Select limited number of target segments to serve
 Competitor Analysis
➔ Understand competitors’ strengths and weaknesses
➔ Anticipate responses to potential positioning strategies
Market, Internal,and Competitive
Analyses
Anticipating Competitive Response
 Competitors might pursue same market position

➔ Independently do same positioning analysis and arrive at similar
conclusions
➔ Threatened by new strategy, take steps to reposition own service
➔ New entrant plays “follow the leader”
 Conduct internal corporate analysis for challengers and analyze

possible effects of alternative moves
➔ Impact of price cut on demand, market share,and profits
➔ Responses of different segments to changes in service attributes
Using Positioning Maps to
Analyze Competitive Strategy
Using Positioning Maps to Plot
Competitive Strategy
 Great tool to visualize competitive positioning and map

developments of time
 Useful way to represent consumer perceptions of alternative

products graphically
 Typically confined to two attributes, but 3-D models can be used

to portray positions on three attributes simultaneously
 Information about a product can be obtained from market data,

derived from ratings by representative consumers, or both
Positioning of Hotels in Belleville:
Price vs. Service Level
Expensive
Grand
Regency
PALACE
Shangri-La
High Moderate
Service Atlantic Service
Sheraton
Italia
Castle
Alexander IV
Airport Plaza
Less Expensive
Positioning of Hotels in Belleville:
Location vs. Physical Luxury
High Luxury
Regency
Grand
Shangri-La
Sheraton
PALACE
Financial Shopping District Inner

District and Convention Center Suburbs
Castle Italia
Alexander IV
Atlantic
Airport Plaza
Moderate Luxury
Positioning After New Construction:
Pricevs.Service Level
Expensive
Mandarin
New Grand Heritage
Marriott
Continental
Action?
Regency PALACE
Shangri-La
High No action? Moderate
Service Service
Atlantic
Sheraton
Italia
Castle
Alexander IV
Less Expensive Airport Plaza
Positioning After New Construction:
Location vs. Physical Luxury
High Luxury
Mandarin
New Grand
Continental Heritage
Marriott Regency
Sheraton Shangri-La
Action?
PALACE
Financial No action? Shopping District Inner

District and Convention Center Suburbs
Castle Italia
Alexander IV
Atlantic
Airport Plaza
Moderate Luxury
Positioning Maps Help Managers to
Visualize Strategy
 Research provides input to development of positioning

maps– challenge is to ensure that
➔ Attributes employed in maps are important to target segments
➔ Performance of individual firms on each attribute accurately
reflects perceptions of customers in target segments
 Predictions can be made of how positions may change in

light of future developments
 Charts and maps can facilitate “visual awakening” to

threats and opportunities, suggest alternative strategic
directions
Changing Competitive
Positioning
Repositioning
 Firm may have to make significant change in existing

position
➔ Revising service characteristics; redefining target market
segments; abandoning certain products; withdrawing from certain
market segments
 Improving negative brand perceptions may require

extensive redesign of core product
 Repositioning introduces new dimensions into positioning

equation that other firms cannot immediately match
Summary
 Focus Strategies:
➔ Fully focused
➔ Service focused
➔ Marketfocused
➔ Unfocused
 Market Segmentation – buyers share common

characteristics, needs, purchasing behavior & consumption
patterns
 Service attributes–determinant attributes are often the ones

most important to customers
Summary
 Positioning links:
➔ Market Analysis
➔ Internal Analysis
➔ Competitive Analysis
 Positioning maps are useful for plotting competitive

strategy:
➔ Identify potential competitive responses
➔ Help executives to visualize strategy
Chapter 4:
Developing
Service Products:
Core and Supplementary
Elements
 Planning and Creating Services
 The Flower of Service
 Branding Service Products and Experiences
 New Service Development
Planning and Creating
Service Products
Service Products
A service product comprises of all elements of service performance,

both tangible and intangible, that create value for customers.
Service products consist of:
 Core Product ➔ central component that supplies the principal,

problem-solving benefits customers seek
 Supplementary Services ➔ augments the core product,

facilitating its use and enhancing its value and appeal
 Delivery Processes ➔ used to deliver both the core product and

each of the supplementary services
Designing a Service Concept
 Service concept design must address the following issues:

➔ How the different service components are delivered to the
customer
➔ The nature of the customer’s role in those processes
➔ How long delivery lasts
➔ The recommended level and style of service to be offered
Documenting Delivery Sequence
Over Time
 Must address sequence in which customers will use each

core and supplementary service
 Determine approximate length of time required for each

step
 Information should reflect good understanding of

customers, especially their:
➔ needs
➔ habits
➔ expectations
Temporal Dimension to
Augmented Product
Reservation
Parking Get car

Check in Check out
Internet Internet
Use
Room USE GUESTROOM OVERNIGHT
internet
Porter
Pay TV
Meal
Room service
Time Frame of an Overnight Hotel Stay

Before Visit (real-time service use)
The Flower of Service
 There are two types of supplementary services

➔ Facilitating: either needed for service delivery, or help in the use
of the core product
➔ Enhancing: add extra value for the customer
 In a well-managed service organization, the petals and

core are fresh and well-formed
 Market positioning strategy helps to determine which

supplementary services should be included
Information
Payment Consultation
Billing Core Order-Taking
Exceptions Hospitality
Safekeeping
KEY:
Enhancing elements
Facilitating elements
Facilitating Services – Information
• Directions to service site

• Schedules/service hours
• Prices
• Reminders
• Warnings
• Conditions of sale/service
• Notification of changes
• Documentation
• Confirmation of reservations
• Summaries of account
activities
• Receipts and tickets
Facilitating Services – Order-Taking
Applications
• Memberships in clubs/programs
• Subscription services
(e.g., utilities)
• Prerequisite based services
(e.g., financial credit,
college enrollment)
Order Entry
• On-site order fulfillment
• Mail/telephone/e-mail/web order
Reservations and Check-in
• Seats/tables/rooms
• Vehicles or equipment rental
• Professional appointments
Facilitating Services – Billing
• Periodic statements of account

activity
• Invoices for individual
transactions
• Verbal statements of amount due
• Self-billing (computed by
customer)
• Machine display of amount due
Facilitating Services – Payment
Self-Service
• Insert card, cash or token into machine
• Electronic funds transfer
• Mail a check
• Enter credit card number online
Direct to Payee or Intermediary
• Cash handling or change giving
• Check handling
• Credit/charge/debit card handling
• Coupon redemption
Automatic Deduction from Financial
Deposits
• Automated systems (e.g., machine-
readable tickets that operate
entry gate)
• Human systems (e.g., toll collectors)
Enhancing Services – Consultation
• Customized advice
• Personal counseling
• Tutoring/training in product use
• Management or technical
consulting
Enhancing Services – Hospitality
Greeting
Food and beverages
Toilets and washrooms
Waiting facilities and
amenities
• Lounges, waiting areas,
seating
• Weather protection
• Magazines,
entertainment,
newspapers
Transport
Security
Enhancing Services – Safekeeping
Caring for Possessions Customer Bring

with Them
• Child care, pet care
• Parking for vehicles, valet parking
• Coat rooms
• Baggage handling
• Storage space
• Safe deposit boxes
• Security personnel
Enhancing Services – Safekeeping
(cont)
Caring for Goods Purchased (or

Rented) by Customers
• Packaging
• Pickup
• Transportation and delivery
• Installation
• Inspection and diagnosis
• Cleaning
• Refueling
• Preventive maintenance
• Repair and renovation
Enhancing Services – Exceptions
Special Requests in Advance of Service

Delivery
• Children’s needs
• Dietary requirements
• Medical or disability needs
• Religious observances
Handling Special Communications
• Complaints
• Compliments
• Suggestions
Enhancing Services – Exceptions
(cont)
Problem Solving
• Warranties and guarantees
• Resolving difficulties that arise
from using
the product
• Resolving difficulties caused
by accidents,
service failures
• Assisting customers who have
suffered an accident or a
medical emergency
Restitution
• Refunds and compensation
• Free repair of defective goods
Managerial Implications
 Core products do not have to have supplementary elements
 Nature of product helps determine supplementary services

offered to enhance value
 People-processing and high contact services have more

supplementary services
 Different levels of service can add extra supplementary services

for each upgrade in service level
 Low-cost, no-frills basis firms needs fewer supplementary

elements
Branding Service
Products and Experiences
Service Products, Product Lines,
and Brands
 Service Product: A defined and consistent “bundle of output”

➔ Supported by supplementary services (assembly of elements that are built
around the core product)
➔ Differentiated by bundle of output
 Product Line: Most service organizations offer a line of products

rather than just a single product.
 There are three broad alternatives for product lines:

➔ Single brand to cover all products and services
➔ A separate, stand-alone brand for each offering
➔ Some combination of these two extremes
Spectrum of Branding Alternatives
Source: Derived from Aaker and Joachimsthaler

Offering a Branded Experience
Branding can be employed at corporate and product levels
 Corporate brand:
➔ Easily recognized,
➔ Holds meaning to customers,
➔ Stands for a particular way of doing business
 Product brand:
➔ Helps firm communicate distinctive experiences and benefits
associated with a specific service concept
Moving Towards a Branded
Experience
Shape truly
Create brand differentiated
promise customer
experience
Give employees
skills, tools, and
Measure and
supporting
monitor
processes to
deliver promise
New Service Development
A Hierarchy of
New Service Categories
Major Service Innovations: New core products for previously

undefined markets
Major Process Innovations: Using new processes to deliver existing

products with added benefits
Product Line Extensions: Addition to current product lines
Process-line Extensions: Alternative delivery procedures
Supplementary Service Innovations: Additions of new or improved

facilitating or enhancing elements
Service Improvements: Modest changes in the performance of

current products
Style Changes: Visible changes in service design or scripts
Reengineering Service Processes
 Service processes affect customers and also cost, speed,

and productivity
 Reengineering – analyzing and redesigning processes to

achieve faster and better performance
 Examination of processes can lead to creation of alternative

delivery methods:
➔ Add or eliminate supplementary services
➔ Re-sequence delivery of service elements
➔ Offer self-service options
Physical Goods as a Source of
New Service Ideas
 Goods and services may become competitive substitutes if

they offer the same key benefits
 Provides an alternative to owning the physical good that

can attain the desired outcome
 Any new good may create need for after-sales services now
and be a source of future revenue stream
Creating Services as Substitutes
for Physical Good
Own a Physical Good Rent Use of Physical Good

Perform Work
Oneself
▪ Drive Own Car ▪ Rent a Car and Drive it
▪ Use Own Computer ▪ Rent Use of Computer
Hire Someone
to Do Work ▪ Hire a Chauffeur to Drive ▪ Hire a Taxi or Limousine
▪ Hire a Typist to Type ▪ Send Work out to a

Secretarial Service
Achieving Success in Developing
New Services
 Services are not immune to high failure rates that plague

new manufactured products
 In developing new services:

➔ core product is often of secondary importance, many innovations
are in supplementary services or service delivery
➔ ability to maintain quality of the total service offering is key
➔ accompanying marketing support activities are vital
➔ Market knowledge is of utmost importance
Success Factors in
 Market synergy
➔ Good fit between new product and firm’s image
➔ Advantage in meeting customers’ needs
➔ Strong support from firm during and after launch
➔ Understands customer purchase decision behavior
 Organizational factors
➔ Strong inter-functional cooperation and coordination
➔ Internal marketing to educate staff on new product and its
importance
Success Factors in
 Market research factors

➔ Scientific studies
conducted early in
development process
➔ Product concept well
defined before
undertaking field studies
Summary
 Creating services involve:

➔ Designing the core product, supplementary services, and their
delivery processes
 Flower of service includes core product and two types of

supplementary services: facilitating and enhancing
➔ Facilitating services include information, order taking, billing, and
payment
➔ Enhancing services include consultation, hospitality, safekeeping,
and exceptions
Summary
 Spectrum of branding alternatives exists for services

➔ Branded house
➔ Subbrands
➔ Endorsed brands
➔ House of brands
 To develop new services, we can

➔ Reengineer service processes
➔ Use physical goods as a source of new service ideas
➔ Use research to design new services
➔ Understand how to achieve success in new service development
Chapter 5:
Distributing Services
Through Physical
And Electronic Channels
 Distribution in a Services Context
 Options for Service Delivery
 Place and Time Decisions
 Delivering Services in Cyberspace
 The Role of Intermediaries
 The Challenge of Distribution in Large Domestic Markets
 Distributing Services Internationally
Distribution in a Services
Context
Distribution in a Services Context
 In a services context, we
often don’t move physical
products
 Experiences, performances,
and solutions are not being
physically shipped and
stored
 More and more informational

transactions are conducted
through electronic and not
physical channels
Applying the Flow Model of
Distribution to Services
The three interrelated elements of distribution are:
 Information and promotion flow

➔ To get customer interested in buying the service
 Negotiation flow
➔ To sell the right to use a service
 Product flow
➔ To develop a network of local sites
Distinguishing between Distribution
of Supplementary and Core Services
 Most core services require

physical locations
 Many supplementary
services are informational;
can be distributed widely
and cost-effectively via
other means
➔ Telephone
➔ Internet
Information and Physical Processes
of Augmented Service Products
Using Websites for Service Delivery
Information
Read brochure/FAQ; get schedules/
directions; check prices
Payment Consultation
Pay by bank card Conduct e-mail dialog
Direct debit Use expert systems
Billing Order-Taking
Receive bill Core Make/confirm reservations
Make auction bid Submit applications
Check account status Order goods, check status
Exceptions
Make special requests Hospitality
Resolve problems Record preferences
Safekeeping
Track package movements
Check repair status
CORE: Use Web to deliver information-based core services
Options for Service Delivery
Distribution Options for Serving
Customers
 Customers visit service site

➔ Convenience of service factory locations and operational
schedules important when customer has to be physically present
 Service providers go to customers

➔ Unavoidable when object of service is immovable
➔ More expensive and time-consuming for service provider
 Service transaction is conducted remotely

➔ Achieved with help of logistics and telecommunications
Six Options For Service Delivery
Channel Preferences Vary Among
Customers
 For complex and high-perceived risk services, people tend

to rely on personal channels
 Individuals with greater confidence and knowledge about a

service/channel tend to use impersonal and self-service
channels
 Customers with social motives tend to use personal

channels
 Convenience is a key driver of channel choice
Place and Time Decisions
Place Decisions of Service Delivery
 Cost, productivity, and access to labor are key determinants

to locating a service facility
 Location constraints
➔ Operational requirement (e.g., airports)
➔ Geographic factor (e.g.,ski resorts)
➔ Need for economies of scale (e.g., hospitals)
Place Decisions of Service Delivery
 Ministores
➔ Creating many small service factories to maximize geographic
coverage
➔ Separating front and back stages of operation
➔ Purchasing space from another provider in complementary field
 Locating in Multipurpose Facilities

➔ Proximity to where customers live or work
- Service Stations
- Service Perspectives 5.2
Time of Service Delivery
 Traditionally, schedules
were restricted
➔ Service availability limited to
daytime, 40-50 hours a week
 Today
➔ For flexible, responsive
service operations: 24/7
service, 24 hours a day, 7
days a week, all around the
world
Delivering Services in
Cyberspace
Service Delivery Innovations
Facilitated by Technology
 Technological Innovations
➔ Development of “smart” mobile telephones and PDAs, and
presence of Wi-Fi
➔ Voice-recognition technology
➔ Websites
➔ Smart cards
- Store detailed information about customer
- Act as electronic purse containing digital money
 Electronic channels can be offered together with physical

channels, or replace physical channels
E-Commerce: Move to Cyberspace
 What are the factors that encourage you to use virtual

stores?
➔ Convenience
➔ Ease of search
➔ Broader selection
➔ Potential for better prices
➔ 24-hour service with prompt delivery
E-Commerce: Move to Cyberspace
 Recen tdevelopments: websites, customer management

(CRM) systems, and mobile telephony
 Integrating mobile devices into the service delivery

infrastructure can be used as means to:
➔ Access services
➔ Alert customers to opportunities/problems
➔ Update information in real time
Role of Intermediaries
Splitting Responsibilities
for Service Delivery
Challenges for original supplier

● Act as guardian of overall process
● Ensure that each element offered by intermediaries fits overall service concept
Franchising
 Franchisor provides training, equipment, and support

marketing activities.
 Franchisees invest time and finance, and follow copy and

media guidelines of franchisor.
 Advantages:
➔ Expand delivery of effective service concept without a high level of
monetary investment
➔ Franchisees are motivated to ensure good customer service and
high-quality service operations
Franchising
 Disadvantages of franchising
➔ Loss of control over delivery system and how customers
experience actual service
➔ Effective quality control is difficult
➔ Conflict between franchisees may arise especially as they gain
experience
 Alternative: license another supplier to act on the original

supplier’s behalf to deliver core product
➔ Trucking companies
➔ Banks selling insurance products
Challenge of Distribution in
Large Domestic Markets
The Challenge of
DistributioninLarge Domestic
Markets
 Distributing services (i.e.,physical logistics) faces

challenges due to:
➔ Distances involved
➔ Multiple time zones
➔ Multiculturalism
➔ Differences in laws and tax rates
Distributing Services
Internationally
Factors Favoring Adoption of
Transnational Strategies
Transnational strategy involves integration of strategy

formulation and its implementation across all countries in
which company elects to do business
 Market Drivers
➔ Common customer needs across countries
➔ Corporate customers seek to standardize and simplify suppliers used in
different countries – ad agencies, logistics suppliers, Big 4 accounting
firms
 Government Drivers
➔ Favorable trade policies, compatible technical standards, common
marketing regulations
Factors Favoring Adoption of
Transnational Strategies
 Competition Drivers
➔ Competitors from overseas; interdependence of countries
➔ Firms may be obliged to follow competitors into new markets to protect
own positions elsewhere
 Technology Drivers
➔ Advances in information technology – miniaturization and mobility of
equipment, digitization of voice
 Cost Drivers
➔ Economies of scale
➔ Lower operating costs
How Service Processes Affect
International Market Entry
 People processing services require direct contact with

customers
➔ Export service concept
- Acting alone or in partnership with local suppliers
e.g., chain restaurants, hotels, car rental firms
➔ Importcustomers
- Inviting customers from overseas to firm’s home country
e.g., hospitals catering to “medical tourism”
➔ Transport customers to new locations
- Passenger transportation (air, sea, rail, road)
How Service Processes Affect
International Market Entry
 Possession processing involves services to customer’s

physical possessions
- Repair and maintenance, freight transport
 Information-based services include mental processing

services and information processing services
➔ Export the service to a local service factory
- Hollywood film shown around the world
➔ Import customers
➔ Export the information via telecommunications and transform it
locally
- Data can be downloaded via CDs or DVDs
Impact of Globalization Drivers on
Various Service Categories
Globalization People Processing Possession Information Based

Drivers Processing
Competition Simultaneity of production Technology drives Highly vulnerable to
and consumption limits globalization of global dominance by
leverage of foreign competitors with competitors with
competitive advantage, technical edge. monopoly or
but management systems competitive advantage
can be globalized. in information.
Market People differ Level of economic Demand for many

economically and development impacts services is derived to a
culturally, so needs for demand for services to significant degree from
service and ability to pay individually owned economic and
may vary. goods. educational levels.
Impact of Globalization Drivers on
Various Service Categories
Globalization People Processing Possession Information

Drivers Processing Based
Technology Use of IT for delivery of Need for technology- Ability to deliver core
supplementary services based service delivery services through
may be a function of systems depends on remote terminals may
ownership and familiarity possessions requiring be a function of
with technology. service and the cost investment in
trade-offs in labor computerization, etc.
substitution
Cost Variable labor rates may Variable labor rates may Major cost elements
impact pricing in labor- favor low-cost locations. can be centralized
sensitive services. and minor cost
elements localized.
Government Social policies (e.g., Policies may Policies may impact

health) vary widely and decrease/increase cost demand and supply
may affect labor cost, etc. and and distort pricing
encourage/discourage
certain activities
Barriers to International Trade in
Services
 Passage of free-trade legislation is important facilitator of

transnational operations
➔ Notable developments: NAFTA, Latin American economic blocs,
EU
 Despite efforts of WTO and GATT, barriers still exist:

➔ Restrictions on international airline operating rights
➔ Heavy taxation
➔ Legal restrictions
➔ Lack of broadly agreedupon accounting standards
➔ Cultural issues
Summary
 Distribution relates to both core and supplementary

services and embraces three interrelated elements
➔ Information and promotion flow, negotiation flow, product flow
 Channel options include:

➔ Customers visit the service site
➔ Service providers go to their customers
➔ Service transaction is conducted remotely
 Place and time decisions include where services should be

delivered in bricks-and-mortar context, when it should be
delivered
Summary
 Delivery in cyberspace is facilitated by technology;

e-commerce allows 24-hour delivery, saving time and effort
 Intermediaries play roles in distributing services
 Service processes (peopleprocessing services, possession

processing services,and information-based services) affect
international market entry via the drivers:
➔ Market drivers ➔ Cost drivers
➔ Competition drivers ➔ Government drivers
➔ Technology drivers
Chapter 6:
Setting Prices and
Implementing
Revenue Management
Slide © 2010 by Lovelock & Wirtz Services Marketing 7/e Chapter 6– Page 1
 Effective Pricing is Central to Financial Success
 Pricing Strategy as Represented by the Pricing Tripod
 Revenue Management: What it is and How it Works
 Ethical Concerns in Service Pricing
 Putting Service Pricing into Practice
Effective Pricing is
Central to Financial Success
What Makes Service Pricing
Strategy Different and Difficult?
 Harder to calculate financial costs of creating a service

process or performance than a manufactured good
 Variability of inputs and outputs:

➔ How can firms define a “unit of service” and establish basis for
pricing?
 Importance of time factor – same service may have more

value to customers when delivered faster
 Customers find service pricing difficult to understand, risky,

and sometimes even unethical
Objectives for Pricing of Services
 Revenue and Profit Objectives

➔ Seek profit
➔ Cover costs
 Patronage and User-Based Objectives

➔ Build demand
- Demand maximization
- Full capacity utilization
➔ Build a user base
- Stimulate trial and adoption of new service
- Build market share/large user base
Pricing Strategy
As Represented by the Pricing
Tripod
The Pricing Tripod
Floor and Ceiling of Price
Value to customer
Competition
Costs
Three Main Approaches to Pricing
Cost-Based Value-Based Competition-

Pricing Pricing Based Pricing
• Set prices relative • Relate price to • Monitor competitors’

to financial costs value perceived by pricing strategy
customer
• Activity-Based • Dependent on the
Costing price leader
• Pricing
implications of cost
analysis
Cost-Based Pricing: Traditional vs.
Activity-Based Costing
 Traditional costing approach

➔ Emphasizes expense categories (arbitrary overheads allocation)
➔ May result in reducing value generated for customers
 ABC management systems

➔ Link resource expenses to variety and complexity of
goods/services produced
➔ Yields accurate cost information
BUT, customers care about value to themselves, not what

service production costs the firm
Value-Based Pricing:
Understanding Net Value
 Net Value = Perceived Benefits to Customer (Gross Value)

minus All Perceived Outlays (Money, Time, Mental/Physical
Effort)
 Consumer surplus: difference between price paid and

amount customer would have been willing to pay in
absence of other options
 Competing services are then evaluated via comparison of

net value
Value-Based Pricing:
Strategies for Enhancing Net Value
 Enhance gross value – benefits delivered

➔ Add benefits to core product
➔ Enhance supplementary service
➔ Manage perceptions of benefits delivered
 Reduce costs incurred by

➔ Reducing monetary costs of acquisition and usage
➔ Cutting amount of time required to evaluate, buy, use service
➔ Lowering effort associated with purchase and use
Defining Total User Cost
Money Purchase
Search Costs*
Time Operating Costs
Physical Effort Incidental Expenses
Purchase and Service

Psychological Burdens
Encounter Costs
Sensory
Burdens
Necessary
Post Purchase Costs* Follow-up
Problem * Includes all five

Solving cost categories
Competition-Based Pricing
Price competition increases due to:

• Increasing competition
• Increase in substituting offers
• Wider distribution of competitor
• Increasing surplus capacity in the industry
However under these circumstances,

price competition can decrease:
• High non-price-related costs of using alternatives
• Personal relationships matter
• Switching costs are high
• Time and location specificity reduces choice
• Managers should examine all related financial and
non-monetary costs
Competitive-Based Pricing
Revenue Management:
What it is and How it works
Maximizing Revenue from
Available Capacity at a Given Time
 Most effective in the following conditions:

➔ High fixed cost structure
➔ Relatively fixed capacity
➔ Perishable inventory
➔ Variable and uncertain demand
➔ Varying customer price sensitivity
 Revenue management (RM) is price customization

➔ Charge different value segments different prices for same product
based on price sensitivity
Maximizing Revenue from
Available Capacity at a Given Time
 RM uses mathematical models to examine historical data

and real time information to determine
➔ What prices to charge within each price bucket
➔ How many service units to allocate to each bucket
 Rate fences deter customers willing to pay more from

trading down to lower prices (minimize consumer surplus)
Price Elasticity
Key Categories of Rate Fences:
Physical (Product-Related) Fences
Product-Related Fences
Rate Fences Examples
Basic Product ▪ Class of travel (Business/Economy class)
▪ Size and furnishing of a hotel room
▪ Seat location in a theater
Amenities ▪ Free breakfast at a hotel, airport pick up, etc.
▪ Free golf cart at a golf course
Service Level ▪ Priority wait listing
▪ Increase in baggage allowances
▪ Dedicated service hotlines
▪ Dedicated account management team
Non Physical Fences
Transaction Characteristics

Time of booking or ▪ Requirements for advance purchase
reservation ▪ Must pay full fare two weeks before departure
Location of booking or ▪ Passengers booking air tickets for an identical route in
reservation different countries are charged different prices
Flexibility of ticket usage ▪ Fees/penalties for canceling or changing a reservation

(up to loss of entire ticket price)
▪ Non-refundable reservation fees
Non Physical Fences
Consumption Characteristics
Rate Fences Example

Time or duration of use ▪ Early bird special in restaurant before 6pm
▪ Must stay over on Sat for airline, hotel
▪ Must stay at least five days
Location of consumption ▪ Price depends on departure location, especially in
international travel
▪ Prices vary by location (between cities, city centre vs.
edges of city)
Non Physical Fences
Buyer Characteristics

Frequency or volume of ▪ Member of certain loyalty tier with the firm get
consumption priority pricing, discounts or loyalty benefits
Group membership ▪ Child, student, senior citizen discounts

▪ Affiliation with certain groups (e.g., Alumni)
Size of customer group ▪ Group discounts based on size of group
Relating Price Buckets and Fences
to Demand Curve
Ethical Concerns in Service
Pricing
Ethical Concerns in Pricing
 Many services have complex pricing schedules

➔ hard to understand
➔ difficult to calculate full costs in advance of service
 Unfairness and misrepresentation in price promotions

➔ misleading advertising
➔ hidden charges
 Too many rules and regulations

➔ customers feel constrained, exploited
➔ customers unfairly penalized when plans change
Designing Fairness into
Revenue Management
 Design clear, logical, and fair price schedules and fences
 Use high published prices and present fences as

opportunities for discounts
 Communicate consumer benefits of revenue management
 Use bundling to “hide” discounts
 Take care of loyal customers
 Use service recovery to compensate for overbooking
Putting Service
Pricing into Practice
Pricing Issues:
Putting Strategy into Practice
3. Who should
1. How much to 2. What basis
collect
charge? for pricing?
payment?
4. Where 5. When should 6. How should

should payment payment be payment be
be made? made? made?
7. How to
communicate
prices?
Putting Service Pricing into Practice
 How much to charge?

1. How much
➔ Pricing tripod provides a useful starting point to charge?
➔ A specific figure must be set for the price

➔ Need to consider the pros and cons, and ethical issues
 What basis for pricing? 2. What basis

for pricing?
➔ Completing a task
➔ Admission to a service performance
➔ Time based
➔ Monetary value of service delivered (e.g., commission)
➔ Consumption of physical resources(e.g., food and beverages)
 Who should collect payment?

3. Who should
➔ Service provider or specialist intermediaries collect
payment?
➔ Direct or non-direct channels
 Where should payment be made?

4. Where should
➔ Conveniently located intermediaries payment be
made?
➔ Mail/bank transfer
 When should payment be made?

5. When should
➔ In advance payment be
made?
➔ Once service delivery has been completed
 How should payment be made?

6. How should
➔ Cash payment be
made?
➔ Token
➔ Stored value card
➔ Electronic fund transfer
➔ Charge Card (Debit/Credit)
➔ Vouchers
 How to communicate prices? 7. How to

communicate
➔ Relate the price to that of competing products prices?
➔ Ensure price is accurate and intelligible
Summary
 Pricing objectives can include

➔ Generating revenues and profit, building demand, and developing
user base
 Three main foundations to pricing a service

➔ Cost-based pricing
➔ Competition-based pricing
➔ Value-based pricing
 Firm must be aware of competitive pricing but may be

harder to compare for services than for goods
Summary
 Revenue management
➔ Maximizes revenue from a given capacity at a point in time
➔ Manage demand and set prices for each segment closer to
perceived value
➔ Use of rate fences
 Ethical issues in pricing

➔ Complex pricing schedules
➔ Unfairness and misrepresentation in advertising
➔ Hidden charges
➔ Too many rules and regulations
Chapter 7:
Promoting Services
and Educating
Customers
 Role of Marketing Communications
 Challenges of Services Communications
 Marketing Communications Planning
 The Marketing Communications Mix
 Role of Corporate Design
 Integrating Marketing Communications
Role of Marketing
Communications
Specific Roles of Marketing
Communications
 Position and differentiate service
 Help customer evaluate offerings and highlight differences

that matter
➔ Difficult to distinguish between offerings
➔ Some attributes are difficult to communicate
➔ Firm’s expertise is hidden in low-contact services
 Promote contribution of personnel and backstage

operations
 Add value through communication content
 Facilitate customer involvement in production
 Stimulate or dampen demand to match capacity

Challenges of Services
Communications
Overcoming Problems of
Intangibility
 Intangibility creates 4 problems:

➔ Generality
- Items that comprise a class of objects, persons, or events
➔ Abstractness
- No one-to-one correspondence with physical objects
➔ Non-searchability
- Cannot be searched or inspected before purchase
➔ Mental impalpability
- Customers find it hard to grasp benefits of complex,
multi-dimensional new offerings
Overcoming Problems of
Intangibility
 To overcome intangibility
➔ Use tangible cues in advertising
➔ Use metaphors
 Tangible metaphors help to communicate benefits of

service offerings, e.g.,
➔ Allstate – “You’re in good hands”
➔ Prudential Insurance –uses Rock of Gibraltar as symbol of
corporate strength
 Metaphors communicate value propositions more

dramatically and emphasize key points of difference
Advertising Strategies for
Overcoming Intangibility
Marketing Communications
Planning
Checklist: The “5 Ws” Model
 Who is our target audience?
 What do we need to communicate and achieve?
 How should we communicate this?
 Where should we communicate this?
 When do communications need to take place?
Target Audience: 3 Broad
Categories
 Prospects
➔ Employ traditional communication mix because prospects are not
known in advance
 Users
➔ More cost effective channelsutilized
 Employees
➔ Secondary audience for communication campaigns
➔ Shape behavior
➔ Part of internal marketing campaign using company-specific
channels
Educational and Promotional
Objectives in Service Settings
Create memorable Compare service Build preference by

Build awareness
images of specific favorably with communicating
and interest for
companies and competitors’ strengths and
unfamiliar service
their brands offerings benefits
Reduce uncertainty Provide

Reposition service Encourage trial by
or perceived risk by reassurance (e.g.,
relative to offering promotional
providing useful info promote service
competition incentives
and advice guarantees)
Familiarize Teach customers Stimulate demand Recognize and

customers with how to use a in off-peak, reward valued
service processes service to best discourage during customers and
before use advantage peak employees
The Marketing
Communications Mix
Marketing Communications Mix
for Services
Sources of Messages Received by
Target Audience
Source: Adapted from a diagram by Adrian Palmer, Principles of Services Marketing, London: McGraw-Hill,4th ed., 2005, p. 397
Traditional Marketing Channels
Channel Aim Challenges

Advertising: Done via Build awareness, inform, Needs to be unique as less
media channels persuade, and remind than half of all ads generate a
positive ROI
Public relations: Efforts Builds reputation and credibility Form relationships with its
to stimulate positive to secure an image conducive employees, customers, and
interest through third to conduct business the community
parties
Direct Marketingsuch Send personalized messages Advance in on-demand

as mail, e-mail& text to highly targeted micro- technologies (e.g., spam
messages segments; use permission filters, cookie busters, pop-up
marketing where customers blockers) empower
“raise their hands” and agree consumers to decide how and
to learn more about a company when they prefer to be
and its products reached, and by whom
Traditional Marketing Channels
Channel Aim Challenges

Sales Promotion: Generate attention and Motivating customers to usea
Communication attached to speed up introduction service sooner, in greater
an incentive that is specific and acceptance of new volume, or more frequently
to a period of time, price, or services especially during periods when
customer group demand would be weak
Personal Selling: Educate customers and Relationship marketing strategies

Common in b2b and promote preferences for based on account management
infrequently purchased particular brand or programs incur high staffing
services product costs; telemarketing is a lower
cost alternative
Trade Shows Stimulate extensive Opportunity to learn about latest
media coverage with offerings from wide array of
many prospective buyers suppliers
Internet Marketing Offers Powerful
Opportunities
 Supplement traditional marketing channels at a reasonable

cost
 Part of an integrated, well-designed communications

strategy
 Can market through the company’s own website or through

online advertising
Website Design Considerations
 Used for a variety of  Design should address

communication tasks attributes that affect website
➔ Promoting consumer “stickiness”
awareness and interest ➔ High in quality content
➔ Providing information and ➔ Ease of use
consultation
➔ Quick to download
➔ Facilitating 2-way
communication ➔ Frequency of update
➔ Stimulating product trial

 Memorable Web address helps
➔ Enabling customers to place
attract visitors to the site
orders
Effective Advertising on Internet:
Banner Advertising
Banner Advertising: Placing advertising banners and buttons

on portals such as Yahoo and other firms’ websites to draw
online traffic to own site
 Easy for advertisers to measure how many visits to its own

website are generated by click-throughs
 Limitations
➔ Obtaining many exposures does not necessarily lead to increase in
awareness, preference, or sales
➔ Fraudulent click-throughs designed to boost apparent effectiveness
Effective Advertising on Internet:
Search Engine Advertising
Search Engine Advertising (Reverse broadcast network):

search engines let advertisers know exactly what consumer
wants through their keyword search
 Target relevant messages directly to desired consumers
 Advertising options:
➔ Pay for targeted placement of ads to relevant keyword searches
➔ Sponsor a short text message with a click-through link
➔ Buy top rankings in the display of search results
 E.g., Google – The New Online Marketing Powerhouse via

Adsense and Adwords
Messages Transmitted through
Service Delivery Channels
• Messages reach customers through the

Service outlets service delivery environment
• Servicescape: Physical design
• Shape customer’s perceptions

Front-line • Delivers supplementary services
employees • Cross-selling of additional services
• ATM, vending machines and websites

Self-service • Require clear signage and instructions on
delivery points how to use the service
Customer • Familiarize customers with service

product and teach them how to use it to
training their best advantage
Messages Originating from Outside
the Organization
 Word of Mouth (WOM)

➔ Recommendations from other customers viewed as more credible
 Strategies to stimulate positive WOM:

➔ Creating exciting promotions that get people talking about firm’s
great service
➔ Offering promotions that encourage customers to persuade others
➔ Developing referral incentive schemes
➔ Referencing other purchasers and knowledgeable individuals
➔ Presenting and publicizing testimonials
Messages Originating from Outside
the Organization
 Blogs – A new type of online WOM
 Twitter
 Media Coverage
➔ Compares, contrasts service offerings from competing
organizations
➔ Advice on “best buys”
Ethical Issues in Communication
 Poor internal communications between operations and

marketing personnel concerning level of service
performance
 Deliberately exaggerated promises to secure sales
 Deceptive promotions
 Unwanted intrusion by aggressive marketers into people’s

personal lives
Role of Corporate Design
Strategies for Corporate Design
 Many service firms employ a unified and distinctive visual

appearance for all tangible elements
➔ e.g., Logos, uniforms, physical facilities
 Provide a recognizable theme linking all the firm’s

operations use of physical evidence
➔ e.g., BP’s bright greenand yellow service stations
 Use of trademarked symbol as primary logo, with name

secondary
➔ McDonald’s “Golden Arches”
Strategies for Corporate Design
 International companies need to select designs carefully to

avoid conveying a culturally inappropriate message
 Easily recognizable corporate symbols important for

international marketers in markets where:
➔ Local language is not written in Roman Script
➔ Significant portion of population is illiterate
FedEx: Use of Company Name In
Corporate Design
 Created “FedEx Family of companies” consisting of subbrands

for different services; carried its positive FedEx Express image to
other, often low cost services.
➔ FedEx Express ➔ FedEx Custom Critical
➔ FedEx Ground ➔ FedEx Supply Chain Services
➔ FedEx Home Delivery ➔ FedEx Kinko’s
➔ FedEx Freight
 Each subbrand has different color scheme for second word to

create differentiation for subbrands, e.g.,
➔ Express is red/orange
➔ Ground is green
Developing An Integrated Marketing
Communications Strategy
 IMC ties together and

reinforces all
communications to deliver
a strong brand identity
 Communications in
different media should form
part of a single, overall
message about the service
firm
Summary
 Marketing communications adds value through its content
 Overcome problems of intangibility – use metaphors to

communicate value proposition
 Communication planning involves knowing (5Ws)
 Marketing communications originate from within the

organization through production and marketing channels
Summary
 Service delivery channels include

➔ Service outlets
➔ Front-line employees
➔ Self-service delivery points
 Marketing communications originating from outside

organization include
➔ Word of mouth
➔ Blogs
➔ Twitter
➔ Media coverage
 Corporate design strategies are part and parcel of

communication mix
Chapter 8:
Designing and Managing
Service Processes
 Flowcharting Customer Service Processes
 Blueprinting Services to Create Valued Experiences and

Productive Operations
 Service Process Redesign
 The Customer as Co-Producer
 Self-Service Technologies
Flowcharting Customer
Service Processes
Flowcharting Service Delivery
Helps to Clarify Product Elements
 Technique for displaying the nature and sequence of the different

steps in delivery service to customers
 Offers way to understand total customer service experience
 Shows how nature of customer involvement with service

organizations varies by type of service:
➔ People processing
➔ Possession processing
➔ MentalStimulusprocessing
➔ Information processing
Flowcharts for People and
PossessionProcessing Services
Flowcharts for Mental Stimulus and
Information Processing Services
Blueprinting Services to
Create Valued Experiences
and Productive Operations
Developing a Blueprint
 Developing a Blueprint
➔ Identify key activities in creating and delivering service
➔ Define “big picture” before “drilling down” to obtain a higher level
of detail
 Advantages of Blueprinting
➔ Distinguish between “frontstage” and “backstage”
➔ Clarify interactions and support by backstage activities and
systems
➔ Identify potential fail points; take preventive measures; prepare
contingency
➔ Pinpoint stages where customerscommonly have to wait
Key Components of a Service
Blueprint
Define standards
Specify physical Identify principal
for frontstage
evidence customer actions
activities
Objectives:
➢Identify fail
points & risks
of excessive Frontstage
actions by
waits Line of visibility Line of interaction
frontline
personnel
➢Set service
standards
➢Fail-proof
process
Backstage Support
Support
actions by processes
processes
customer contact involving other
involving IT
personnel personnel
Blueprintingthe Restaurant
Experience: AThree-Act
Performance
 Act 1: Prologue and Introductory Scenes
 Act 2: Delivery of Core Product

➔ Cocktails, seating, order food and wine, wine service
➔ Potential fail points: Menu information complete? Menu intelligible?
Everything on the menu actually available?
➔ Mistakes in transmitting information a common cause of quality failure
➔ Customers may not only evaluate quality of food and drink, but how
promptly it is served or serving staff attitudes
 Act 3: The Drama Concludes

➔ Remaining actions should move quickly and smoothly, with no surprises
at the end
➔ Customer expectations: accurate, intelligible and prompt bill, payment
handled politely, guest are thanked for their patronage
Blueprinting the Restaurant
Experience: Act 1
Improving Reliability of Processes
Through Fail-Proofing
 Identify fail points
 Analysis of reasons for failure reveals opportunities for

failure-proofing to reduce/eliminate future errors
 Need fail-safe methods for both employees and customers
Setting Service Standards and
Targets
 Service providers set standards for each step sufficiently

high to satisfy and even delight customers
➔ Include time parameters, script and prescriptions for appropriate
style and demeanor
➔ Must be expressed in ways that permit objective measurement
 Performance targets – specific process and team

performance targets for which staff are responsible for
 Evaluated based on distinction between standards and

targets
Setting Service Standards and
Targets
 First impression is important

➔ Affects customer’s
evaluations of quality during
later stages of service
delivery as customer
perceptions of service
experiences tend to be
cumulative
 For low-contact service, a

single failure committed front
stage is relatively more
serious than in a high-
contact service
Setting Standards and Targets for
Customer Service Processes
Service Service
Service Performance
Process Process
Attributes Targets
Indicators Standards
• Responsiveness
• Reliability Processing time to
24 hours 80% of all applications
• Competence approve
in 24 hours
• Accessibility applications
• Courtesy
• Communication
• Credibility Creates a Base to Define/Process
Define Service Quality
• Confidentiality Measure Customer Departmental Service
Goals for Staff
• Listening to the Satisfaction Goals
customer
Redesigning Service
Processes
Why Redesign?
 Revitalizes process that has become outdated
 Changes in external environment make existing practices

obsolete and require redesign of underlying processes
 Rusting occurs internally

➔ Natural deterioration of internal processes; creeping bureaucracy;
evolution of spurious, unofficial standards
➔ Symptoms:
- Extensive information exchange
- Data that is not useful
- High ratio of checking control activities to value-adding activities
Why Redesign?
 Redesign aims to achieve these performance measures:

➔ Reduced number of service failures
➔ Reduced cycle time from customer initiation of a service process
to its completion
➔ Enhanced productivity
➔ Increased customer satisfaction
Process Redesign: Approaches and
Potential Benefits
• Streamline front-end and back-end processes of

Eliminating non- services
value-adding steps • Improve productivity and customer satisfaction
• Increase in productivity and service quality

Shifting to self- • Lower costs and perhaps prices
service • Enhance technology reputation
• Differentiates company
• Improve convenience for customers

Delivering direct • Productivity can be improved by eliminating
service expensive retail locations
• Increase customer base
Process Redesign: Approaches and
Potential Benefits
• Involves grouping multiple services into one

offer, focusing on a well-defined customer
Bundling group
services • A better fit to the needs of target segment
• Increase productivity with customized service
• Increase per capita service use
• Focus on tangible elements of service

process (facilities and equipment)
Redesigning
• Increase convenience
physical aspects • Enhance satisfaction and productivity of
of service process frontline staff
• Cultivate interest in customers
The Customer as Co-Producer
Levels of Customer Participation
High – Customer works actively with provider to co-produce

the service
• Service cannot be created without customer’s active participation
• Customer can jeopardize quality of service outcome
Medium – Customer inputs required to assist provider

• Provide needed information and instructions
• Make some personal effort; share physical possessions
Low – Employees and systems do all the work

• Involves standardized work
Managing Customers
• Recruit customers that possess the competency to

Recruitment and Selection perform the necessary tasks
• Are customers aware of their roles and equipped

Job Analysis with the required skills?
• Information required for them to perform their roles

Education and Training via instructions or video demonstration
• Ensure that they will be rewarded for good

Motivate performance
• For sub-par performances, improve customer

Appraise training or change the role or process
• Last resort: if customer is non compliant consider

Ending termination of the relationship
Self-Service Technologies
Self-Service Technologies (SSTs)
 SSTs are the ultimate form of customer involvement where

customers undertake specific activities using facilities or
systems provided by service supplier
➔ Customer’s time and effort replace those of employees
 Information-based services lend selves particularly well to

SSTs
➔ Used in both supplementary services and delivery of core product
Self-Service Technologies (SSTs)
Many companies and government organizations seek to divert

customers from employee contact to Internet-based self-
service
Advantages: Disadvantages:
➔ Time and Cost savings ➔ Anxiety and stress
experienced by customers
➔ Flexibility
who are uncomfortable with
➔ Convenience of location using them
➔ Greater control over service ➔ Some see service

delivery encounters as social
experiences and prefer to
➔ High perceived level of deal with people
customization
What Aspects Of SSTs Please Or
Annoy Customers?
People love SSTs when… People hate SSTs when…

• SST machines are conveniently • SSTs fail – system is down, PIN
located and accessible 24/7– often as numbers not accepted, etc.
close as the nearest computer!
• Customers themselves mess up–
•Obtaining detailed information and forgetting passwords; failing to provide
completing transactions can be done information as requested; simply hitting
faster than through face-to-face or wrong buttons
telephone contact
Key weakness:Few firms incorporate service recovery systems such that

customers are still forced to make telephone calls or personal visits
Putting SSTs to Test by
Asking a Few Simple Questions
 Does the SST work reliably?

➔ Firms must ensure that SSTs are dependable and user-friendly
 Is the SST better than interpersonal alternatives?

➔ Customers will stick to conventional methods if SST doesn’t create
benefits for them
 If it fails, what systems are in place to recover?

➔ Always provide systems, structures, and technologies that will
enable prompt service recovery when things fail
Summary
 Service standards and targets are different and can be used

to evaluate performance
 Service process redesign reducesservice failure and

enhancesproductivity
 When the customer is a co-producer, issues to consider are

➔ Levels of customer participation
➔ Self-service technologies (SST)
➔ Psychological factors in customer co-production
➔ Aspects of SST that please or annoy customers
Chapter 10:
Crafting the Service
Environment
 What is the Purpose of Service Environments?
 Understanding Consumer Responses to Service

Environments
 Dimensions of the Service Environment
 Putting It All Together
What is the Purpose of
Service Environments?
Purpose of Service Environments
 Shape customers’ experience and their behaviors
 Support image, positioning, and differentiation
 Part of the value proposition
 Facilitate service encounter and enhance productivity
Shape customers’ experience and
their behaviors
 Message-creating medium
➔ symbolic cues to communicate the distinctive nature and quality of
the service experience
 Attention-creating medium
➔ make servicescape stand out from competition and attract
customers from target segments
 Effect-creating medium
➔ use colors, textures, sounds, scents,and spatial design to enhance
desired service experience
Support Image, Position, and
Differentiation
Orbit Hotel and Hostel, Los Angeles Four Seasons Hotel, New York
Servicescape as Part of Value
Proposition
 Physical surroundings help shape appropriate feelings and

reactions in customers and employees
➔ e.g.,Disneyland, Denmark’s Legoland
 Servicescapes form a core part of the value proposition

➔ Las Vegas: repositioned itself to a somewhat more wholesome fun
resort, visually striking entertainment center
➔ Florida-based Muvico: builds extravagant movie theatres and
offers plush amenities. “What sets you apart is how you package it.”
(Muvico’s CEO, HamidHashemi)
The power of servicescapes is being discovered
Understanding Consumer
Reponses to
Service Environments
The Mehrabian-Russell
Stimulus-Response Model
Feelings Are a Key Driver of Customer Responses to

Service Environments
Dimensions of Response Behaviors:

Environmental Stimuli Affect:
Approach /Avoidance
and Cognitive
Pleasure and & Cognitive
Processes
Arousal Processes
The Russell Model of Affect
Insights from Russell’s
Model of Affect
 Emotional responses to environments can be described

along two main dimensions:
➔ Pleasure: subjective, depending on how much individual likes or
dislikes environment
➔ Arousal: how stimulated individual feels, depends largely on
information rate or load of an environment
 Separates cognitive emotions from emotional dimensions
 Advantage: simple, direct approach to customers’ feelings

➔ Firms can set targets for affective states
Drivers of Affect
 Caused by perceptions and cognitive processes of any

degree of complexity
 Determines how people feel in a service setting
 If higher levels of cognitive processes are triggered, the

interpretation of this process determines people’s feelings
 The more complex a cognitive process becomes, the more

powerful its potential impact on affect
Behavioral Consequence of Affect
 Pleasant environments result in approach, whereas

unpleasant ones result in avoidance
 Arousal amplifies the basic effect of pleasure on behavior

➔ If environment is pleasant, increasing arousal can generate
excitement, leading to a stronger positive consumer response
➔ If environment is unpleasant, increasing arousal level will move
customers into the “distressed” region
 Feelings during service encounters are an important driver

of customer loyalty
An Integrative Framework:
The Servicescape Model
Dimensions of the
Service Environment
Main Dimensions in
Servicescape Model
 Ambient Conditions
➔ Characteristics of environment pertaining to our five senses
 Spatial Layout and Functionality

➔ Spatial layout:
- floorplan
- size and shape of furnishings
➔ Functionality: ability of those items to facilitate performance
 Signs, Symbols,and Artifacts

➔ Explicit or implicit signals to:
- help consumers find their way
Ambient Conditions
 Ambient conditions are perceived both separately and

holistically, and include:
➔ Lighting and color schemes
➔ Size and shape perceptions
➔ Sounds such as noise and music
➔ Temperature
➔ Scents
 Clever design of these conditions can elicit desired

behavioral responses among consumers
Music
 In service settings, music can have powerful effect on

perceptions and behaviors, even if played at barely audible
levels
 Structural characteristics of music―such as tempo,

volume, and harmony―are perceived holistically
➔ Fast tempo music and high volume music increase arousal levels
➔ People tend to adjust their pace, either voluntarily or involuntarily,
to match tempo of music
 Careful selection of music can deter wrong type of

customers
Scent
 An ambient smell is one that pervades an environment

➔ May or may not be consciously perceived by customers
➔ Not related to any particular product
 Scents have distinct characteristics and can be used to

solicit emotional, physiological, and behavioral responses
 In service settings, research has shown that scents can

have significant effect on customer perceptions, attitudes,
and behaviors
Aromatherapy: Effects of Selected
Fragrances on People
Color
 Colors can be defined into three dimensions:

➔ Hue is the pigment of the color
➔ Value is the degree of lightness or darkness of the color
➔ Chroma refers to hue-intensity, saturation, or brilliance
 People are generally drawn to warm color environments

➔ Warm colors encourage fast decision making and are good for
low-involvement decisions or impulse buys
➔ Cool colors are preferred for high-involvement decisions
Common Associations and
Human Responses to Colors
Signs, Symbols, and Artifacts
 Communicates the firm’s image and helpscustomers find their

way
➔ First time customers will automatically try to draw meaning from the
signs, symbols, and artifacts
 Challenge is to guide customer through the delivery process

➔ Unclear signals from a servicescape can result in anxiety and uncertainty
about how to proceed and obtain the desired service
Putting It All Together
Selection of Environmental
Design Elements
 Consumers perceive service environments holistically

➔ No dimension of design can be optimized in isolation, because
everything depends on everything else
➔ Holistic characteristic of environments makes designing service
environment an art
Tools to Guide Servicescape Design
 Keen observation of customers’ behavior and responses
 Feedback and ideas from frontline staff and customers
 Photo audit – Mystery Shopper to take photographs of service

experience
 Field experiments can be used to manipulate specific dimensions

in an environment and the effects observed
 Blueprinting or service mapping–extended to include physical

evidence in the environment
Summary
 Service environment:
➔ Shapes customers’ experiences and behavior
➔ Facilitates service encounters and enhances productivity
 Mehrabian-Russell stimulus-response model and Russell’s model

of affect help us understand customer responses to service
environments
 Main dimensions of servicescape model:

➔ Ambient conditions – music, scent, color, etc.
➔ Spatial layout and functionality
➔ Signs, symbols, and artifacts
Summary
 When putting it all together, firms should

➔ Design with a holistic view
➔ Design from a customer’s perspective
➔ Use tools to guide servicescape design
Chapter 11:
Managing People for
Service Advantage
 Service Employees Are Crucially Important
 Factors Contributing to the Difficulty of Frontline Work
 Cycles of Failure, Mediocrity, and Success
 Human Resources Management – How To Get It Right?
 Service Leadership and Culture
Service Employees Are
Crucially Important
Service Personnel: Source of Customer
Loyalty & Competitive Advantage
 Customer’s perspective: encounter with service staff is

most important aspect of a service
 Firm’s perspective: frontline is an important source of

differentiation and competitive advantage
 Frontline is an important driver of customer loyalty

➔ anticipating customer needs
➔ customizing service delivery
➔ building personalized relationships
Frontline in Low-Contact Services
 Many routine transactions are now

conducted without involving frontline
staff, e.g.,
➔ ATMs (Automated Teller Machines)
➔ IVR (Interactive Voice Response) systems
➔ Websites for reservations/ordering, payment,
etc.
 However, frontline employees remain

crucially important
 “Moments of truths” drive customer’s

perception of the service firm
Factors Contributing to the
Difficulty of Frontline Work
Boundary Spanning Roles
 Boundary spanners link the organization to outside world
 Multiplicity of roles often results in service staff having to

pursue both operational and marketing goals
 Consider management expectations of service staff:

➔ delight customers
➔ be fast and efficient in executing operational tasks
➔ do selling, cross selling, and up-selling
➔ enforce pricing schedules and rate integrity
Role Stress in Frontline Employees
 Organization vs. Client: Dilemma whether to follow

company rules or to satisfy customer demands
➔ This conflict is especially acute in organizations that are not customer-
oriented
 Person vs. Role: Conflicts between what jobs require and

employee’s own personality and beliefs
➔ Organizations must instill ‘professionalism’ in frontline staff
 Client vs. Client: Conflicts between customers that demand

service staff intervention
Cycles of Failure, Mediocrity,
and Success
Cycle of Failure
Cycle of Failure
 Costs of short-sighted policies are ignored:

➔ Constant expense of recruiting, hiring, and training
➔ Lower productivity of inexperienced new workers
➔ Higher costs of winning new customers to replace those lost—
more need for advertising and promotional discounts
➔ Loss of revenue stream from dissatisfied customers who turn to
alternatives
➔ Loss of potential customers who are turned off by negative word-
of-mouth
Service Sabotage
“Openness” of Service Sabotage Behaviors

Covert Overt
Routine
Customer-Private Service Sabotage Customer-Public Service Sabotage
e.g., Waiters serving smaller e.g., Talking to guests like

servings, bad beer, or sour young kids and putting them
“Normality” of Service
Sabotage Behaviors wine down
Sporadic-Private Service Sabotage Sporadic-Public Service Sabotage
e.g., Chef occasionally e.g., Waiters spilling soup onto

purposefully slowing down laps, gravy onto sleeves, or hot
orders plates into someone’s hands
Intermittent
Cycle Of Mediocrity
Cycle Of Mediocrity
 Most commonly found in large, bureaucratic organizations that

are frustrating to deal with
 Service delivery is oriented towards

➔ Standardized service ➔ Successful performance
➔ Operational efficiencies measured by absence of
➔ Promotions with long service mistakes
➔ Rule-based training
➔ Narrow and repetitive jobs
 Little incentive for customers to cooperate with organizations to

achieve better service
 Complaints are often made to already unhappy employees
 Customers often stay because of lack of choice

Cycle of Success
Cycle of Success
 Longer-term view of financial performance; firm seeks to

prosper by investing in people
 Attractive pay and benefits attract better job applicants
 More focused recruitment, intensive training, and higher

wages make it more likely that employees are:
➔ Happier in their work
➔ Provide higher quality, customer-pleasing service
Cycle of Success
 Broadened job descriptions with empowerment practices

enable frontline staff to control quality, facilitate service
recovery
 Regular customers more likely to remain loyal because

they:
➔ Appreciate continuity in service relationships
➔ Have higher satisfaction due to higher quality
Human Resources
Management –
How to Get it Right?
The Service Talent Cycle
Be the Preferred Employer
 Create a large pool: “Compete for Talent Market Share”
 Select the right people:

➔ Different jobs are best filled by people with different skills, styles,
or personalities
➔ Hire candidates that fit firm’s core values and culture
➔ Focus on recruiting naturally warm personalities for customer-
contact jobs
Tools to Identify Best Candidates
 Employ multiple, structured interviews

➔ Use structured interviews built around job requirements
➔ Use more than one interviewer to reduce “similar to me” biases
 Observe behavior
➔ Hire based on observed behavior, not words you hear
➔ Best predictor of future behavior is past behavior
➔ Consider group hiring sessions where candidates are given group
tasks
Tools to Identify Best Candidates
 Conduct personality tests

➔ Willingness to treat co-workers and customers with courtesy,
consideration, and tact
➔ Perceptiveness regarding customer needs
➔ Ability to communicate accurately and pleasantly
 Give applicants a realistic preview of the job

➔ Chance for candidates to “try on the job”
➔ Assess how candidates respond to job realities
➔ Allow candidates to self select themselves out of the job
➔ Manage new employees’ expectation of job
Train Service Employees
Service employees need to learn:
 Organizational culture, purpose, and strategy

➔ Promote core values, get emotional commitment to strategy
➔ Get managers to teach “why,” “what,” and “how” of job
 Interpersonal and technical skills
 Product/service knowledge
➔ Staff’s product knowledge is a key aspect of service quality
➔ Staff must explain product features and position products
correctly
Motivate and Energize the Frontline
 Use full range of available rewards effectively, including:
 Job content
➔ People are motivated knowing they are doing a good job
 Feedback and recognition

➔ People derive a sense of identity and belonging to an organization
from feedback and recognition
 Goal accomplishment
➔ Specific, difficult but attainable, and accepted goals are strong
motivators
Service Leadership
and Culture
Service Leadership and Culture
 Charismatic/transformational leadership:
➔ Change frontline personnel’s values and goals to be consistent
with the firm
➔ Motivate staff to perform at their best
 Service culture can be defined as:

➔ Shared perceptions of what is important
➔ Shared values and beliefs of why they are important
A strong service culture focuses the entire organization on

the frontline, with the top management informed and
actively involved
Summary
 Service employees are crucially

important to firm’s success
➔ Source of customer loyalty and
competitive advantage
 Frontline work is difficult and

stressful; employees are
boundary spanners, undergo
emotional labor, face a variety of
conflicts
 Understand cycles of failure,

mediocrity, and success
Summary
 Know how to get HRM aspect right

➔ Hire the right people
➔ Identify the best candidate
➔ Train service employees actively
➔ Empower the frontline
➔ Build high-performance service delivery teams
➔ Motivate and energize people
➔ Unions have a role to play
 Understand role of service culture and service leadership in

sustaining service excellence

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Services Marketing 7e, Global Edition

 Why Study Services?

 What are Services?

 Marketing Challenges Posed by Services

 Extended Marketing Mix Required for Services

 Integration of Marketing with Other Management Functions

 Developing Effective Service Marketing Strategies

 Services dominate most economies and are growing

 Understanding services offers you a personal competitive

Contribution of Service Industries to GDP Globally

Source: The World Factbook 2008, Central Intelligence Agency

Jersey (97%), Cayman Islands (95%), Hong Kong (92%)

Argentina (57%), Russia (55%)

Indonesia (41%), China (40%)

Saudi Arabia (35%)

Wholesale & Retail

Source: US Bureau of Economic Analysis, Industry Economics Accounts, 2007

 Most new jobs are generated by services

➔ Significant training and educational qualifications required,

➔ Will service jobs be lost to lower-cost countries? Yes, some service

Time, per Capita Income

 Powerful forces are transforming service markets

 Forces that reshape:

Innovation in service products & delivery systems, stimulated by better technology

Customers have more choices and exercise more power

Success hinges on: ▪ Understanding customers and competitors

▪ Rising consumer expectations

▪ Push to increase shareholder value

▪ More companies operating on transnational

 The historical view

 A fresh perspective: Benefits without Ownership

Five broad categories within non-ownership

Rented goods Defined space Labor and

Access to shared Access to and

 In exchange for their money, time, and effort, service

Fast-Food Restaurant Health Club

 A firm’s market offerings are divided into core product

 Need to distinguish between:

 Manufacturing firms are reformulating and enhancing

 Differences exist amongst services depending on what is

 Classification of services into

➔ cooperate actively with the service operation

 Managers should think about process and output from

 Less physical involvement

 Production and consumption are separable

 Ethical standards required:

 Physical presence of recipients not required

 Core content of services is information-based

 Most intangible form of service

➔ Into enduring forms of service output

 Line between information processing and mental

 Marketing management tasks in the service sector differ

 Eight common differences between services and goods but

What are marketing implications of these differences?

Difference Implications Marketing-Related Tasks

▪ Services are often ▪ Greater risk & ▪ Educate customers on

▪ Interaction between ▪ Develop user-friendly

Difference Implications Marketing-Related Tasks

▪ Time factor often ▪ Time is money; ▪ Find ways to compete on

▪ Distribution may take ▪ Electronic channels or ▪ Create user-friendly,