Service Marketing

3
Chapter Three Customer Expectation
of Services
 CHAPTER THREE

Customer Expectation of Services

Meaning & Types of Service Expectation
Levels of expectations
Factors that influencing customer
expectations
 Role of consumer expectations
Methods of managing customer’s
expectation.
Customer Perception of Service
 Customer perceptions
Customer Satisfaction
May 27, 2024 Service Quality 2
Customer expectation
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 Meaning and Types of Expected Service

Customer expectations are beliefs about

service delivery that serve as standards or
reference points against which performance is
judged.
Belief: Assumptions and convictions that are
held to be true, by an individual or a group,
regarding concepts, events, people, and
things.
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 Types of Expectations
Dual Customer Expectation Levels
Desired Service:
Level of service that Desired Service

customer hopes to receive

Zone of
Adequate service: Tolerance
Level of service the
customer will accept
Adequate Service
Zone of tolerance:
 is the variation in service that
customers recognize and are
willing to accept.
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 The Zone of Tolerance
 Range or window in which customers do not notice service
performance.
 When service falls outside this range(either very high or very
low), the service gets the customer’s attention in either a
positive or negative way
Zone of Tolerance and Importance of Service Dimensions
• as a service dimension becomes more important zone of
tolerance will narrow and desired and adequate levels will
increase
Zones of Tolerance for First-Time and Recovery Service
• Consumers have a narrower zone of tolerance and a higher set
of expectations for a service recovery than for the first time
service experience.
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Figure 4.6 Factors That Influence Desired Service
Factors That Influence Desired of Service

Lasting
Lasting Service
Service
Intensifiers
Intensifiers

Desired Service

Personal
Personal Needs
Needs Zone
of
Tolerance

Adequate Service

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 Factors that Influence Desired Service
1. Lasting Service Intensifiers
• Individual, stable factors that lead the
customer to a higher understanding of the
service. This can be driven by another person
or a group of people.
2. Personal Needs
• Lasting service intensifiers are also driven by
an individual’s personal service philosophy.

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 Factors That Influence Adequate Service

Temporary
Temporary Service
Service
Intensifiers
Intensifiers

Desired Service
Perceived
Perceived Service
Service
Alternatives
Alternatives Zone
of
Tolerance
Self-Perceived
Self-Perceived
Service
Service Role
Role Predicted
Predicted
Adequate Service
Service
Service

Situational
Situational
Factors
Factors

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Factors that Influence Adequate Service
1. Temporary Service Intensifiers
• Short-term individual factors that make a customer more
aware of the need for service.
2. Perceived Service Alternatives
• Other service providers that may perform the same or similar
services.
3. Self-perceived service role
• Customer involvement in the delivery of the service.
4. Situational Factors
• Usually factors beyond the control of the service provider

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Factors that Influence Adequate Service

Predicted Service:
 believe will receive; takes in all the
circumstances and modifies expectations.
• Explicit service promises
• Implicit service promises
• Word of mouth communication
• Past experiences

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 Factors that Influence Desired and Predicted Service
•Explicit --- personal and non personal statements from the
organization---Advertising, personal selling, contracts, other
communications --- usually increases desired level and narrows
zone
•Implicit--- ---service related cues
-Tangibles --
Price -- price directly related to predicted service and
inversely related to width of zone.
Distribution - multiple outlets
Service Related Cues Other Tangibles --
•Service personnel
•Tangible cues
•Other customers
•Firm image - if high than zone widens Pre-service
waiting .
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 How Services Marketers Can Influence Factors
Factor Possible Influence Strategies
Perceived service Be fully aware of competitive offerings, and where
possible and appropriate, match them.
alternatives
Self-perceived service role Educate customers to understand their roles and perform
them better.
Word-of-mouth Simulate word of mouth in advertising by using
testimonials and opinion leaders.
communications
Identify influencers and opinion leaders for the service
and concentrate marketing efforts on them.
Use incentives with existing customers to encourage them
to say positive things about the service.
Past experience Use marketing research to profile customers’ previous
experience with similar services.
Situational factors Use service guarantees to assure customers about service
recovery regardless of the situational factors that occur.
Predicted service Tell customers when service provision is higher than what
can normally be expected so that predictions of future
service encounters will not be inflated.
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 Points to ponder!!!

• What does a service marketer do if customer

expectations are “unrealistic”?
• How does a company exceed customer service
expectations?
• Do customer service expectations continually
escalate?

• Why Is the Expectation of a Consumer Important in

Marketing?

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What does a service marketer do if customer expectations
are “unrealistic”?
* Under promise
* Reality check after purchase

How does a company exceed customer service

expectations?
Honor promises don’t work on exceeding expectations
How does a service company stay ahead of competition in
meeting customer expectations?
Meet customer’s expectations better than the competition
Do customer service expectations continually escalate?
 Desired service expectations are relatively stable
 Adequate service expectations rise as quickly as service
Maydelivery
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Why Is the Expectation of a Consumer Important in
Marketing?

 Facts
Purchase Decisions
Dispel Rumors
Promote Customer service
Expert Insight

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 Role of Consumer Expectations
 During Pre purchase Phase --- higher expectations
more likely to purchase.
 During Service Encounter --- expectations modified
(however usually not desired or ideal)
 During Post purchase Phase --- altered and impact
over time

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 Managing Consumer Expectations During
Pre purchase Phase
 Learn what customers expect.
 Ask employees and customers.
 Tell customers what to expect.
 All factors above “line of visibility”
 Consistently provide the service customers expect.
 Forms concrete expectations

Managing Consumer Expectations During

Service Encounter
o Communicate with customers during the service.
o If possible, modify the service to meet customer
expectations.
o Explain why service cannot be modified.
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 Managing Consumer Expectations During
Post purchase Phase

 Communicate - expectations were met?

 Develop a follow-up program.
 Develop a procedure for dealing with
dissatisfied customers.

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 Customer Perception

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 PERCEPTION
 The process by which an individual selects,
organizes, and interprets stimuli into a meaningful
and coherent picture of the world.
Perception is the process by which people select, organize, and
interpret information.
The way in which individuals analyze and interpret incoming
information and make sense of it.
 Perception is the cognitive impression that is formed of "reality"
which in turn influences the individual's actions and behavior toward
that object.
EXAMPLES
Advertising that is directed at the creation of a
specific image or perception of a Company, Product, or Service.
Mouth Publicity.
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 Dynamics of Perception
• Sensation – immediate and direct response of the
sensory organs to stimuli.
• Stimulus – any unit of input to any of the senses.
• Sensory receptors – Eyes, Ears, Nose, Mouth and
Skin
• THE ABSOLUTE THRESHOLD:-
– The lowest level at which an individual can experience
a sensation. [ Detecting difference between
“something and nothing”]
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 • Sensory Adaptation:-
– Getting used to senses.
• The Differential Threshold:-
– Minimal difference detected between two similar
stimuli
– Ernest Weber 19th Century.
• Marketing Applications:-
– Negative changes are not readily seen (price rise,
reduce in quantity)
– Positive changes are clearly seen.

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 Customer Satisfaction
• All customers want to be satisfied.
• Customer loyalty is only due to the lack of a
better alternative
• Giving customers some extra value will
delight them by exceeding their expectations
and insure their return

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 Customer Feedback and
Word-of-Mouth
• The average business only hears from 4% of their customers who are
dissatisfied with their products or services. Of the 96% who do not
bother to complain, 25% of them have serious problems.

• The 4% complainers are more likely to stay with the supplier than are the
96% non-complainers.

• About 60% of the complainers would stay as customers if their problem

was resolved and 95% would stay if the problem was resolved quickly.

• A dissatisfied customer will tell between 10 and 20 other people about

their problem.

• A customer who has had a problem resolved by a company will tell about
5 people about their situation.

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 Customer satisfaction Model: (Teboul Model)

Company offer Customer needs

(product or service)

Needs not fulfilled Customer satisfaction

Total satisfaction is achieved when offer matches the need i.e. circle
is superimposed on the square
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 Service organizations and customer satisfaction

• Difficult but not impossible

• Determine key performance indicators

• Set Targets – SMART goals
• Make teams
• Analyze them on weekly basis
• Standardize
• Sustain

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 Categories of customers:

Angry customers

Demanding customers

Passive customers

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 Good Customer Service

Good service is when the customer gets

treatment that meets his/her expectations.

Customer What Customer

Expectation receives

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 Bad Customer Service

Bad Service is when customer gets treatment

which is less than his/her expectations

Customer What Customer

Expectation receives

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 Excellent Customer Service

When the customer gets a little more than what

he/she expected, Good Service becomes Excellent
Service

Customer What Customer

Expectation receives
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