1. Ch. 1 – Understanding Services Marketing Relationships among Company, Customer, Competition:

2. Services Services:deed, performance, or effort • Services are not things, yet they often rely on things for their performance • Provides added value (e.g., convenience, amusement, timeliness, comfort, or health) that are essentially intangible

3. What are Services? You pay for hotel room. You pay for the physical therapist to work on your knee. You pay to see a movie. No ownership What are you paying for? Value

4. Degree of Tangibility salt  soft drinks  detergents  automobiles  cosmetics  fast-food Intangible Dominant  Tangible Dominant   fast-food  advertising agencies  airlines  investment management  consulting teaching

5. What are the tangible and intangible components provided by a hotel? INTANGIBLE Interaction with front desk Anticipate needs Prompt reply Training received by staff TANGIBLE Furniture Lighting Cleanliness Carpeting Parking spaces Key determinant of whether product should be classified as product or service: tangibility

6. Characteristics of Services Vs. Goods Intangibility – most services cannot be seen, touched, held, or put on a shelf. Implications: Greater perceived risk in purchasing Need to add tangible elements

7. Characteristics of Services Vs. Goods Inseparability– for most services, production and consumption of service occur simultaneously. Customers may be involved in co-production. Implications: Manage customer roles in the service interaction Employees affect the service outcome

8. Characteristics of Services Vs. Goods Variability– difficult to standardize the quality of service performance Implications: Difficult to provide consistently excellent service Recognize importance of customer service skills. Service is a live performance

9. Characteristics of Services Vs. Goods Perishability – Most services cannot be produced and stored before consumption. They exist only at the time of their production. Implications: Customers may be turned away or have to wait. We dislike waiting

10. Characteristics of Services Vs. Goods Rental/Access – Services provide temporary possession or access instead of ownership