Page 51 - DMGT510_SERVICES_MARKETING

Services Marketing

Notes that out last, it, and one that serves as a pleasurable (and useful) visual reminder long after
the service has been utilized. The more established the service, the more effective is the
cue.
Price: Price is communicative, and from it, the customer perceives a lot about the offer’s

value, quality and positioning. A discount offered by a retail store, a holiday package tour
company or a hotel might act as a cue. Even without any discounts, the prevalent price
level conveys to the consumer a lot about the service offer’s quality, target and value to
the consumer.

Display: In retailing, visual merchandising is used to great effect in triggering needs. The

customers are allowed to feel empowered in selecting the merchandise themselves, instead
of asking for them, as was prevalent in the old format of retailing. Display of intangibles
may not be possible, but other visualization cues can be used.

Example: Travel agencies use beautiful posters of destinations to act as the cue.
Signage: This is a component of the service brand, which targets the cognitive part of the

customer’s brain—enhancing their knowledge and their ability to recognize. The
recognition stimulates the need for service consumption. Signage is used in outdoor
advertising.
Advertisements and Promotions: They are one of the most effective cues, successfully

stimulating need. The content – including copy and visual – execution seeks to arouse the
need for the service in the customer. News of any new promotions – discounts, freebies
etc. – might also trigger the need.

Distribution Outlets: This is a major source of cues - especially in retailing. In service

outlets, the design, ambience, and atmospherics are examples of cues.

Example: Mobile service operators Orange/Hutch and BPL-Mobile employ this to
advantage.

Social oriented cues are from word-of-mouth and through reference group influences. Due to
the inherent intangibility, services are especially prone to word-of-mouth influences and are
susceptible to need arousals, like movies and plays.
The drive is physical. This takes place when a consumer’s senses of smell, vision, touch-and-feel,
taste and hearing are assaulted by the presence or absence of the service product.

Example: The irregularity and absence of the maidservant might bring discomfort and
inconvenience to a housewife and arouse in her the need for dry-cleaning, laundry services or a
washing machine.
Similarly, while window-shopping, the physical touch and feel of a particular dress or fabric
might trigger the need for the particular product. Fragrances stimulate the olfactory (smell)
sense and evoke memories/reads at a subconscious level of the mind.

Thus display and trials stimulate the need response of the consumer.

3.3.2 Recognition of the Need

There are two types of need recognition: primary and secondary need recognition.
Primary Needs: The consumer categorizes his need by occasions, urgency and priority of purchase.
He recognizes the need to purchase, say, clothes for Diwali, a watch as a wedding gift for

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