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Services Marketing
Notes Service customers experience a greater perceived risk as they cannot rate a particular
service until it is consumed. Therefore, service providers should try to attach an element
of tangibility to their service offering.
Customers find themselves in different buying situations, from purchase to purchase and
service transaction to service transaction.
The consumer goes through several steps while making a service purchase decision: need
arousal, recognition of the need, level of involvement, search for information, identification
of alternatives, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decisions, purchase actions and other
decisions, and post purchase behaviour.
It is not mandatory that all customers will follow all the eight steps of the decision-
making process all the time. Those customers who are familiar with the service offer and
the brand will not be following the whole sequence.
3.6 Keywords
Augmented Product: involves the addition of supplementary services to the basic offering.
Core Product: aims to satisfy important needs of consumers.
Consideration Set: brands that are suggested by others.
Cue: commercial or social stimulus that arouses a need.
Drive: physical stimulus that arouses a need.
Evoked Set: brands that a consumer recognizes and considers during purchase.
Extensive Problem Solving: high involvement problem solving process.
Limited Problem Solving: there is a small amount of problem solving for the customer.
Physical Evidence: adding tangibility to the service offering.
Routinised Response: repurchase of the same service offering time and again.
Service Encounters: actual interaction between the service provider and the customer.
Tangible Level of Product: manages the appearance of the product.
3.7 Review Questions
1. Do you think that the argument of some theorist that the traditional Ps are not enough for
services marketing is valid? Give suitable examples to prove your point.
2. It is easy to differentiate products from one another when compared to services. Why?
3. Promotion of service offers cannot be carried out in isolation without promoting the
service provider. Comment
4. Explain the importance of service personnel in the entire service process.
5. Suppose you are the marketing head of a banking firm. What steps will you take to
minimise customers perceived risk?
6. Discuss the types of buying situation that you face in your life. Give examples from your
experiences.
7. As a marketer for a tour and travel company, how can you play with cues to attract
customers? Can you also control drive?
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