IntroductionThe theories to be applied in this paper come from the literature on services marketing. Lovelock and Wirtz (2007) outline a number of these theories in their work and provide a useful insight into the way services marketing is distinguished from traditional product based marketing. Their work is preceded by Zeithaml and Bitner (1996) who similarly provided a number of theoretical frameworks for understanding how services marketing is a branch of study that stands out in the general marketing literature. The theoretical perspectives to be discussed in this report are tangibility and heterogeneity, gap theory and servicescape. The theoretical perspectives provide for an in-depth understanding of the nature of services marketing and how managers can use this understanding to measure customer perceptions and expectations. The theories will be applied to a discussion of personal service experiences contained in the appendices.
Tangibility
One important area of discussion in both theoretical works is tangibility. Physical product marketing is distinguished from services marketing by virtue of the product and service characteristics. Physical products such as hair care products and toothpaste are considered to be tangible, however services like banking and hair dressing are intangible. This has implications for measurement and assessment as physical products are routinely able to be measured against a standard set of criteria or variables (Wakefield et al., 1994). Intangibility of services means that different types of standards and criteria for assessment need to be used. This means that marketing professionals must resort to specific forms of measurement that rely more on the feedback of consumers than what is typically used for assessment of physical products. In applying the theory of tangibility to the service encounter journal, it becomes apparent that the experience of the customer is highly subjective. The experience of the restaurant dining, for example, which is also the most satisfying for the author in the journal entries, is one where the author and fellow diners were very impressed. This could, however, have been a good night for the waiter in question. This could have been a night where he was feeling elated because of good news in his personal life. He could have been in an exceptionally good mood or may have just been offered a raise or even a very generous tip from other diners. To the experience of those at the author’s table, he seemed a very good waiter and one who was highly professional and very skilled in his work. This is, however, a personal judgement held on that night’s dining. The following night or the night before could have been vastly different and so there are a couple of problems with measuring service quality in this way, according to notions of tangibility.
On the first level, there is the problem of consistency (Keillor, Lewison, Hult & Hauser, 2007). Can the waiter in question deliver the same degree of customer satisfaction to every table in the restaurant on the same night and on consistent nights that he is working? Is his quality of service provision dependent on personal mood and feeling that may be different from day to day? This is clearly a challenge for service quality assessment where there is point in time assessment gathering on behalf of those consumers.
One important area of discussion in both theoretical works is tangibility. Physical product marketing is distinguished from services marketing by virtue of the product and service characteristics. Physical products such as hair care products and toothpaste are considered to be tangible, however services like banking and hair dressing are intangible. This has implications for measurement and assessment as physical products are routinely able to be measured against a standard set of criteria or variables (Wakefield et al., 1994). Intangibility of services means that different types of standards and criteria for assessment need to be used. This means that marketing professionals must resort to specific forms of measurement that rely more on the feedback of consumers than what is typically used for assessment of physical products. In applying the theory of tangibility to the service encounter journal, it becomes apparent that the experience of the customer is highly subjective. The experience of the restaurant dining, for example, which is also the most satisfying for the author in the journal entries, is one where the author and fellow diners were very impressed. This could, however, have been a good night for the waiter in question. This could have been a night where he was feeling elated because of good news in his personal life. He could have been in an exceptionally good mood or may have just been offered a raise or even a very generous tip from other diners. To the experience of those at the author’s table, he seemed a very good waiter and one who was highly professional and very skilled in his work. This is, however, a personal judgement held on that night’s dining. The following night or the night before could have been vastly different and so there are a couple of problems with measuring service quality in this way, according to notions of tangibility.
On the first level, there is the problem of consistency (Keillor, Lewison, Hult & Hauser, 2007). Can the waiter in question deliver the same degree of customer satisfaction to every table in the restaurant on the same night and on consistent nights that he is working? Is his quality of service provision dependent on personal mood and feeling that may be different from day to day? This is clearly a challenge for service quality assessment where there is point in time assessment gathering on behalf of those consumers.
On the second level, there is the problem of subjectivity based on the conditions of the moment. This relates to the first point, as there may have been certain factors such as a charming lady at the table who took his attention, and thereby motivated him to increase his professionalism and charm to do a better job. Subjectivity is therefore a challenge in services marketing assessment because the intangibility of services makes it difficult for a consistent standard of measure (Park, Lehto & Park, 2008). Moreover, the problem of subjectivity is not just the service provider but also those of the service recipients. A bad day for either side could result in a harsher and unrealistic assessment of service offering.
Heterogeneity
An additional challenge in services marketing that relates to the concept of tangibility is heterogeneity. Heterogeneity reflects the differences in place, time, conditions and mode of service delivery. Where there are significant geographical differences or differences in culture, language or customs, it is a problem to ensure that the same standard of service delivery is achieved. This is similar to the challenges raised above and there are a range of subjective experiences and judgements that consumers will go through when in receipt of a given service (Myhal et al., 2008, pp.445). This is not always a challenge with some forms of service delivery, however, as the time and place gap can be narrowed by technology.
An additional challenge in services marketing that relates to the concept of tangibility is heterogeneity. Heterogeneity reflects the differences in place, time, conditions and mode of service delivery. Where there are significant geographical differences or differences in culture, language or customs, it is a problem to ensure that the same standard of service delivery is achieved. This is similar to the challenges raised above and there are a range of subjective experiences and judgements that consumers will go through when in receipt of a given service (Myhal et al., 2008, pp.445). This is not always a challenge with some forms of service delivery, however, as the time and place gap can be narrowed by technology.
An experience that contrasts with the pleasant dining one above was the online software purchase. This is a negative experience by comparison as it was amongst the least favoured of the experiences. In this case, the company had the chance to deliver a high quality of service universally. Time and distance can be addressed with the Internet as the medium of service (Theotokis, Vlachos & Pramatari, 2008). The company failed in this case, as service quality was very poor. The Internet-based service – the significance and size of which is growing all the time – has the potential to even out the problem of heterogeneity, but thus requires attention of the online service delivery models that are now becoming more developed and diverse. With the Internet service, however, there is a high degree of risk because of the complex nature of the global web and the differences in national legal jurisdictions that have influence over domestic nodes. This can be explained by the use of the three level of service model used by Dann (2008). In this model, service products are categorized as search goods, experience goods and credence goods (Dann, 2008, p.334). This is a scale along which services can be readily experienced and therefore judgements more easily formed on those services prior to making a decision to consume.
The high certain outcome services are those of the search good category. Consumers can readily seek out information to make judgements about how suitable the service is for their needs. The dining service could fall into this category, as there are food reviews published on the Internet and word of mouth can provide a fair guide as to the suitability of the service. To the author, the popularity of the restaurant was also a key indicator of the quality of the service. The second category – the experience goods – are typically less tangible, more subjective to the consumer but still with a fair degree of predictability of the service experience (Dann, 2008, p.334). An example of this category could be a film or a play; whereby one’s subjective preference has a significant impact on one’s judgement of the service product. Finally, the credence level service products are those that are most intangible and complex to the consumer. This is also due to the fact that there may be professional or technical knowledge for which the consumer does not possess. This is reflective of the experience of the author with the software purchase. This service product was a credence level one, as the technical knowledge of its evaluation, the lack of knowledge of service providers and how to assess them, and the lack of awareness of sources of evaluation for the software were each factors limiting the effective decision making capacity of the consumer.
Gap Theory
Another important theoretical model in the services marketing literature is that of gap theory. Gap theory stresses the gap that may exist between perceptions of service provision and the consumer’s expectation of that service (Webster & Sundaram, 2009). In going to the restaurant, the author and companions had a fair expectation of a good dining experience and service to go with it. However, expectations were exceeded in a number of ways. Thus, gap theory can account for the difference in consumer experience and expectation either way in the positive or the negative. For services marketing professionals, this is a key way of viewing measurement and change techniques in services products delivery.
Another important theoretical model in the services marketing literature is that of gap theory. Gap theory stresses the gap that may exist between perceptions of service provision and the consumer’s expectation of that service (Webster & Sundaram, 2009). In going to the restaurant, the author and companions had a fair expectation of a good dining experience and service to go with it. However, expectations were exceeded in a number of ways. Thus, gap theory can account for the difference in consumer experience and expectation either way in the positive or the negative. For services marketing professionals, this is a key way of viewing measurement and change techniques in services products delivery.
Effective measurement of perceptions of the consumer’s experience against their pre-service expectations is a good way to form a view over time where the service quality is being framed in the eye of the consumer and the market more generally. SERVQUAL is one such measurement technique that has popularly been employed to assess this (Grace & O'Cass, 2004). It is a means of quantifying the expectancy gap that exists between current level of service provision and what customers expect is the ideal level of service. The gap in consumer experience was significant for two of the experiences listed in the journal – namely, the online software purchase and the dining experience. There are factors in the measurement of this gap that are common to both, such as the attention of the service provider to the needs of the consumer and the willingness of the service provider to offer service quality above and beyond the consumer’s expectation.
Servicescapes
The early theoretical work of Bitner (1992) on servicescape is an important one for the study of services marketing. She proposed that the typology of service providers according to the physical properties of the service location can be used for strategic management and marketing. The bank experience in the journal, however, is one instance where the physical properties of the service location was established to enhance consumer experience, but some of the values of the workers were inconsistent with high quality service provision expectations. This contrasts with both the dining and the hair dressing experience; whereby location was essential in contributing to the consumer experience, but the human face to face element was highly essential in leaving the greatest impact on the consumers. O’Cass and Grace (2003, p.453) and Hoffman et al (2003) confirm this view by asserting a combination of word of mouth, servicescape and employee attitudes are highly essential in positive brand reinforcement with service products. The online environment is a unique servicescape in the services marketing and management arena (Ozdemir & Trott, 2009, p.285). It is one in which there is a natural inclination to distrust and suspect online service providers or other hidden third parties with criminal and fraudulent intent. Service providers must therefore strive to rise above this cloud of suspicion on behalf of consumers and attempt to build trust in their service and in the online infrastructure that is so essential in its delivery.
The early theoretical work of Bitner (1992) on servicescape is an important one for the study of services marketing. She proposed that the typology of service providers according to the physical properties of the service location can be used for strategic management and marketing. The bank experience in the journal, however, is one instance where the physical properties of the service location was established to enhance consumer experience, but some of the values of the workers were inconsistent with high quality service provision expectations. This contrasts with both the dining and the hair dressing experience; whereby location was essential in contributing to the consumer experience, but the human face to face element was highly essential in leaving the greatest impact on the consumers. O’Cass and Grace (2003, p.453) and Hoffman et al (2003) confirm this view by asserting a combination of word of mouth, servicescape and employee attitudes are highly essential in positive brand reinforcement with service products. The online environment is a unique servicescape in the services marketing and management arena (Ozdemir & Trott, 2009, p.285). It is one in which there is a natural inclination to distrust and suspect online service providers or other hidden third parties with criminal and fraudulent intent. Service providers must therefore strive to rise above this cloud of suspicion on behalf of consumers and attempt to build trust in their service and in the online infrastructure that is so essential in its delivery.
Conclusion
The services marketing literature provides a wealth of theoretical models, frameworks and perspectives from which to view the nature of service provision and its measurement. Theoretical perspectives reviewed in this report include tangibility and heterogeneity, gap theory and the notion of servicescape. Whilst these are just a handful of the many theoretical perspectives now emerging in this field, they are able to provide a window into the complexity of services marketing and management. The differences between satisfying and unsatisfying services, as discussed in the report, narrow down to the perceptions of consumers as they are formed throughout the consumer experience. The positive experiences are those in which the service provider and its employees gave close attention to the needs and perceptions of the consumer. In contrast, those with poor attention to consumer requirements resulted in poor or sloppy service provision. The result is understandable that the journals reflect a willingness for the author to utilize those services again, or to avoid those services in future, as the case may be with the poor service providers.
The services marketing literature provides a wealth of theoretical models, frameworks and perspectives from which to view the nature of service provision and its measurement. Theoretical perspectives reviewed in this report include tangibility and heterogeneity, gap theory and the notion of servicescape. Whilst these are just a handful of the many theoretical perspectives now emerging in this field, they are able to provide a window into the complexity of services marketing and management. The differences between satisfying and unsatisfying services, as discussed in the report, narrow down to the perceptions of consumers as they are formed throughout the consumer experience. The positive experiences are those in which the service provider and its employees gave close attention to the needs and perceptions of the consumer. In contrast, those with poor attention to consumer requirements resulted in poor or sloppy service provision. The result is understandable that the journals reflect a willingness for the author to utilize those services again, or to avoid those services in future, as the case may be with the poor service providers.
Reference List
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