Services Marketing
by
P Sivarajadhanavel
Part 2 Focus on the Customer
Chapter – 3 – Consumer Behavior in Services
Chapter -4 – Customer Expectations of Service
Chapter – 5 – Customer Perceptions of Service
The Customer GAP
• The customer gap is
the difference
between customer
expectations and
perceptions
Expected
service
Customer Gap
Perceived
service
Chapter – 3
Consumer Behavior in Services
Objectives
 Enhance understanding of how consumers choose and evaluate
services, through focusing on factors that are particularly relevant for
services.
 Describe how consumers judge goods versus services in terms of
search, experience, and credence criteria.
 Develop the elements of consumer behavior that a services marketer
must understand – choice behavior, Consumer experiences, and post
experience evaluation.
 Explore how differences among consumers (cultural differences,
group decision making) affect consumer behavior and influence
services marketing Strategies.
Consumer Problem
Today’s consumers
main problem
Time Deficiency
Consumer behavior
• Consumer behavior is the study of how people buy, what
they buy, when they buy and why they buy.
• It attempts to understand the buyer decision
processes/buyer decision making process, both
individually and in groups.
• It studies characteristics of individual consumers such as
demographics, psychographics, and behavioural
variables in an attempt to understand people's wants.
• It also tries to assess influences on the consumer from
groups such as family, friends, reference groups, and
society in general.
Definition
• Belch and Belch define consumer behavior as
'the process and activities people engage in
when searching for, selecting, purchasing, using,
evaluating, and disposing of products and
services so as to satisfy their needs and
desires'.
• Consumer Behavior
A consumer market is any market in which the
end consumers are the purchasers and users of
the goods and services.
An industrial market, on the other hand, is any
market in which other businesses, rather than
end consumers, are the purchasers of the goods
and services
The Consumer Purchase Decision
• Consumer behavior refers to the
decision-making process that consumers
use when purchasing goods and services.
These purchase decisions involve many
factors and steps:
• Search Qualities
• Experience Quality
• Credence Qualities
Consumer Evaluation Processes for
Services
Search Qualities
attributes a consumer can determine prior to
purchase of a product
Experience Qualities
attributes a consumer can determine only
after purchase or during consumption of a
product
Credence Qualities
characteristics that may be impossible to
evaluate even after purchase and consumption
Continuum of Evaluation for
Different Types of Products
Most
Goods
Easy to evaluate
Most
Services
Difficult to evaluate
High in search High in experienceHigh in credence
qualities
qualities
qualities
Stages in consumer Decision making
and Evaluation of Services
• Consumer
Choice
– Need
Recognition
– Information
Search
– Evaluation
of
Alternatives
– Purchase
• Consumer
Experience
• Post
experience
Evaluation
Need Recognition
• Psychological needs – are
biological needs such as food,
water, and sleep
• Safety and security needs –
include shelter, protection and
security
Self-actualisation
• Social needs – are for affection,
friendship, and acceptance
Esteem
• Ego needs- are for prestige,
success, accomplishment, and
self-esteem
Love
• Self-actualization – involves self
fulfillment and enriching
experiences
Safety
Physiological
 Information Search
 Personal and Nonpersonal sources




Word of Mouth recommendation (WOM)
Reference groups
Media communications
Internet sources
 Perceived Risks in information search
Factors affecting perceived risk:






The level of tangible evidence
Buyer involvement
New purchase
Personal risk tolerance
Situational factors
Legal safeguards
 Technology Spotlight
Evaluation of Alternatives
Evoked set of alternatives that group of products that a
consumer considers acceptable options in a given product category
A process of choice reduction.
‘Rules’ based approaches used.
Critical attributes, average score of all attributes,
or weighted attributes.
• Example:
– Professional – Bank, dry cleaner, or hair salon
– Nonprofessional services – performing the services for themselves or
hiring some to perform them
Service Purchase
• In the purchase of services consumers
have less idea on the offering as
purchased and produced and consumed
simultaneously.
• Consumers make purchase decision
before experience of services
• But incase of product purchase consumer
have tangible products in making
purchase decision
Consumer Experience
•
•
•
•
•
•
Service as process
Service Provision as Drama
Service Roles and Scripts
The compatibility of service customers
Customer Co-production
Emotion and Mood
Post Experience Evaluation
•
•
•
•
Word-of-Mouth
Attribution of Dissatisfaction
Positive or Negative Biases
Brand Loyalty
Understanding differences
among consumers
• Global Differences – The role of culture
– Values and attitudes differ across culture
– Manners and customs
– Material Culture
– Aesthetics
– Educational and Social Institutions
• Group Decision Making
– Households
– Organizations
END