S

M

Chapter 5
CUSTOMER
PERCEPTI ONS OF
SERVI CE
Objectives for Chapter 5:
Customer Perceptions of Service

Provide you with definitions and understanding
of customer satisfaction and service quality
Show that service encounters or the moments
of truth are the building blocks of customer
perceptions
Highlight strategies for managing customer
perceptions of service
Customer perception
Customers perception is relative to
expectation.

Evaluation of service quality are in constant
flux.
Service Quality
The customers judgment of overall
excellence of the service provided in
relation to the quality that was expected.
Process and outcome quality are both
important.
SERVQUAL Attributes
RELIABILITY
RESPONSIVENESS
ASSURANCE
EMPATHY
TANGIBLES
Reliability
Ability to perform promised service

Promise of core service attribute
Responsiveness
Willingness to help and prompt service


Assurance
Firms ability to inspire Trust and confidence




Empathy
Caring and individualized attention to
customers





Tangibles
Physical facility, equipment written
materials

Important dimension for hospitality service



Outcomes of
Customer Satisfaction
Increased customer retention
Positive word-of-mouth communications
Increased revenues
Figure 4-3
Relationship between Customer
Satisfaction and Loyalty in Competitive
Industries
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Very
dissatisfied
Dissatisfied Neither
satisfied nor
dissatisfied
Satisfied Very
satisfied
Satisfaction measure
L
o
y
a
l
t
y

(
r
e
t
e
n
t
i
o
n
)
Source: James L. Heskett, W. Earl Sasser, Jr., and Leonard A. Schlesinger, The Service Profit Chain, (New York, NY: The Free Press, 1997), p. 83.
The Five Dimensions of
Service Quality
Ability to perform the promised
service dependably and accurately.
Knowledge and courtesy of
employees and their ability to
convey trust and confidence.
Physical facilities, equipment, and
appearance of personnel.
Caring, individualized attention the
firm provides its customers.
Willingness to help customers and
provide prompt service.
Tangibles
Reliability
Responsiveness
Assurance
Empathy
Exercise to
Identify Service Attributes
In groups of five, choose a services industry and spend 10 minutes brainstorming
specific requirements of customers in each of the five service quality dimensions.
Be certain the requirements reflect the customers point of view.

Reliability:

Assurance:

Tangibles:

Empathy:

Responsiveness:


Perceived Value
Overall assessment of Utility

What they receive and what is given
Factors influence Customer Perception
Service Encounter

Evidence of Service

Image

Price
The Service Encounter

occurs any time the customer interacts with the
firm

Vivid impression is developed from experiences
with service Encounters
*vivid- having the clarity and freshness of
immediate experience.

Check-In
Request Wake-Up Call
Checkout
Bellboy Takes to Room
Restaurant Meal
Figure 4-4
A Service Encounter
Cascade for a Hotel Visit
Common Themes in Critical
Service Encounters Research
Recovery: Adaptability:
Spontaneity: Coping:
Employee Response
to Service Delivery
System Failure
Employee Response
to Customer Needs
and Requests
Employee Response
to Problem Customers
Unprompted and
Unsolicited Employee
Actions and Attitudes
The Service Encounter


Negative Experience with Any One of the Encounters may
lead to Negative Overall Evaluation of the Service

First Impression lead to successive positive feeling

*unprompted- proceeding from natural feeling .
* unsolicited- not asked for or unasked.
The Service Encounter


All the Encounters are equally Important

Composite of Positive Experiences develops Positive Image
The Service Encounter


Certain Encounters are Key to Customer Satisfaction


The Service Encounter


Types of Encounter:

Remote Encounter
Phone Encounter
Face to face Encounter


Evidence of Service


Types of Encounter:

People
Process
Physical Evidence