Word count: 1362
The service sector forms 60% of the gross domestic product in different parts of the
globe. The essay will focus on various theories and concepts that form the cornerstone of the
service industry and my experience. The 3 stage model of service consumption is divided into
3 stages which are pre-purchase, service encounter, and post-purchase. The model does
facilitate the comprehension and management of customer behaviour by businesses.
The pre-purchase stage focusses in my purchase of clothes focussed on identifying the
type of clothes that I wanted, carrying out information search of the stores and finally making
a final decision to purchase my clothes from Samira Clothing line. The second stage focuses
on the service encounter stage involved I personally walking to the stores to purchase the
clothes that I wanted. I selected the store because based on my online search they offered
most of the products at affordable prices and they also gave discounts when one purchased
more than five items from the store. The last stage is the post purchase, the store had a
suggestion box where the customers were allowed to place their feedback on the service
offered in the store.
In the service consumption the perceived risks that arise are due to the uncertainty
experienced by consumers when they are making their purchases. My experience will focus
on the car industry. Functional risk involves the fear that the car will not be able to achieve its
intended purpose. Secondly, social risk focuses on the fear that the people in my social status
will fail to accept my car based on the status perception. The financial risk focuses on the
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maintenance aspect being above my budget. The physical risk arises from the danger of
taking place in an accident. The temporal, sensory, and psychological risk were minimal
when it comes to the purchase of the car.
According to Swartz & Iacobucci, (2000), the service sector perfectly fits within the
theatre metaphor based on the elements that cut across the disciplines. The aim of the service
theatre framework is to offer their customers exemplary services that will satisfy their needs.
The elements that cut across the two disciplines are audience who are the customers whom
the actors, service providers, have created products to meet their expectations (p.24). The
setting in the service industry refers to the environment where the service is being provided
like at the Samira clothing line.
The backstage of the firm refers to the preparation that are invisible to the customers
this involves the making of the clothes. On the other hand, the backstage of the audience
refers to the awareness of the customer on the service being offered in this case the company
has a website where the customer can check the product line up they have. The front stage of
actors and audience focuses on the impression imparted on the customers by the service
providers. The store had arranged the clothes in an orderly manner, good lighting and
spacious to hence attracting not only but other customers to the store.
The expectancy-disconfirmation model was developed by Oliver in 1980, it proposes
that the customer satisfaction level does arise from the differences between the perceived and
expected performance. The model has four components which are expectations, perceived
performance, disconfirmation and satisfaction. Expectation refers to anticipation of the
customer on the services and products based on their research. Conversely satisfaction refers
to the positive disconfirmation that occurs when the service provided exceeds the customer
expectations. On the other hand, a negative disconfirmation refers to the customer getting a
poor service than what they expected (Ordonez de Pablos, 2016, p.306).
The flower service model focuses on two supplementary services which are
facilitating and enhancing supplementary services. Facilitating supplementary focuses on the
service delivery concentrated on the use of core products and it does comprise of order
taking, information, billing and payment. On the other hand, enhancing supplementary
services add more value to the customers and it does comprise of consultation, hospitality,
exceptions and safekeeping. The implications of the model are to ensure that the managers
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focus on each of the petals to ensure reliable care and concern in the aim of satisfying their
customer needs in terms of pricing, quality and level of service required (Kotler, 2013).
The service quality gap model (SERVQUAL) dimensions focuses on the measuring
the customer perception of the quality of service provision. The SERVQUAL model focuses
on various elements that are divided into tangibles, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and
reliability. The model states that the quality of service can be measured by pinpointing the
gaps that arise between the expectation of the service provided by the service provided and
the perceived actual performance experienced (Kotler, 2013).
The gap model stems from the SERVQUAL dimension discussed above. The model
has four gaps which are the listening, the standards and design, service delivery, and external
communications gap (Kotler, 2013). Based on my experience at the Samira Clothing line the
listening gap occurs due to limited market research to determine the needs of the customer,
insufficient service recovery and minimal focus on building the relationship between the
customers and service providers. On the other hand, the standards and service gap is as a
result of the difference between the customer and management perception in the standards
and service gap. Examples of its occurrence are the existence of poor design of the service
system, the lack of service systems that are driven by the customers expected standards and
finally the lack of appropriate services cape and physical evidence.
The third gap focuses on service delivery and consumer expectations, it arises from
weak human resource policies, limited tally of supply and demand and challenges with the
service providers. Lastly, the fourth gap focuses on poor management, poor downward
communication channels and limited integration in marketing needs.
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The Fishbone diagram also referred to as the Ishikawa diagram does focus on the
cause and effect analysis in the service industry and ways of resolving the problems as the
end goal. It has four aspects which are defining the issue, brainstorming, listing of causes and
resolution in the service sector. The Fishbone diagram below is based on my experience in
the coffee industry as an intern
The Pareto analysis focuses on determining the tasks that have the major impact on
the delivery of service to the end customers in the case of the service industry. It is done
through a Pareto chart that does rank the items under consideration in a descending order.
The important aspects are determined via the introduction of the line graph that cuts an 80%
cumulative percentage and the bottom 20% are less important. It highlights the aspects that
will improve service provision (Ordonez de Pablos, 2016, p.306).
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In the Samira Clothing line, the non-monetary aspect focuses mainly on the service
that I as the customer was able to get from the store. The store had exemplary lighting spaces,
proper organization of the stores, cordial atmosphere for shopping, warm and receptive
customer service. On the other hand, the monetary aspect focuses on the prices of the items in
the store. The products are affordable and the clothes shop offers discounts on various
products that it does offer to its customers.
In the 7P’s of marketing, the product is one of the major aspect of a business. The
product differs in the service industry the product is intangible while in the manufacturing
industry it is tangible. In the Samira Clothing line shop, the product they are offering are the
clothes in their store. On the other hand, the intangible product is the service that is offered
by the sales people in the store. The form of service differs from one sales representative to
another and it cannot be stored for future use. Conversely, the clothes are also in different
sizes, colours among other properties to draw in customers. The clothes can be stored and
altered according to the different seasons in a year.
In conclusion, there are different models as discussed in the essay that influence the
marketing process both in the service and manufacturing industry. The application of the
models helps the customers and the business people to improve their needs and expectations.
REFERENCE
Kotler, P., (2013). Marketing Management. Pearson Education South Asia Pte Limited.
Ordonez de Pablos, P.ed., 2016. Managerial Strategies and Solutions for Business Success in
Asia. IGI Global.
Swartz, T. and Iacobucci, D., (2000). Handbook of services marketing and management.
Sage.
