Customer Perceptions of Service Quality March 18，2017

Three knowledge points The factors related to the perceptions of service Service encounters, or “moments of truth” service encounter cascade Discussion：how to enhance customer’s tourism service experience?

Why we study service marketing/ management? First of all, we should know which kinds of services are classified as good ones, and which are poor ones. How to percept and evaluate the services we are met and facing? How can we improve them with the way of increasing our (company) income? Meanwhile, customer are satisfied and remain further our customer again!

Do customer perceive QS the same in different countries? A study of American Quality Foundation gave the answer in 90s.

Different countries different perceptions Germany, quality is associated with meeting standards. Japan, perfection. France, luxury. United States, it works. Russia, past, to bribe waiters to get a table. Russia, now, smile, greet customers….,but… Italy, well designed, well produced, elegant, traditional with preserved. Bologna motor show. China, Famous brands, products from J, G, S, HP..?

Discussion? Do Chinese people in different region percept same or different for service quality? Do Chinese people in different ages or different income levels percept same or different for service quality? Which are the distinctive characters for those people? Which are common in characters?

How customers evaluate the service value? Are different customers perceiving service value in same ways? What are typical features different category’s customers usually having? How to divide customers into several categories? What are such criterions?

Perceptions vs.Expectations Perception are always considered relative to expectations. Thus, because expectations are dynamic, evaluations may also shift---over time, from person to person, and from culture to culture.

Factors that influence customer perceptions of service Perceptions of service: service quality, value, customer satisfaction. Service encounters, evidence of service, image, price.

The factors related to the perceptions of service Service encounters Evidence of service Service quality Perceptions of service value Customer satisfaction image Price

Service encounters, or “moments of truth” From the customer’s point of view, the most vivid impression of service occurs in the service encounter, or the moment of truth, when the customer interacts with the service firm.

Example1: a service encounter cascade for a hotel visit Check-in Bellperson takes to room Restaurant meal Wake-up call Check-out

Importance of encounters While early events in the encounter cascade are likely to be especially important, any encounter potentially be critical in determining customer satisfaction and loyalty. If a customer is interacting with a firm for the first time, that initial encounter will create a first impression of the organization.

Types of service encounters There are three/four general types of service encounters: remote encounters, phone encounters, face-to-face encounters, And internet encounters.

Remote encounter ATM, Ticketron, mail-order service through automated dialing ordering. Although there is no direct human contact in these remote encounters, each represents an opportunity for firm to reinforce or establish quality perception in the customer. DHU’s ATM, and ICBC’s ATM Italy Rome, Train ticketing machine. Amsterdam ticket machine.

Remote encounter In remote encounters the tangible evidence of the service and the quality of the technical processes and systems become the primary bases for judging quality.

Phone encounter The judgment of quality in phone encounters is more complex than that in remote encounters because there is greater potential variability in the interaction. Tone of voice, employee knowledge, and effectiveness/efficiency in handling customer issues become important criteria for judging in these encounters.

Phone encounter The judgment of quality in phone encounters is more complex than that in remote encounters because there is greater potential variability in the interaction. Tone of voice, employee knowledge, and effectiveness/efficiency in handling customer issues become important criteria for judging in these encounters.

One critical encounter destroys thirty-years relationship A story of service quality issue in a bank in US.

One critical encounter destroys thirty-years relationship (1) “If you have $1 in a bank or $1 million, I think they owe you the courtesy of stamping your parking ticket,” said John Barrier. One day in 1989 Mr. Barrier paid a visit to his bank in Spokane, Washington. He was wearing his usual shabby cloths and pulled up in his pickup truck,parking in the lot next to the bank. After cashing a check, he went outside to drive away and was stopped by a

One critical encounter destroys thirty-years relationship (2) parking attendant who told him there was a 60-cent fee, but that he could get his parking slip validated in the bank and park for free. No problem,Barrier thought, and he went back into the bank (where, by the way he had been banking for thirty years). The teller looked him up and down and refused to stamp his slip, telling him that the bank

One critical encounter destroys thirty-years relationship (3) validated parking only for people who have transaction. Mr. Barrier then asked to see the bank manager, who also looked him up and down, stood back, and “gave me one of those kinds of looks,” also refusing to validate the parking bill. Mr. Barrier then said, “Fine. You don’t need me, and I don’t need you .” He withdrew all his money and

One critical encounter destroys thirty-years relationship (4) took it down the street to a competing bank, where the first check he deposited was for $1,000,000. Source:”Shabby Millionaire Closes Account, Gives Bank Lesson about Snobbery,” United Press International, in The Arizona Republic, Feb. 21,1989,p.A3.

Face to face encounters Determining and understanding service quality issues in face-to-face context is the most complex of all. Verbal and nonverbal behaviors are both important determinants of quality, as are tangible cues suck as employee dress and other symbols of service(e.g., equipment, informational brochures,physical setting).

My experiences to service perceptions Good: Police service in Rome railway station. Disney land Paris service personnel Automatic tickets selling machines in railway stations in Italy，in Shanghai. KLM air television and DVD services and information services. Shanghai subway trains broadcasting services. Rome subway trains arrival information services. Cruise services. Ships to Japan.

My experiences to service perceptions Poor: Sixth People’s hospital, its reception desk for emergency treatment. Think about how to improve it! Good: also its first aid room.

Exercises In your mind, what kinds of service stories are classified as good or poor? Please recall your memory to write some cases to indicate those, each student should list at least 2 such stories. Furthermore, please use the factors related to the perceptions of service to explain the reason.