SERVICES MARKETING Mr.K.Mohan Kumar

Characteristics of Services

Unit I -16BA727 - Services Marketing - K.Mohan Kumar, AP/MBA 4 Characteristics of Services 1. Intangibility - “u can’t touch this” 2. Production (or performing the service) and Consumption (using the service) - happens at the same time 3. Heterogeneity - services are not always delivered the same way 4. Perishability - cannot be put in inventory or stored for later use ie. You can’t buy 2 haircuts 9/14/2018 Unit I -16BA727 - Services Marketing - K.Mohan Kumar, AP/MBA

Unit I -16BA727 - Services Marketing - K.Mohan Kumar, AP/MBA Characteristics of Services 1. Intangibility - “u can’t touch this” Services cannot be stored Services cannot be protected through patents - therefore a really great travel package and service can be copied a really great physical object can be patented, and NOT allowed to be copied 9/14/2018 Unit I -16BA727 - Services Marketing - K.Mohan Kumar, AP/MBA

Unit I -16BA727 - Services Marketing - K.Mohan Kumar, AP/MBA Characteristics of Services 1. Intangibility - “u can’t touch this” Hard to explain and display Services if you can’t see them Prices are difficult to set - depends on customers expectations 9/14/2018 Unit I -16BA727 - Services Marketing - K.Mohan Kumar, AP/MBA

Unit I -16BA727 - Services Marketing - K.Mohan Kumar, AP/MBA Characteristics of Services 1. Intangibility - “u can’t touch this” Marketing Strategies stress tangible cues, eg. Smiling face use personal information, sources, references use word-of-mouth contact customers after they buy to stimulate continued enthusiasm and hope they “talk it up” 9/14/2018 Unit I -16BA727 - Services Marketing - K.Mohan Kumar, AP/MBA

Unit I -16BA727 - Services Marketing - K.Mohan Kumar, AP/MBA Video presentation on-“Service characteristics - Intangibility, Perishability, Heterogeneity, Ownership” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1jrPiaP5UQ 9/14/2018 Unit I -16BA727 - Services Marketing - K.Mohan Kumar, AP/MBA

Unit I -16BA727 - Services Marketing - K.Mohan Kumar, AP/MBA Characteristics of Services 2. Inseparability of Production (or performing the service) and Consumption (using the service) - happens at the same time Many people involved in delivering a service mass production of services is hard to do 9/14/2018 Unit I -16BA727 - Services Marketing - K.Mohan Kumar, AP/MBA

Unit I -16BA727 - Services Marketing - K.Mohan Kumar, AP/MBA Characteristics of Services 2. Inseparability of Production (or performing the service) and Consumption (using the service) - happens at the same time Marketing Strategies Emphasize how much you train your people - so their ability to give you good service will be high Have many locations so customers can get to you ie. Insurance sales come to your home 9/14/2018 Unit I -16BA727 - Services Marketing - K.Mohan Kumar, AP/MBA

Unit I -16BA727 - Services Marketing - K.Mohan Kumar, AP/MBA Characteristics of Services 3. Heterogeneity - services are not always delivered the same way It is very difficult to standardize services eg. A machine can make ice cream cones a standard size 100% of the time A person filling an ice cream cone with a scoop cannot do it the same amount each time, unless you use a machine to dispense the ice cream 9/14/2018 Unit I -16BA727 - Services Marketing - K.Mohan Kumar, AP/MBA

Unit I -16BA727 - Services Marketing - K.Mohan Kumar, AP/MBA Characteristics of Services 3. Heterogeneity - services are not always delivered the same way It is very difficult to standardize services eg. A Taxi driver cannot drive you to the office in exactly the same time each day because the traffic patterns change eg. A travel agent can sell you a vacation package - but cannot guarantee you will like the trip exactly the same way another tourist did. 9/14/2018 Unit I -16BA727 - Services Marketing - K.Mohan Kumar, AP/MBA

Unit I -16BA727 - Services Marketing - K.Mohan Kumar, AP/MBA Characteristics of Services 4. Perishability - cannot be put in inventory or stored for later use ie. You can’t buy 2 haircuts Demand fluctuates and changes, sometimes depending on the season, or weather eg. Taxi in the rain, vacation in summer 9/14/2018 Unit I -16BA727 - Services Marketing - K.Mohan Kumar, AP/MBA

Unit I -16BA727 - Services Marketing - K.Mohan Kumar, AP/MBA Service Providers service providers have product lines and product mixes as well examples Mastercard insurance telephone services cable services ISPs - internet service providers airlines, first class, economy class banks Not in the text 9/14/2018 Unit I -16BA727 - Services Marketing - K.Mohan Kumar, AP/MBA

Unit I -16BA727 - Services Marketing - K.Mohan Kumar, AP/MBA Inseparable - from the point where it is consumed, and from the provider of the service. For example, you cannot take a live theatre performance home to consume it (a DVD of the same performance would be a product, not a service). 9/14/2018 Unit I -16BA727 - Services Marketing - K.Mohan Kumar, AP/MBA

Unit I -16BA727 - Services Marketing - K.Mohan Kumar, AP/MBA Intangible - and cannot have a real, physical presence as does a product. For example, motor insurance may have a certificate, but the financial service itself cannot be touched i.e. it is intangible. 9/14/2018 Unit I -16BA727 - Services Marketing - K.Mohan Kumar, AP/MBA

Unit I -16BA727 - Services Marketing - K.Mohan Kumar, AP/MBA Perishable - in that once it has occurred it cannot be repeated in exactly the same way. For example, once a 100 meters Olympic final has been run, there will be not other for 4 more years, and even then it will be staged in a different place with many different finalists. 9/14/2018 Unit I -16BA727 - Services Marketing - K.Mohan Kumar, AP/MBA

Unit I -16BA727 - Services Marketing - K.Mohan Kumar, AP/MBA Variability- since the human involvement of service provision means that no two services will be completely identical. For example, returning to the same garage time and time again for a service on your car might see different levels of customer satisfaction, or speediness of work. 9/14/2018 Unit I -16BA727 - Services Marketing - K.Mohan Kumar, AP/MBA