Marketing
It has been argued that the single most important difference between products and services is the characteristic of intangibility. In fact, it has been said that intangibility is the key to determining whether or not an offering is a service or product (Zeithaml and Bitner, 1996). This characteristic has a profound effect on the marketing of services (Lovelock, 1991; Rushton and Carson, 1989). Levitt (1981) argued that special difficulties arise from this intangibility which lead to quality control problems for the producer and evaluation problems for the consumer. It is this intangibility, or lack of physical attributes, that most likely is the reason for service variability, inseparability and perishability.Besides the concept of the lack of physical attributes of the offering (outcome), there is also the concept of physical evidence of the process which needs to be taken into consideration in an evaluation of intangibility. "Physical evidence is the environment in which the service is delivered and where the firm and the customer interact; and any tangible commodities that facilitate performance or communication of the service (Zeithaml and Bitner, 1996, p. 518)". The physical evidence of the service production process can be
A distinction should be made between the degree of intangibility of the actual service and the intangibility, or lack of physical evidence, of the production process. These findings point to a need for further investigation into consumer expectations across industries, while holding consumer demographics constant. To the extent that this bundle represents some quantity of service, the concept of bundling of goods and services should be addressed in the context of the intangibility discussion. The goods/services bundle refers to the inseparable offering of many goods and services (Gronroos, 1977; Levitt, 1980, 1981). Once these characteristics are defined, marketers will be better equipped to evaluate and examine consumer expectations, thereby developing a bases for strategic marketing decisions (Lovelock, 1983; Rice et al. However, there is no research evidence to indicate if an individual consumer considers certain service quality dimensions to be more important in some services than in others. Highly industrialized or undifferentiated goods or services are placed on the low end of the customization chart, while those goods and services which are "made-to-order" are placed on the high end. This research uses a validated scale to operationalize tangibility. Highly tangible goods are placed at one end of the continuum, highly intangible services are placed at the opposite end of the continuum, and the goods service bundle is located somewhere in between the two. Intangibility means that a consumer's perception of quality is often based on tangible evidence and price rather than the core service (Zeithaml, 1981). Service deliveryIn many instances, the outcome of service delivery is, in fact, a tangible product, and a "bundle" of goods and services is the product offering of a business. Service quality expectationsExpectationsUnderstanding consumers' service quality expectations is the key to delivering service quality.
Common topics in this essay:
Morris Johnston,
McDougall Snetsinger,
Murray Schlacter,
Expectations Understanding,
Rushton Carson,
Bebko Prokop,
Zeithaml Bitner,
Pre-purchase Consumers,
service quality,
According SERVQUAL,
Assurance Empathy,
service delivery,
classification schemes,
consumer expectations,
et al,
outcome service,
physical evidence,
quality expectations,
services research,
outcome service delivery,
intangible services,
service quality expectations,
service quality service,
service delivery service,
product repair involve,
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Acceptance Essays
