Architecture and Marketing Skills ARCH

516
Semester IX Module1
test
ANUSHA JOSE (A1904016095)

1. What is service quality? What are its components? How can it be improved?

ANS: Service quality is the totality of features and characteristics of that

service which bears on its ability to meet customer needs.
Quality can only be defined by customers

Components of service quality are :

 Two principal components - Technical quality: What the customer

is left with, when the production
process is finished.
-Functional quality: How the customer
receives the technical quality in the
interactions between customer &
service provider & other customer.

 Mediating influence
 Major determinants - 2 major quality dimensions:
- People
- Infrastructure and process

 Methods to improve - Develop customer orientated mission

statement
-Support for quality improvement initiatives
-Regular customer satisfaction research
-Monitor standards and communicating results
-Establish systems for customers complaints
and feedback
-Encourage employee participation
-Reward excellent service

Service Quality can be improved in two ways:

• Higher sales revenues

• Improved productivity and reduced costs
2. Explain the 7 P’s of Service Marketing.

ANS : The seven Ps of marketing are: product, price, promotion, place,

People,process and physical evidence

 PRODUCT : Product refers to an item or items the business plans to offer to

customers. The product should seek to fulfill an absence in the market, or fulfill
consumer demand for a greater amount of a product already available. Before they
can prepare an appropriate campaign, marketers need to understand what product is
being sold, how it stands out from its competitors, whether the product can also be
paired with a secondary product or product line, and whether there are substitute
products in the market.

 PLACE : Place refers to the distribution of the product. Key considerations include
whether the company will sell the product through a physical storefront, online, or
through both distribution channels. When it's sold in a storefront, what kind of physical
product placement does it get? When it's sold online, what kind of digital product
placement does it get?

 PROMOTION : Promotion, the fourth P, is the integrated marketing communications

campaign. Promotion includes a variety of activities such as advertising, selling, sales
promotions, public relations, direct marketing, sponsorship, and guerrilla
marketing.Promotions vary depending on what stage of the product life cycle the
product is in. Marketers understand that consumers associate a product’s price and
distribution with its quality, and they take this into account when devising the overall
marketing strategy.

 PRICE : Price refers to how much the company will sell the product for. When
establishing a price, companies must consider the unit cost price, marketing costs, and
distribution expenses. Companies must also consider the price of competing products
in the marketplace and whether their proposed price point is sufficient to represent a
reasonable alternative for 1consumers.

 People – All companies are reliant on the people who run them from front line Sales
staff to the Managing Director. Having the right people is essential because they are as
much a part of your business offering as the products/services you are offering.

 Processes –The delivery of your service is usually done with the customer present so
how the service is delivered is once again part of what the consumer is paying for.

 Physical Evidence – Almost all services include some physical elements even if the bulk
of what the consumer is paying for is intangible. For example a hair salon would provide
their client with a completed hairdo and an insurance company would give their
customers some form of printed material. Even if the material is not physically printed
(in the case of PDFs) they are still receiving
 3. What is the the Servunction model used for? Explain its four aspects.

ANS : The servuction model is basically used to illustrate factors that influence service experience,
including those that are visible and invisible to the consume.

The four factors are: servicescape, contact personnel/service providers, other customers and
organizations and systems.

 SERVICESCAPE: the use of physical evidence to design service environments

- Ambient conditions such as room temperature and music
- Inanimate objects such as furnishings and equipment
- Other physical evidence such as signs, symbols, and personal artifacts such
as family pictures and personal collections

 CONTACT PERSONNEL/SERVICE PROVIDERS : are actually two areas that can affect the service
experience bundled up into one category. Contact personnel are the employees other than the
primary service provider who briefly interact with the customer. Service providers are the
primary providers of a core service, such as a waiter or waitress, dentist, physician, or college
instructor. the primary providers of a core service
- Waiter or waitress
- Dentist
- Physician
- College instructor

 OTHER CUSTOMERS customers who share the primary customer’s service experience
The presence of other customers can enhance or detract from an individual’s
service experience
Example: unruly customers in a restaurant or a nightclub, children crying during a church
service, or theatergoers talking and texting during a movie

 ORGANIZATIONS AND SYSTEMS are the invisible part of the model that reflects the rules,
regulations, and processes upon which the organization is based.
 4. What does consumer decision making depend on?

ANS : The thought processes consumers use in their decision making is an important behavior to try
and understand.
Marketers want to try and tap into what makes consumers tick as they ponder their choices
and learn just what the types of things lead to a final decision.
This way they can align their products to remain in the running and be hopefully chosen.

5 steps of the consumer decision making process

 Problem recognition: Recognizes the need for a service or product - The first step of the consumer
decision-making process is recognizing the need for a service or product. Need recognition, whether prompted
internally or externally, results in the same response: a want. Once consumers recognize a want, they need to
gather information to understand how they can fulfill that want, which leads to step 2

 Information search: Gathers information - When researching their options, consumers again rely on
internal and external factors, as well as past interactions with a product or brand, both positive and negative. In
the information stage, they may browse through options at a physical location or consult online resources, such
as Google or customer reviews. The job as a brand is to give the potential customer access to the information
they want, with the hopes that they decide to purchase your product or service. Create a funnel and plan out
the types of content that people will need. Present yourself as a trustworthy source of knowledge and
information.

 Alternatives evaluation: Weighs choices against comparable alternatives - Alternatives may

present themselves in the form of lower prices, additional product benefits, product availability, or something as
personal as color or style options. Your marketing material should be geared towards convincing consumers that
your product is superior to other alternatives. Be ready to overcome any objections––e.g., in sales calls, know
your competitors so you can answer questions and compare benefits.

 Purchase decision: Makes actual purchase – This is the moment the consumer has been waiting for: the
actual purchase. Once they have gathered all the facts, including feedback from previous customers, consumers
should arrive at a logical conclusion on the product or service to purchase.

 Post-purchase evaluation: Reflects on the purchase they made – as a seller its a job to ensure your
customer continues to have a positive experience with your product. Post-purchase engagement could include
follow-up emails, discount coupons, and newsletters to entice the customer to make an additional purchase.
You want to gain life-long customers, and in an age where anyone can leave an online review, it’s more
important than ever to keep customers happy.
 5. Explain the 3 stage model.

ANS : PRE-PURCHASE STAGE:

In the pre-purchase stage, a need arousal triggers consumers to start searching for information and
evaluate alternatives before they make a purchase decision. There are various sources that could trigger
needs: the unconscious mind (e.g., impulse buying), internal conditions (e.g., hunger) or external sources
(e.g., marketing mix), to name a few. Consumers can engage in impulse buying or ‘unplanned behaviour’.
Impulse buying occurs less frequently in services than in goods due to the higher perceived risk and
variability associated with services.

SERVICE ENCOUNTER STAGE:

The service encounter stage involves consumer interactions with the service firm. In this stage, consumers
co-create experiences and value, and co-produce a service while evaluating the service experience.
Consumer engagement has recently attracted research attention in the branding and services literature.
Consumer engagement has been considered the emotional tie that binds the consumer to the service
provider and can be used as a proxy for the strength of a firm’s consumer relationships based on both
emotional and rational bonds consumers have developed with a brand.

THE POST ENCOUNTER STAGE:

The last stage of service consumption is the post-encounter stage and involves consumers’
behavioural and attitudinal responses to the service experience. Consumer satisfaction and perceived
service quality have dominated the research agenda at this stage of the service consumption process
due to their association with business performance. However, consumers who are satisfied and have
high perceptions of service quality do not necessarily return to the same service provider or buy their
services. As a result, there has recently been a shift in the consumer research agenda toward other
important post-purchase outcomes, such as perceived service value, consumer delight, consumer
reactions to service failures (e.g., complaining and switching behaviour) and consumer responses to
service recovery.

PART 2 (5 marks each)

6. What are the Characteristics of services?

ANS :
 Lack of Ownership –
Lack of ownership may be one of the most obvious ones of the characteristics of service. It
refers to the fact that you cannot own and store a service like you can a product.

 Intangibility –
When thinking about the characteristics of services, intangibility may come to your mind
first. Service intangibility means that services cannot be seen, tasted, felt, heard or smelled
before they are bought. You cannot try them out.

 Inseparability –
Characteristics of services include inseparability, which means that services are
produced and consumed at the same time. This also entails that services cannot be
separated from their providers.
  Variability –
Variability does also belong to the important characteristics of services. It refers to the
fact that the quality of services can vary greatly, depending on who provides them and
when, where and how. Because of the labour-intensive nature of services, there is a
great deal of difference in the quality of service provided by various providers, or
even by the same providers at different times.

 Perishability –
Perishability means that services cannot be stored for later sale or use. In other
words, services cannot be inventoried. This is one of the most significant characteristics
of services, since it may have a major impact on financial results..

 User participation –
Finally, the characteristics of services include user participation. Indeed, users
participate in every service production. Even when the user is not required to be at a
location where the service is performed, users participate in every service
production. A service cannot be separated from its provider, but neither can it be
separated from its use

7. What are the types of market segmentation?

ANS : Market segmentation is the process of dividing a market of potential customers into groups, or
segments, based on different characteristics.

The segments created are composed of consumers who will respond similarly to marketing
strategies and who share traits such as similar interests, needs, or locations
The types of market segmentation are :
 Psychographic segmentation factors are slightly more difficult to identify than
demographics because they are subjective. They are not data-focused and require research
to uncover and understand.
- Personality traits
- Values
- Attitudes
- Interests
- Lifestyles
- Psychological influences
- Subconscious and conscious beliefs
- Motivations
- Priorities

 BEHAVIORAL While demographic and psychographic segmentation focus on who a

customer is, behavioral segmentation focuses on how the customer acts. Behavioral
segmentation requires you to know about your customer’s actions. These activities may
relate to how a customer interacts with your brand or to other activities that happen away
from your brand.

 Geographic segmentation is the simplest type of market segmentation. It categorizes

customers based on geographic borders. Geographic Market Segmentation Examples
ZIP code , City , Country , Radius around a certain location , Climate, Urban or rural
  DEMOGRAPHIC A very popular form of dividing the market is through demographic
variables.
Understanding who consumers are will enable you to more closely identify and understand
their needs, product and services usage rates and wants.
Understanding who consumers are requires companies to divide consumers into groups
based on variables such as gender, age, income, social class, religion, race or family lifecycle.

8. Explain environmental influences in decision making.

ANS : Environmental influences also play an important role in consumer behavior.
Culture, family, types of advertising and the media can all influence the ways consumers make
choices.
This is one of the reasons why advertisements are designed to be attractive and consumers identify
with the content.

9. Explain Brand laddering.

ANS : Multiple qualities of the brand can influence consumer decision making. Brand ladder refers to the
marketing tool used by marketers, to communicate all the benefits of a brand to the end customer.
The brand ladder concept delivers a fantastic customer experience to all its customers.

Brand ladder is generally known to connect product and brand attributes to the personal and social
factors of customers lifestyle. The traditional brand ladder includes three categories, namely attributes,
functional benefits and emotional benefits. In 2011, the Boston Consulting Group came with the proposal
to add to the model a fourth dimension. This fourth dimension was social benefit.

So the four dimensions of Brand ladders are as follows.

 Attributes – Physical features of the products.

 Functional benefits – What is the USP of the product and why it is functionally different from
the market.
 Emotional benefits – Whether the brand provides a sense of security and purpose to the end
customers.
 Social benefits – Whether the brand increases the stature of the customer in the eyes of his social
circle.

These four dimensions of brand ladder help in communicating a fantastic brand presence in the eyes of the
consumer. Using this brand ladder can lead to customer loyalty, better profits, and good stakeholder
confidence.
 10. List the perceived risks in pre purchase stage.
ANS : . The perceived risks are:
 Functional – unsatisfactory performance outcomes
 Financial – monetary loss, unexpected extra costs
 Temporal – wasted time, delays leading to problems
 Physical – personal injury, damage to possessions
 Psychological – fears and negative emotions
 Social – how others may think and react
 Sensory – unwanted impact on any of five senses

11. What are the two major determinants of service quality.

ANS : 2 major Determinants of service quality are :

- PEOPLE : 7 factors:

 Reliability - Accuracy and Dependability , Getting it right in the first time

 Responsiveness - Ability to address all issues

-Willingness to deal with customer’s queries

 Communication - Non-technical language

-Easily to access informations

 Credibility - Honest
-Trustworthy
-Willingness to share negative references

 Competence - Understanding product range

-Interpreting the needs of the customers

 Courtesy - Polite
-Respectful
-Friendly

 Understanding customers’ needs - Use customer record to know customers’ need

- INFRASTRUCTURE AND PROCESS : 3 factors:

 Tangibles - Physical evidence: Report, Inspection

-Quality of fixtures
 Security - Private
-Confidential
-Restriction to access customer database
 Access - Fair queuing system
-Avoid customers’ irritation
-Pleasant relaxing environment