SERVICE MARKETING

In the last video we watched in class, we focused on the most expensive hotels in the world and their
marketing strategies. I will try to analyze our findings on these issues by summarizing and discussing
them on the slides of Week 2. As it is known, marketing activity can be about goods as well as
services. In service marketing, which is the subject of this course, it is necessary to go beyond the
classical marketing understanding and focus on different concepts that can be applied to services. In
particular, the quality of service products is important in terms of marketing strategies. One of the
obvious reasons for this priority is that businesses see that only through quality they can retain and
survive customers for a long time. However, measuring quality, especially for service products, is not
an easy concept. The most important reason for this is that there are some features that distinguish
service from physical goods. Because services are performances rather than tangible objects, it is not
always possible to calculate, measure, inventory and test service quality. The variability of the service
is one of the other factors that make the measurement of service quality difficult. Because service
products are often presented by different people, the difference in the performance of service
providers increases the difficulty in measuring service quality. Another issue is the expectations of
the people who will receive the service. When we evaluate the quality factor, technical quality,
functional quality and expectations become important. In this respect, we can summarize the
concept of technical quality and functional quality according to the way the service is presented and
the output obtained. For example, if we need to make an example in accordance with the video we
watched, the conversation of the reception and hotel staff in the hotel, the communication of the
hotel staff, the service of the restaurant, the additional facilities provided by the hotel are important,
not whether the hotel rooms or the hotel are beautiful. The concept of customer expectation is a
little more complex. Because every customer who buys a service product has some expectations
from the service he will receive. Customer expectations can be summarized as customer beliefs
about the service delivery process, which acts as a reference point or standard in the evaluation of
the service itself or its delivery. The customer has expectations that provide him with some
standards.It evaluates the service quality it has received and reaches a conclusion. Expectations play
a very important role in customers' evaluation of service quality and are formed as a result of the
interaction of different factors. Therefore, knowing the factors that affect and shape expectations
gains importance in terms of marketing. Personal needs, which are the most important and basic
factor among the factors affecting customer expectations, must be satisfied.

External communication is another factor that affects the quality expectations of customers, it
expresses the communication of the service business with the customer and is in the form of
advertising, direct marketing, public relations and sales campaigns carried out under the control of
the business. The image created by the business, which is one of the factors affecting expectations, is
also affected by external communication.on the contrary, it is a phenomenon that more businesses
can control indirectly, in other words, it is shaped as a result of the company's performance. To give
an example from the video we watched, the main pillar of service marketing in the most expensive
hotels around the world differs in terms of image and interaction with the customer. In this context,
the image created by the luxury hotels in the minds of the customers and the service experience they
have received convince people to pay the expensive fees. Past experience is related to focus service,
showing that the customer has tried similar service before. This factor, which enables the customer
to reach a conclusion immediately without receiving the service, is related to the service that the
business has previously provided. A convenient example is when a customer compares each stay at a
particular hotel with their previous stay. Naturally, the customer can make the same comparison in
their stays in other hotels. The last factor affecting the expected quality, word of mouth
communication can be personal or non-personal. Word of mouth communication is an important
factor that shapes customer expectations regarding service quality, rather than the business itself. If
we need to summarize these situations through hotel examples, we can say the following. When
visiting one of the luxury hotels, customers can have more positive impressions about the luxury
hotel by comparing these hotels with other hotels according to their previous experiences. In
addition, by looking at the customer experiences on various sites or by looking at the positive
experiences of some bloggers, they can have a positive impression about the hotel even without
going to the hotel.