PART B: MARKETING MIX

Marketing Mix Services

Consumer expectations,
Services Mix, - Product, Place, Price, Promotion, Process
of Services delivery, Physical evidence and people, Pace,
packaging, positioning
1.2 Marketing Mix for Services
Consumer Expectations
Customer expectations are beliefs about service
delivery that is judged.
Customers compare their perception of
performance while evaluating service quality.
When customer expectations are met or exceeded,
they believe they have received high quality
service. So customers are likely to be satisfied and
loyal.
When customer expectations are not met,
customers may be dissatisfied and may switch over
to other service providers.
 Factors influencing customer
expectations of service
1. Desired service expectations:
a) Personal needs – physical, psychological, social and functional
b) Lasting service intensifiers - personal service satisfaction and driven by
another person or group e.g. family holiday)
2. Adequate service expectations:
a) Temporary service intensifiers – short term factor making customer aware of the
need for service
b) Perceived service alternatives – alternative other service providers from whom
the customer can obtain service
c) Customer’s self perceived service role – how well they believe they are
performing their own role in service delivery
d) Situational factors – during natural disasters, services may drop.
e) Predicted service level – level of service that customers believe they are likely to
get
 Marketing Mix for Services
1. Service Product

The service product must be designed

properly to create value to the customers.
Service providers must differentiate their
service offering in relation to the
competitors.
Levels of Service
Prof. Theodore Levitt’s product concept model can be applied to the services
concept. The various levels include:

Potential
service
Augmented
service
Expected
service
Basic
service

Core
benefit
Core benefit – primary benefit that a customer wants
e.g. entertainment from movie
Basic service –e.g. airline has aircraft, seating
arrangement and other infrastructure to implement its
services.
Expected service - e.g. good service in a restaurant.
Augmented service – service that exceed customer
expectations e.g. accommodation due to delay in flight
take off or free gift to delight customer.
Potential service –proactive to find out better ways of
delighting the customers e.g. holiday resort can provide
added value to customers by organising cultural
evenings, sight seeing tours, special games etc.
 2. Service People
Customers judge quality of service based on their assessment
of people providing the services.
HR functions to manage people

Recruitment and
Training Placement (based on
selection
(knowledge, attitude, aptitude and skill –
(interpersonal,
skills and social right person at right
commu., leadership,
behaviour) place)
job related skills)

Performance Motivation
appraisal (identify Promotion (seniority (monetary or
strengths and or merit) non-monetary
weaknesses) incentives)
 3. Place and Time
Service needs to be delivered at the place and time which is
convenient to the customers. Distribution options are as
follows:

Customers visit
the service site
(payment of
bills)

Service Delivery of
providers services
visit the remotely
customer’s (call
site centres)
 4. Price
It is the exchange value between the service provider and the
customer
Factors affecting pricing of services

Nature of
Competition Demand
services

Corporate Objectives Economic

image of the firm conditions

Cost of Customer’s
Operations nature
 5. Promotion
It refers to the communication-mix that induces the
customers to buy the services.

Objectives of promotion

Providing
Awareness Brand Image
information

Attitudes Persuasion Brand loyalty

Counter
Corporate
competitor’s
image
claims
 6. Physical Evidence

Some services are highly intangible and hence

play an important role in creating a good
impression on the customer.
Physical evidence includes: external
surroundings, structure and layout, parking space,
signage or logo of brand, ambience/décor,
furniture and fixtures, dress/uniforms, lighting
and ventilation etc.
 Role of physical evidence
a) At pre-order stage: attracted towards the premises
of service provider.
b) At service consumption stage: e.g. good ambience
and music at a restaurant.
c) At post purchase stage: after the consumption of
services, customer may remember tangible features
and can become loyal to service provider.
 Guidelines for framing effective
physical evidence strategy

Recognition of the impact of physical

evidence
Blueprint the physical evidence
Clarify strategy roles of the service (customer
and service staff)
Customer and employee’s feedback
Physical evidence opportunities
Modernise the physical evidence (colour,
design, logo)
 7. Process of Service delivery
It relates to how a service product is delivered to the
customers.
It involves the method and the sequence of actions
The blueprint of service process is divided into three phases:
I) Introduction phase: the service provider gets an
opportunity to serve the customer.
II) Delivery of core services: customers get to experience
the core benefit of the service.
III) Concluding phase: after the service is delivered, the bill
for services is provided to the customer – formal
feedback may also be obtained.
THANK YOU