Question 1

A systematic ________ program collects customer inputs and integrates them into managerial decisions.
A) quality gap analysis
B) empowerment
C) zone of tolerance
D) standards analysis
E) voice-of-customer

Accepted Answer

The term "voice-of-customer" refers to the systematic collection and analysis of customer feedback and preferences, which are then used to guide managerial decision-making. This approach can help companies better understand and meet customer needs and expectations, and improve overall performance and satisfaction. Option A refers to a specific type of analysis of the gap between customer expectations and perceptions, while B and C relate more to organizational structure and culture. Option D refers to the evaluation of standards or benchmarks for performance, rather than direct customer input.

Question 2

By changing a standard from "be nice to customers" to "greet every customer with a smile," a services marketing manager has created a(n) ________ goal.
A) insurmountable
B) invisible
C) empowerment
D) measurable
E) inseparable

Accepted Answer

By changing the standard to "greet every customer with a smile," the goal becomes measurable because it can be quantified and tracked.

Question 3

To meet or exceed customers' expectations, marketers must
A) know where customers live.
B) know how often consumers buy their products.
C) determine what those expectations are.
D) recognize that expectations are tangible.
E) empower customers to meet their own expectations.

Accepted Answer

To meet or exceed customers' expectations, marketers must first determine what those expectations are. This involves conducting research on customer needs and preferences, collecting feedback and complaints, and analyzing customer behavior to understand what they value in a product or service. Once marketers have a clear understanding of customer expectations, they can tailor their marketing strategies and product offerings to better meet those needs.

Question 4

Training service providers to know exactly what a "good job" entails is setting service
A) knowledge.
B) quality.
C) delivery.
D) standards.
E) empowerment.

Accepted Answer

Setting standards for a "good job" ensures that service providers know what is expected of them in terms of quality and performance. This allows for consistency and accountability in delivering the service.

Question 5

What is the problem associated with service quality standards such as "be nice" or "do what the customers want"?
A) They create low expectations.
B) They are not specific.
C) They do not allow for the voice-of-customer process.
D) Most employees are unwilling to do what customers want.
E) They create a delivery gap.

Accepted Answer

Service quality standards such as "be nice" or "do what the customers want" are not specific enough to provide clear guidance to employees on how to deliver high-quality service. This can result in inconsistency in service delivery and make it difficult to measure performance.

Question 6

Because services are intangible, it is often difficult for customers to determine how a service meets their expectations, which marketers call
A) service perceptions.
B) service efforts.
C) service quality.
D) service aspirations.
E) service feedback.

Accepted Answer

Service quality refers to how well a service meets or exceeds a customer's expectations. Since services are intangible, customers may struggle to determine if a service meets their expectations, making it important for marketers to focus on delivering high service quality. Options A, B, D, and E are not as relevant or accurate in describing this situation.

Question 7

Gerald's Tire Service provides each employee with a clean, sharp-looking uniform. It also instructs employees to put all tools back where they belong and keep the work area clean and uncluttered. Gerald's Tire Service emphasizes ________ in the five service quality dimensions.
A) assurance
B) reliability
C) tangibles
D) responsiveness
E) empathy

Accepted Answer

The provision of clean, sharp-looking uniforms for employees and the emphasis on keeping the work area clean and uncluttered fall under tangibles in the five service quality dimensions. Tangibles refer to the appearance of the physical facilities, equipment, personnel, and communication material associated with the service.

Question 8

Nicole knows her restaurant is understaffed today. She is hoping to get through the day without falling below her customers' ________, the difference between what her customers want and what they will accept before going elsewhere.
A) voice-of-customer quotient
B) empowerment standard
C) tangibles gap
D) zone of tolerance
E) quality gap

Accepted Answer

The "zone of tolerance" refers to the acceptable range of service quality that customers are willing to tolerate before looking for alternative options. Nicole is hoping to maintain her customers' zone of tolerance despite being understaffed. The other answer choices are not relevant to the concept of customers' acceptable level of service quality.

Question 9

Cheryl will let only Martiné cut her hair. She has tried other stylists, but she knows from experience that Martiné cuts her hair well every time. For Cheryl, ________ is the most important of the five service quality dimensions.
A) assurance
B) reliability
C) tangibles
D) responsiveness
E) empathy

Accepted Answer

Reliability is the dimension of service quality that refers to the ability of the service provider to perform the promised service dependably and accurately. In this case, Cheryl values Martiné's consistent ability to cut her hair well every time, making reliability the most important dimension for her.

Question 10

Kayla is the new manager of a resort hotel. She knows from reviewing customer complaints that service quality at the hotel is not consistently meeting customers' expectations, and she believes that the biggest problem is that her employees are not sure what is expected of them. To improve service quality, Kayla will
A) empower customers to meet their own service needs.
B) establish a broad zone of intolerance to reduce customer complaints.
C) narrowly define a knowledge gap.
D) separate intangibles from tangibles.
E) set specific, measurable goals based on customers' expectations.

Accepted Answer

Setting specific, measurable goals based on customers' expectations will provide clear expectations for employees and help them understand what is expected of them in terms of service quality. This will improve consistency in service quality and help to reduce customer complaints. Empowering customers or establishing a broad zone of intolerance are not specific actions that address the issue of employee understanding of expectations. Narrowly defining a knowledge gap and separating intangibles from tangibles do not directly address the issue of employee understanding of expectations either.

Question 11

When choosing where to eat lunch, Veronica's major service criterion is speed: being seated promptly and served her meal quickly. For Veronica, ________ is the most important of the five service quality dimensions.
A) assurance
B) reliability
C) tangibles
D) responsiveness
E) empathy

Accepted Answer

Veronica's major service criterion is speed, which falls under the dimension of responsiveness. The other dimensions are assurance (trust and confidence in the service provider), reliability (consistency and dependability of the service), tangibles (physical facilities, equipment, and appearance of personnel), and empathy (caring and individualized attention provided to customers).

Question 12

Customers determine overall service quality using all of the following dimensions except
A) assurance.
B) reliability.
C) acceptability.
D) responsiveness.
E) empathy.

Accepted Answer

Acceptability is not a recognized dimension of service quality. The recognized dimensions are assurance, reliability, responsiveness, and empathy.

Question 13

Customers have a defined ________ when it comes to waiting in line at a retail checkout counter. The amount of time consumers are willing to wait varies with the type of store.
A) voice-of-customer quotient
B) empowerment standard
C) tangibles gap
D) zone of tolerance
E) quality gap

Accepted Answer

The concept of a "zone of tolerance" refers to the range of wait times that customers are willing to accept before they become dissatisfied. This varies depending on the type of store and the expectations of the customers, and is an important consideration for businesses when designing their checkout processes.

Question 14

An excellent, inexpensive, and readily accessible method for assessing customers' service expectations is
A) customer complaints.
B) syndicated data services.
C) employee empowerment programs.
D) distributive fairness analysis.
E) management by objective programs.

Accepted Answer

Customer complaints provide direct insight into areas where a business's service does not meet customer expectations, making it an excellent, inexpensive, and readily accessible method for assessing these expectations.

Question 15

Services marketing managers have learned that more employees will support a quality-oriented process if
A) they are involved in setting the goals.
B) perishable services are replaced with tangible services.
C) they are required to diverge from existing standards.
D) customers are responsible for setting service quality standards.
E) the process involves both part-time and full-time employees.

Accepted Answer

Involving employees in setting the goals creates a sense of ownership and responsibility towards the quality-oriented process. This can lead to increased motivation and commitment towards achieving the set goals. Additionally, involving employees in the process can also lead to the identification of potential areas of improvement and innovative solutions.

Question 16

Professor Guillory is a seasoned professor. When students seek her out to advise them, she never turns them away because she believes that with all her years of experience, she can help them. The students, in turn, are confident in her and trust her advice. For these students, ________ is the most important of the five service quality dimensions.
A) assurance
B) reliability
C) tangibles
D) responsiveness
E) empathy

Accepted Answer

Assurance is the most important dimension here because it involves the trust and confidence that students have in Professor Guillory's expertise and advice.

Question 17

Colin has been directed by his boss to determine if the company is meeting customers' service quality expectations. One of Colin's problems is that services are ________, making evaluation of service quality difficult.
A) quantifiable
B) substantial
C) unequally distributed
D) intangible
E) indefinable

Accepted Answer

Services are intangible, meaning they cannot be touched or measured in the same way as physical products, making it challenging to evaluate their quality.

Question 18

To define the zone of tolerance, firms ask a series of questions about each service quality dimension that relate to all of the following except
A) the desired and expected level of service for each dimension, from low to high.
B) customers' perceptions of how well the focal service performs, from low to high.
C) customers' perceptions of how well a competitive service performs, from low to high.
D) the importance of each quality service dimension.
E) the desired and expected level of service for each dimension, from high to low.

Accepted Answer

The firms ask a series of questions about each service quality dimension that relate to the desired and expected level of service for each dimension, from low to high; customers' perceptions of how well the focal service performs, from low to high; the importance of each quality service dimension; and customers' perceptions of how well competitive services perform, from low to high. However, the firms do not ask about the desired and expected level of service for each dimension, from high to low. Therefore, option E is the correct answer.

Question 19

Bank of America uses a complex polling system coupled with a customer response measurement system to assess consumers' responses to new products and services. Bank of America is using a(n) ________ program to improve service quality and service offerings.
A) quality gap analysis
B) empowerment
C) zone of tolerance
D) standards analysis
E) voice-of-customer

Accepted Answer

Bank of America is using a voice-of-customer program, which involves collecting and analyzing feedback from customers to improve service quality and offerings. This includes both polling customers' opinions as well as measuring their responses to new products and services.

Question 20

When corporate headquarters announced new service quality standards for pizza franchise owners, Roland knew he would have trouble gaining employees' support because
A) they were not involved in setting the goals.
B) perishable services were being replaced with tangible services.
C) they were not allowed to diverge from existing standards.
D) customers were required to create service quality standards.
E) the process involved both part-time and full-time employees.

Accepted Answer

The employees were not involved in setting the new service quality standards, which means they may not feel invested in them and could be less likely to support them.

Quiz 13: Services: the Intangible Product

A systematic ________ program collects customer inputs and integrates them into managerial decisions.

By changing a standard from "be nice to customers" to "greet every customer with a smile," a services marketing manager has created a(n) ________ goal.

To meet or exceed customers' expectations, marketers must

Training service providers to know exactly what a "good job" entails is setting service

What is the problem associated with service quality standards such as "be nice" or "do what the customers want"?

Because services are intangible, it is often difficult for customers to determine how a service meets their expectations, which marketers call

Gerald's Tire Service provides each employee with a clean, sharp-looking uniform. It also instructs employees to put all tools back where they belong and keep the work area clean and uncluttered. Gerald's Tire Service emphasizes ________ in the five service quality dimensions.

Nicole knows her restaurant is understaffed today. She is hoping to get through the day without falling below her customers' ________, the difference between what her customers want and what they will accept before going elsewhere.

Cheryl will let only Martiné cut her hair. She has tried other stylists, but she knows from experience that Martiné cuts her hair well every time. For Cheryl, ________ is the most important of the five service quality dimensions.

When choosing where to eat lunch, Veronica's major service criterion is speed: being seated promptly and served her meal quickly. For Veronica, ________ is the most important of the five service quality dimensions.

Customers determine overall service quality using all of the following dimensions except

Customers have a defined ________ when it comes to waiting in line at a retail checkout counter. The amount of time consumers are willing to wait varies with the type of store.

An excellent, inexpensive, and readily accessible method for assessing customers' service expectations is

Services marketing managers have learned that more employees will support a quality-oriented process if

Colin has been directed by his boss to determine if the company is meeting customers' service quality expectations. One of Colin's problems is that services are ________, making evaluation of service quality difficult.

To define the zone of tolerance, firms ask a series of questions about each service quality dimension that relate to all of the following except

Bank of America uses a complex polling system coupled with a customer response measurement system to assess consumers' responses to new products and services. Bank of America is using a(n) ________ program to improve service quality and service offerings.

When corporate headquarters announced new service quality standards for pizza franchise owners, Roland knew he would have trouble gaining employees' support because