Question 1

A Colorado ski resort opens its mountain ski trails during the summer months for the recreational enjoyment of mountain bike riders. The resort is doing which of the following?

Accepted Answer

The resort is using capacity management by opening up their ski trails for a new recreational activity during the summer months when skiing is not possible.

Question 2

The environment in which service is delivered is referred to as the ________.

Accepted Answer

The environment in which service is delivered is referred to as the servicescape. Servicescape is the physical environment in which the service is delivered, and it plays an important role in shaping the customer experience. It includes the layout and design of the physical space, decor, lighting, and ambiance of the service facility or location. The service encounter refers to the interaction between the customer and the service provider, while onmichannel, operational factor, and locational factor are not directly related to the environment in which service is delivered.

Question 3

Which of the following statements about the service encounter is true?

Accepted Answer

The statement that is true about the service encounter is that it has a social contact dimension and a physical dimension. This means that the interaction between the customer and the employee has both a social aspect, such as communication and friendliness, and a physical aspect, such as the environment and tangible cues. The other statements are false. The quality of service delivered is dependent on all employees, not just the best one. The customer's role in the service encounter can greatly impact the quality of service. An employee's actions and appearance do represent the organization. The quality of information provided by the customer can affect the service encounter.

Question 4

Facility exteriors and interiors are part of ________.

Accepted Answer

The servicescape is a term that describes the physical environment in which a service is delivered, including the facility exteriors and interiors.

Question 5

People, places, and ideas are all ________ that often need to be "sold" by someone and "bought" by someone else.

Accepted Answer

People, places, and ideas are intangible concepts that cannot be physically touched or seen but can be bought or sold through persuasion and belief. Tangibles and goods are physical objects that can be sold directly, while values and benefits are more abstract concepts that can be associated with certain goods or intangibles.

Question 6

Which of the following is NOT true about the SERVQUAL scale?

Accepted Answer

The SERVQUAL scale is not designed to assess the service quality of competitors. It is used for internal analysis and improvement of a firm's own service quality.

Question 7

Political consultants market politicians when they "package" candidates who then compete for "market share" as measured by ________.

Accepted Answer

Political consultants package candidates in order to win elections, meaning their ultimate goal is to secure votes. Therefore, the measure of success in this context would be the number of votes a candidate receives, making choice (D) the correct answer.

Question 8

Tony, a vice president of the St. Louis One Gateway Credit Union, decided to measure customers' perceptions of the service quality of the credit union. He chose to use the SERVQUAL scale because it included the ________ component, which involves the knowledge and courtesy of employees, as well as their ability to convey trust and confidence.

Accepted Answer

The component that involves the knowledge and courtesy of employees, as well as their ability to convey trust and confidence is assurance. The SERVQUAL scale specifically measures five components: reliability, assurance, tangibles, empathy, and responsiveness.

Question 9

An agent for an actor presents a client's qualifications to potential movie production companies until one company responds positively to the actor. This is an example of the ________ approach.

Accepted Answer

The situation described in the question is an example of pure selling, which focuses on convincing potential customers to purchase a specific product or service through persuasive communication. The agent is presenting the actor's qualifications and persuading the production companies to hire the actor for their movie, which is characteristic of pure selling. The other options, such as product improvement, market fulfillment, total quality management (TQM), and relationship marketing, do not accurately describe the approach being used in this situation.

Question 10

Modifications to certain characteristics of what is being marketed are integral to the ________ approach.

Accepted Answer

The product improvement approach focuses on modifying certain characteristics of what is being marketed in order to improve its appeal and effectiveness in the market. Option A (pure selling) refers to the approach of simply pushing the product without any alterations, while options C (market improvement), D (product fulfillment), and E (market fulfillment) are not commonly recognized approaches in marketing.

Question 11

Which of the following is true due primarily to the inseparability of services?

Accepted Answer

The inseparability of services means that the service is produced and consumed at the same time. This is different from a physical product which can be produced, shipped and consumed at a different time or place.

Question 12

The president of a fast growing company that manages retirement communities states that the degree of caring and individual attention the residents receive is the most important component of service quality for his company. The president would be most likely to focus on the results in which of the following dimensions of the SERVQUAL scale?

Accepted Answer

Empathy refers to the degree to which the company provides caring and individual attention to its customers. Therefore, the president's focus on this component indicates that empathy is the most important dimension of service quality for his company.

Question 13

Which of the following is an instrument to measure consumers' perceptions of service quality?

Accepted Answer

SERVQUAL is an instrument designed to measure consumers' perceptions of the quality of service provided by a firm. It measures service quality across five dimensions: reliability, assurance, tangibles, empathy, and responsiveness.

Question 14

Service ________ means that a service can only take place at the time the service provider performs it on either the customer or the customer's possessions.

Accepted Answer

Service inseparability refers to the fact that the service provider and the customer must be present during the service delivery. It can't take place at any other time. This is different from the other options which relate to other aspects of services like customizability, consistency, and uniqueness.

Question 15

When using the SERVQUAL scale, a store focused on employee willingness to help customers and provide prompt service would likely pay the most attention to the results in the ________ dimension.

Accepted Answer

The responsiveness dimension of the SERVQUAL scale measures the willingness of employees to help customers and provide prompt service. Therefore, a store that focuses on this aspect of service would pay the most attention to the results in the responsiveness dimension.

Question 16

The ________ is the interaction between the customer and the service provider.

Accepted Answer

A service encounter refers to the interaction between the customer and the service provider. It can occur in person, via phone, online, or through any other means of communication during the service delivery process. Service encounters play an important role in shaping customer perceptions, satisfaction, and loyalty towards a service provider. Choices A, B, D, and E are not relevant to the definition of a service encounter.

Question 17

Karen likes using the SERVQUAL scale to measure her clients' perception of the quality of her hair styling salon because it includes assessing ________, which involves the physical facilities and equipment and professional appearance of the stylists. These aspects are very important for the comfort of her clients.

Accepted Answer

The tangibles dimension of the SERVQUAL scale includes physical facilities, equipment, and professional appearance. These aspects are important for the comfort of clients and therefore Karen can use the tangibles dimension to measure her clients' perception of the quality of her hair styling salon.

Question 18

The opportunities for ________ provided by the Internet have helped many companies in the financial services area address the problem of the inseparability of services.

Accepted Answer

Disintermediation refers to the elimination of intermediaries between businesses and consumers, and the Internet has made this possible for financial services companies. Through online banking, trading platforms, and other digital services, companies in the financial sector can now connect directly with their customers, eliminating the need for traditional intermediaries such as brokers or bankers. This helps address the problem of the inseparability of services, which refers to the fact that services cannot be physically separated from their providers. By using the Internet to remove intermediaries, financial services companies are able to make their services more accessible and convenient for consumers.

Question 19

Tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy are the five dimensions of service quality used in which of the following?

Accepted Answer

SERVQUAL is a widely used tool for measuring service quality, and it is based on these five dimensions: tangibles (the physical appearance of facilities), reliability (the ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately), responsiveness (willingness to help customers and provide prompt service), assurance (knowledge, competence, and courtesy of employees and their ability to convey trust and confidence), and empathy (caring, individualized attention provided to customers). Total quality management and capacity management are broader concepts that may include these dimensions, but they are not specifically focused on service quality. The critical incident technique is a method for identifying specific incidents that illustrate positive or negative aspects of service, while the wheel-of-service hypothesis proposes that there are four stages in a service experience: entry, interaction, exit, and post-interaction.

Question 20

A customer got a great haircut at a salon and went back six weeks later to the same person to get a second haircut. This time, the customer received one of the worst haircuts of his life. The difference between the two haircuts is due to the ________ characteristic of services.

Accepted Answer

The variability characteristic of services refers to the fact that services can vary in quality depending on who is providing the service and when/where it is being provided. In this case, the same person provided the service, but there was still a noticeable difference in quality between the two haircuts.

Quiz 12: Deliver the Customer Experience: Goods and Services Via Bricks and Clicks