Introduction to services:
Concepts, contribution and reasons for the growth of services sector, difference in goods and service in marketing, characteristics of services, concept of service marketing triangle, service marketing mix, GAPmodels of service quality.
Consumer behaviour in services:
Search, Experience and Credence property, consumer expectation of services, two levels of expectation, Zone of tolerance, Factors influencing customer expectation of services. Customer perception of services-Factors that influence customer perception of service, Service encounters, Customer satisfaction, Strategies for influencing customer perception.
Understanding customer expectation through market research:
Key reasons for GAP 1,using marketing research to understand customer expectation, Types of service research, Building customer relationship through retention strategies –Relationship marketing, Evaluation Of customer relationships, Benefits of customer relationship, levels of retention strategies, Market segmentation-Basis & targeting in services.
Customer defined service standards:
“Hard” & “Soft” standards, challenges of matching supply & demand in capacity, four common types of constraints facing services, optimum v/s maximum use of capacity, strategies for matching capacity & demand.
Yield management-balancing capacity utilization, pricing. Waiting line strategies- four basic Waiting line strategies.
Leadership & Measurement system for market driven service performancekey reasons for GAP-2 service leadership- Creation of service vision and implementation, Service quality as profit strategy, Role of service quality In offensive and defensive marketing.
Employee role in service designing:
Boundary spanning roles, Emotional labour, Source of conflict, Quality- productivity trade off, Strategies for closing GAP3.
Customer’s role in service delivery-Importance of customer & customer’s role in service delivery, Strategies for enhancing-Customer participation, Delivery through intermediaries-Key intermediaries for service delivery, Intermediary control strategies.
Role of marketing communication-
Key reasons for GAP 4 involving communication, four categories of strategies to match service promises with delivery.
Pricing of services-
Role of price and value in provider GAP4, Role of nonmonitory cost, Price as an indicator of service quality –Approaches to pricing services, pricing strategies.
Physical evidence in services:
Importance of Physical Evidence, Elements of Physical Evidence, Physical Evidence Strategies, Guidelines for Physical Evidence.
Service scapes:
Types of service scapes-Objective and Goals of services capes Role of services capes, Approaches for understanding service scapes effects, Frame work for understanding services capes & its effect on behaviour-Guidance for physical evidence strategies.
PRACTICALCOMPONENT:
COURSE OUTCOMES:
The student should be able to:
1. Develop an understanding about the various concepts and importance of Services Marketing.
2. Enhance knowledge about emerging issues and trends in the service sector.
3. Learn to implement service strategies to meet new challenges.
RECOMMENDED BOOKS:
REFERENCE BOOKS: