Question #1
means that services cannot be seen, tasted, felt, heard, or smelled before they are bought.
a- heterogeneity
b-inseparability
c-perishability
c-intangibility
Answers
Explanation:
c is right answer according to my calculations
Answer:
perceive the service before (and sometimes during and after) the service delivery. For many customers of car repair, for example the service is totally intangible – they often cannot see what is being done and many indeed are unable to evaluate what has been done.
Implications:
Intangibility presents problems in that consumer may experience difficulty in knowing and understanding what is on offer before, and even after, receipt of the service. The challenge for the service provider is to determine the extent of intangibility and the management action required to make the service more tangible (Figure 2.2). The first task implies resort to some form of measurement, and the second task involves the provision of tangible evidence, e.g. a brochure to help consumer understanding of the service.
Some Implications of Service Intagibility
Pure services have no tangible properties which can be used by consumers to verify advertising claims before the purchase is made. The intangible process characteristics which define services, such as reliability, personal care, attentiveness of staff, their friendliness, etc., can only be verified once a service has been purchased and consumed.
Intangibility has a number of important marketing implications. The lack of physical evidence that intangibility implies increases the level of uncertainty which a consumer faces when choosing between competing services.
An important part of a services marketing programme will therefore involve reducing consumer uncertainty by such means as adding physical evidence and the development of strong brands. It is interesting to note that pure goods and pure services tend to move in opposite directions in terms of their general approach to the issue of tangibility. While service marketers seek to add tangible evidence to their product, pure goods marketers often seek to augment their products by adding intangible elements such as after-sales service and improved distribution.
Evidence Creation:
The ability to picture a service may be assisted by the service organization providing something tangible. This may be in the form of tangible evidence, e.g. computerized representation of hairstyles or a tangible possession, e.g. a university prospectus. The aim would be to help the potential customer form expectations before using the service. Equally, tangible evidence and possessions could assist customer judgment of the service during and after usage.
2. Inseparability:
There is a marked distinction between physical goods and services (Figure 2.3) in terms of the sequence of production and consumption.
Sequence of Production and Consumption
Whereas goods are first produced, and then stored, and finally sold and consumed, services are first sold, then produced and consumed simultaneously. For the production of many services (e.g. counselling, museums, hairdressing, rail travel, hotels) the customer must be physically present.
Some services may be produced and delivered in circumstances where the customer’s presence is optional, e.g. carpet cleaning, plumbing. Other services may rely more on written communication, e.g. distance learning course, or on technology, e.g. home banking. Whatever the nature and extent of contact, the potential for inseparability of production and consumption remains.
Implications:
The involvement of the customer in the production and delivery of the service means that the service provider must exercise care in what is being produced and how it is produced. The latter task will be of particular significance. How teachers, doctors, bank tellers, lawyers, car mechanics, hairdressers conduct themselves in the presence of the customer may determine the likelihood of repeat business.
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Therefore, proper selection and training of customer contact personnel are necessary to ensure the delivery of quality. The production and consumption of a tangible good are two discrete activities. Companies usually produce goods in one central location and then transport them to the place where customers most want to buy them. In this way, manufacturing companies can achieve economies of scale through centralized production and have centralised quality-control checks.
The manufacturer is also able to make goods at a time which is convenient to itself, and then make them available to customers at times which are convenient for them. Production and consumption are said to be separable.
On the other hand, the consumption of a service is said to be inseparable from its means of production. Producer and consumer must normally interact in order for the benefits of