CONSUMER
BEHAVIOUR
IN SERVICES
Objectives for Chapter 2:
Consumer Behavior in Services
Enhance understanding of how consumers choose and
evaluate services, through focusing on factors that are
particularly relevant for services.
Describe how consumers judge goods versus services in
terms of search, experience, and credence criteria.
Develop the elements of consumer behavior that a services
marketer must understand: choice behavior, consumer
experiences, and postexperience evaluation.
Explore how differences among consumers (cultural
differences, group decision making) affect consumer
behavior and influence services marketing strategies.
Definition
Consumer Behaviour : the study of when,
why, how, where and what people do or do not
buy products. It attempts to understand the
buyer decision making process, both individually
and in groups. It studies characteristics of
individual consumers such as demographics
and behavioural variables in an attempt to
understand people's wants. It also tries to assess
influences on the consumer from groups such
as family, friends, reference groups, and society
in general.
Gaps Model of Service Quality
Expected
Service
CUSTOMER
Customer
Gap
Perceived
Service
External
COMPANY Service Communications
Delivery Gap 4 to Customers
Gap 3
Gap 1 Customer-Driven
Service Designs and
Standards
Gap 2
Company Perceptions
of Consumer
Expectations
Provider gaps are the underlying
causes behind the customer gap:
The Customer Gap
The Provider Gaps:
Gap 1 – not knowing what customers expect
Gap 2 – not having the right service designs
and standards
Gap 3 – not delivering to service standards
Gap 4 – not matching performance to
promises
Putting It All Together: Closing the Gaps
The Customer Gap
Expected
service
Customer Gap
Perceived
service
Consumer Behavior in Services
Search, Experience, and Credence
Properties
Consumer Choice
Consumer Experience
Post experience Evaluation
Key Issues for Decision Making
Who is involved in the decision making process?
How long does the process take?
What is the set of competing services from
which consumers make their choice?
What is the relative importance attached by
decision makers to different elements of the
service offer?
What sources of information are used in
evaluating competing service offers?
Consumer Behaviour: Service
Differences
Intangibility problem
Consumer involvement (High- contact services
& Low contact services)
Perceived Risk
Sources of Information
Continuum of Evaluation
for Different Types of
Products
Most Most
Goods Services
Easy to evaluate Difficult to evaluate
Clothing
Jewelry
Furniture
Houses
Automobiles
Restaurant meals
Vacations
Haircuts
Child care
Television repair
Legal services
Root canals
Auto repair
Medical diagnosis
High in search High in experience High in credence
qualities qualities qualities
Consumer Evaluation
Processes for Services
Search Qualities
attributes a consumer can determine prior to
purchase of a product
Experience Qualities
attributes a consumer can determine after
purchase (or during consumption) of a product
Credence Qualities
characteristics that may be impossible to
evaluate even after purchase and consumption
Consumer Behaviour Model
possible influences on the decision process
person-specific psychological social influences
influences influences roles and family
•demographic •perception •reference groups
•situational •motives •social classes
•learning •culture and subcultures
•attitudes
•personality
consumer buying decision process
evaluation post
problem information
recognition
of Purchase purchase
search
alternatives evaluation
Services - Decision Making Process
Need awareness Information search
Memory
Memory
Evaluation of
service suppliers
Future Intentions
Request service
Evaluation
Service delivery
Issues to Consider in Examining
the Consumer’s Service
Experience
Services as processes
Service provision as drama
Service roles and scripts
The compatibility of service customers
Customer coproduction
Emotion and mood
[Link] Recognition
Physiological needs
Safety & Security needs
Social needs
Ego needs
Self actualization needs
[Link] Search
Personal & non personal sources
Previous personal experience
Word of Mouth
Reference groups
Media communications
Internet sources
Perceived Risk( the amount of uncertainty, the potential
negative consequences
1. Financial/ Economic
2. Performance/ Functional
3. Physical
4. Psycho – Social
5. Time/ Hassle
Perceived Risk Is Greater for Services:
Why?
Reasons:
Intangibility
Heterogeneity- non standardized
Perishability & sold without guarantees or warranties
3. Evaluation of Service
Alternatives
Evaluation: A process of choice reduction
1. Situational Influences
a. Social
b. Task/job
c. Antecedent (forerunner) States
d. Temporal effects
2. Smaller Evoked Set: set of alternatives a consumer
considers acceptable option in a given product category.
a. Customer evoked set frequently includes self
provision of the service-nonprofessional services
b. Service factory always offers a single brand.
c. Difficulty of obtaining pre purchase information.
The Brand pyramid
BRAND SET
Purchased/No
purchase
Evoked
Considered
Aware
Available
Total
4. Service Purchase consumption
Purchase- Simultaneous production and consumption
& Experience/ Process
Emotions & Moods
Service as Drama: Actors, Audience, Setting( Front Stage,
Back Stage, Props), performance service assembly)
Service Roles and Scripts (sequence)
Customer Compatibility
5. Post Purchase Evaluation
Attribution of Dissatisfaction
Innovation Diffusion
Relative advantage: over competitors
Compatibility: with existing norms, values & behaviors.
Communicability: easy to describe
Divisibility: can be tried /tested on limited basis.
Complexity : complex offering diffuses slowly.
Positive / Negative Bias
Brand Loyalty: switching cost, availability of substitute ,
perceived risk, past experience
Therefore Categories in Consumer
Decision-Making and Evaluation of
Services
Information Evaluation of
Search Alternatives
Use of personal sources Evoked set
Perceived risk Emotion and mood
Purchase and Post-Purchase
Consumption Evaluation
Service provision as drama Attribution of dissatisfaction
Service roles and scripts Innovation diffusion
Compatibility of customers Brand loyalty
Therefore
Always Think for Customer
Always Maximize Customer Value
Always Respect Customer Time