CH 10, 11, 12
Today was another day full of marketing concepts and Shark tank videos (which I still enjoy a lot!). One thing I love about the class overall, not just today's class, is the structure. The shark tank videos and how they apply to the concepts is super helpful in grasping and remembering concepts (and I like how they're available on Kodiak), the fact that you use different colored markers for your notes and diagrams (helpful in keeping up), and the overall strict structure of the class. In a few of our other classes, there was no structure whatsoever and I think that caused my grade to suffer a little. Also, I really enjoyed the Buzzy shark tank video today because I think it is a brilliant idea. I am actually terrified of needles (fun fact, my doctor used to have to hide the shot in his jacket and catch me off guard), and I think if she was a little nicer, and a little more cooperative, she would've paired with one of the sharks, and made big money!
Today in class a few of the interesting points that we talked about were the service quality gap model, the five characteristics for a product to be successful, and the difference between product mix and product line. The gap model of service quality is a model that identifies the five "gaps" that can cause problems in service delivery and therefore affect customer evaluations of service quality. The model is shown below
The first gap is the knowledge gap, or the gap between what customers want and what managers think their customers want, resulting from a lack of understanding or misinterpretation. The second gap is the standards gap which is the gap between what management thinks customers want and tghe quality specifications that management develops to provide the service, resulting from the managements inability to translate customers needs into delivery systems. The third gap is the delivery gap which is the gap between the service quality specifications and the service that is actually provided, resulting from the inability of management/employees to do what should be done. The fourth gap is the communications gap which is the gap between what the company provides and what the customer is told it provides, resulting from misleading/deceptive campaigns. The last gap is the service gap which is the gap between the service customers receive and the service they want, and can be positive or negative.
A few concepts that we didn't talk about in class that I found to be interesting were UPC's and their purpose (187), test marketing (198)and the five ways to evaluate service quality (211). An Universal Product Code is a sets of thick and thin vertical lines, also known as bar codes, that are readable by computerized optical scanners that represent numbers used to track products. UPC's are important because they're used in scanner based research, to print information on cash register tapes, and to match codes with brand names/package sizes/etc. They were introduced in 1974, and have been crucial for marketing and product development/shipment since. Test marketing is the limited introduction of a product and a marketing program to determine the reactions of potential customers in a market situation. Test marketing allows management to seek alternative strategies and to see how well their marketing mix fit together. However, test marketing can take up to a year and cost over one million dollars, so some companies like to use alternatives, such as simulated market testing or P&G. Lastly, the five ways to evaluate service quality are reliability (performing a service dependably, consistently,etc.), responsiveness (ability to provide prompt service), assurance (knowledge and courtesy of employees), empathy (individualized, caring attention to customers), and tangibles (physical evidence of a service). According to research, these are the five ways that customers evaluate service quality, and the overall service quality is measured by combining customers' evaluations for all five aspects.
No comments:
Post a Comment