Chapter 4

CUSTOMER EXPPECTATIONS OF SERVICE

This chapter’s objectives are to

1. Recognize that customers hold different types of expectation for
service performance.
2. Discuss the sources of customer expectations of service, including
those that are controllable and uncontrollable by marketers
3. Acknowledge that the types and sources of expectation are similar for
end consumers and business customers, for pure service and product-
related service, foe experienced customers and inexperienced
customers.
4. Delineate the most important current issues surrounding customer
expectation.

Undoubtedly, the greatest gap between customer expectations and service

delivery exists when the Japanese meet Russians. In Japan the customers is
supreme. At the morning opening of large department stores in Tokyo, sales
personnel line up to welcome patrons and how as they enter! When one of
us-who could speak no Japanese-visited Tokyo recently, as many as eight
salespeople willingly tired to help me find a calligraphy pen. Although the
pen was a very low-priced item, several attendants rushed form counter to
counter to find someone to translate, several others spread out to find pens
that might serve as the perfect gift, and still others searched for maps to
other stores where the perfect pen could be found.
Because of the wonderful treatment Japanese customers are used to in
their home country, they often have service expectation that exceed service
delivery even when shopping in “civilized” countries such as Great Britain:
“Hideo Majima, 57, a Japanese tourist, looked puzzle and annoyed. He was
standing in a London department store while two shop assistants conversed
instead of serving him. He left without buying anything. “1 His annoyance is
understandable when you realize the standard of service treatment in Japan.
Given how our friend Majima-san felt about shopping in Britain, try to
imagine his perception of this actual dining experience in many Russian
restaurants. Remember that in Russia’s economy, products are still so scarce
that suppliers rule. Sellers decide who gets what, and the concept of
customer service is virtually meaningless. In a real-live experience, a
customers visiting the izmailova Hotel had to excuse the waiters if they were
to busy to serve customer-they were playing chess. “’Can’t you see we’re
one move away form checkmate?’ yelled waiter Oleg Shamov, surrounded by
six other waiters in a restaurant back room. The match kept customers
waiting for 40 minutes.”2 Free enterprise is apparently having strong effects
in the former Soviet Union. Professor Peter Shikkirev at the at the Graduate
School of International Business in Moscow assures us that some Russian
restaurants are now providing service comparable to fine American
Restaurants. However, we doubt that even that level of customer service
would delight Japanese customers.

Customer expectations are beliefs about service delivery that serve as

standards or reference points against which performances is judged.
Because customers compare their perception of performance with these
reference points when evaluating service quality, thorough knowledge about
customers expectations is critical to service marketers. Knowing what the
customer expects is the first and possibly most critical step in delivering
quality service. Being wrong about what customers wants can mean losing a
customers business when another company hits the target exactly. Being
wrong can also mean expending money, time, and other resources on thing
that do not count to the customer. Being wrong can even mean not surviving
in a fiercely competitive market.
Among the aspects of expectations that need to be explored and
understood for successful services marketing are the following: What types
of expectation standards do customers hold about services? What factor
most influence the formation of these expectations? What role do these
factors play in changing expectation? How can a service company meet or
exceed customer expectations?
In this chapter we provide a framework for thinking about customer
expectation. 3The chapter is divided into three main section: (1) the meaning
and types of expected service, (2) Factors that influence customer
expectation of service, and (3) current issues involving customer service
expectation.

MEANING AND TYPES OF SERVICE EXPECTATION

To say that expectation are reference points against which service delivery is
compared is only a beginning. The level of expectation can vary widely
depending on the reference point the customers holds. Although most
everyone has an intuitive sense of what expectation are, service marketers
need a far more thorough and clear definition of expectation in order to
comprehend, measure, and manage them.
 Let’s imagine that you are planning to go to a restaurant. Figure 4.2
shows a continuum along which different possible types of service
expectation can be arrayed fro low to high. On the left of continuum are
different types or levels of expectation, ranging from high (top) to low
(bottom). At each point we give a name to the type of the expectation and
illustrate what it might mean in term of a restaurant you are considering.
Note how important the expectation you held will be to your eventual
assessment of the restaurant’s performances. Suppose you went into the
restaurant for which you held to minimum tolerable expectation, paid very
little money, and were served immediately with good food. Next suppose
that you went to the restaurant for which you held highest (ideal)
expectation, paid a lot of money, and were served good (but not fantastic)
food. Which restaurant experience would you judge to be best? The answer
is likely to depend a great deal on the reference point that you brought to
the experience.
Because their idea of customers expectation is not critical to
evaluation of service, we start this chapter by talking about the levels of
expectation.

Expected Service: Levels of Expectation

As we showed at figure 4.2, customers hold different expectations about
service. For purposes of our discussion in the rest of this chapter, we focus
on two types. The highest Can be termed desired service: the level of service
the customer hopes to receive-the “wished for” level of performance.
Desired service is the blend of what the customer believes “can be” and
“should be.”4 For example, consumers who sign up for a computer dating
service expect to find compatible, attractive, interesting, people to date and
perhaps even someone to marry. The expectation reflect to hopes and
wishes of these consumers; without these hopes and wishes and the belief
that they may be fulfilled, consumers would probably not purchase the
dating service. In a similar way, you will engage the service of your collage’s
placement office when you are ready to graduate. What are your expectation
of the service? In all likelihood you want office to find you a job-the right job
in the right place for the right salary-because that is what you hope and wish
for.
However, you probably also see that the economy may constrain the
availability of ideal job opening in companies. And not all companies you
may be interested in having a relationship with your placement office. In this
situation and in general , customers hope to achieve their service desire but
recognize that this is not always possible. We call the threshold level of
acceptable service adequate service-the level of service the customer will
accept.5 In the economic slowdown following the World Trade Center
disaster, many college graduates who were trained for high skilled job
accepted entry-level positions at fast food restaurants or internship for no
pay. Their hopes and desires were still high, but they recognize that they
could not attain those desires in the market that exited at the time. Their
standard of adequate service was much lower than their desire service.
Some graduates accepted any job for which they could earn a salary, and
other agreed to nonpaying, short term positions as inters to gain experience.
Adequate service represents the “minimum tolerable expectation,”6 the
bottom level of performance acceptable to the customer.
Figure 4.3 shows these two expectation standards as the upper and
lower boundaries for customers expectation. This figure portrays the idea
that customers assess service performance on the basis of two standard
boundaries: what they desire and what they deem acceptable.
Among the intriguing questions about service expectation is whether
customers hold the same or different expectation levels for service firms in
the same industry. For example, are desired service expectation the same
for all restaurants? Or just for all fast-food restaurants? do the levels of
adequate service expectation vary across restaurants? Consider the
following quotation:

Level of expectation are why two organizations in the same business can
offer far different levels of service and still keep customers happy. It is why
McDonald’s can extend excellent industrialized service with few employees
per customer and why expensive restaurant with many tuxedoed waiters
may be unable to do as well form from the customers point of view.7

Customers typically hold similar desired expectation across categories

of service, but these categories are not as broad as whole industries. Among
subcategories of restaurant are expensive restaurants, ethnic restaurants,
fast-food restaurants, and airport restaurants. A customer’s desired service
expectation for fast-food restaurants is quick, convenient, tasty food in clean
setting. The desired service expectation for an expensive restaurant, on the
other hand, usually involves elegant surroundings, gracious employees,
candlelight, and fine food. In essence, desired service expectations seem to
be the same for service provides within industry categories or subcategories
that are viewed as similar by customers. The adequate service expectation
level, on the other hand, may very for different firms within a category or
subcategory. Within fast-food restaurants a customers may hold a higher
expectation for McDonald’s than Burger King, having experienced consistent
service at McDonald’s over time and somewhat inconsistent service at
Burger King. It is possible , therefor, that a customers can be more
disappointed with service from McDonald than from Burger King even though
the actual level of service at McDonald is higher than the level at burger
king. This chapter’s Global Feature further discusses how culture influences
expectations.

Global Feature
Cultural influences on Service Expectation

To understand how consumers behave across cultures, we can identify five

universal values across cultures, These universal values are well
documented; they are based on study using 72,715 employees working 66
different national subsidiaries of IBM corporation. The universal values which
collectively distinguish members of different cultures, include power
distance, uncertainly avoidance, individualism-collectivism, masculinity-
femininity, and confusion dynamic or long term orientation.8 Here we explain
how Hofstede, the author of this research, defined each of these
subdimensions, and than we describe one of many ways they might affect
consumer expectations in services.

• Power distance involves the way that the less powerful member of
institution and organization within a country expect and accept that
power is distributed unequally. Part of power distance involves human
inequality inn areas such as prestige, wealth, power, and law. People
from cultures high in power distance are comfortable with power
hierarchy, discrimination, and tolerance inequality.
• Uncertainly avoidance is the extent to which the members of a culture
feel threatened by uncertain or unknown situation. People with high
uncertainly avoidance like clear rule and explicit situation; people with
low uncertainly avoidance can accept uncertainty without discomfort
and tolerate inexplicit rule.
• Individualism exists In societies in which the ties between individuals
are loose; all individuals are expected to loom after them selves and
their immediate family. Collectivism, the opposite, exists in societies in
which people from birth onward are integrated into strong, cohesive
groups that offer lifetime protection in exchange for loyalty. This
subdimensions can be summed up in three words: I versus we.
 • Masculinity and femininity are the dominant sex role patterns in the
vast majority of both traditional and modern societies. Masculine
societies value assertiveness, performances, ambition , and
independence, whereas feminine societies value nurturance, quality of
life, service, and interpendance.
• The Confucian dynamic, or long term versus short term orientation
dimension, refers to the way people look at the future. Long term
orientation emphasizes perseverance ordering relationship by status,
thrift, and a sense of shame. On the other hand, short-term orientation
focuses on personal steadiness and ability, saving face, respect for
tradition, and recipiocation of greetings, favors and gifts.

The impact of culture on consumer expectation can be illuminated using

these five subdimensions of values and attitude. In one study , for
example researchers found the following.9

• Consumers low on power distance have high overall expectation of

service and praticulary expect responsive and reliable service
• Individualistic consumers have high overall service quality expectation
of service and empathy and assurance from the service provider.
• Consumers high on uncertainly avoidance short-term-oriented
consumers have high overall service quality expectation.

As the authors of the study point out, marketing efforts will perform better
when matched with cultural characteristics. This and other typologies that
help us understand the differences in values across cultures will be
immense importance as service marketers develop and markets service
offerings.

The Zone of Tolerance

As we discussed in earlier chapters of this textbook, services are
heterogeneous In that performance may vary across providers, across
employees from the same provider, and even with the same service
employee. The extent to which customers recognize and are willing to accept
this variation is called the zone of tolerance and is shown in figure 4.4. if
service drops below adequate service-the minimum level considered
acceptable-customers will e frustrated and their satisfaction with the
company will be undermined. If service performance is higher than the zone
of tolerance at the top end-where performance exceeds desired service-
costumers will be very pleased and probably quite surprise as well. You
might consider the zone tolerance as the range of window in which
customers do not paityculary notice service performance. When it falls
outside the range(either very low or very high), the service gets the
customer’s attention in either a positive or negative way. As an example,
consider the service at a checkout line in grocery store. Most customers hold
a range of acceptable time for this service encounter-probably somewhere
between 5 and 10 minutes. If service consumes that period time, customers
probably do not pay much attention to the wait. If a customers enters the
line and finds sufficient checkout personnel to serve her in the first two or
three minutes, she may notice the service and judge it as excellent. On the
other hand, If a customers has to wait in line for 15 minutes, he may begin
grumble and look at his watch. The longer the wait is below the zone of
tolerance, the more frustrated he becomes.
Customers’ service expectation are characterized by a range of levels
(like those shown in figure 4.3), bounded by desired and adequate service,
rather than a single level . This tolerance zone, representing the difference
between desired service and the level of service considered adequate, can
expand and contract within a customer. An airline customer zone of
tolerance will narrow when she is running late and is concerned about
making her plane. A minutes seems much longer, and her service level
adequate increases. On the other hand, a customer who arrives at the
airport early may have a larger tolerance zone, making the wait in line far
less noticeable then when he is pressed for time. This example shows that
the marketers must understand not just the size and boundary levels for the
zone of tolerance but also when and how the tolerance zone fluctuates with a
given customer.

Different Customers Posses Different Zones of Tolerance

Another aspect of variability in the range of reasonable services is that
different customers posses different tolerance zones. Some customers have
narrow zones of tolerance, requiring a tighter range of service from
providers, whereas other customers allow the greater range of service. For
example, very busy customers would likely always be pressed for time,
desire the short wait times in general , and also hold a constrained range for
the length of acceptable wait times. When it comes to meeting plumbers or
repair personnel at their homes for appliance problems customers who work
in their home or not work at all.
An individual customer’s zone of tolerance increases or decreases
depending on a number of factors, including company –controlled factor such
as price. When prices increase, customers tend to be less of poor service. In
the case, the zone of tolerance decrease because the adequate service level
shift upward. Later in this chapter we will describe many different factors,
some company controlled and others customer controlled, that lead to the
narrowing or widening of the tolerance zone.

Zones of Tolerance Vary for Service Dimensions

Customers’ tolerance zones also vary for different service attributes or
dimensions. The more important the factor, the narrower the zone of
tolerance is likely to be. In general, consumers are likely to bee less tolerant
about unreliable service (broken promises or services errors) than other
service deficianites, Which mean that they have a higher expectation for this
factors. In addition to higher expectation for the most important service
dimension and attributes, customers are likely to less willing to relax these
expectation than those foe less important factors, making the zones of
tolerance for the most important service dimensions smaller and the desired
and adequate service level higher.10 Figure 4.55 port ways to likely
difference I tolerance zones for the most important and the least important
factors.11
The fluctuation In the individual customer’s zone of tolerance is more a
function of changes in the adequate service level, which moves readily up
and down because of situational circumstances, than in the desired service
level , which tends to move upward increamentally because of accumulated
experiences. Desired service is relatively idiosyncratic and stable compared
with adequate service which move up and down and in response to
competition and other factors. Fluctuation in the zone of tolerance can be
likened to an accordions movement, but with most of the gyration coming
from one side (the adequate service level) rather than the other (the desire
service level).
In summary, we can express the boundaries of customers expectation
of service with two different levels of expectations: desired service and
adequate service. The desired service level is less subject to changes than
de adequate service level. A zone or tolerance separates these tw levels .
This zone of tolerance varies across customers and expand or contract with
the same customer.

FACTOR THAT INFLUENCE CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS OF SERVICE

Because expectation play such a critical role in customer evaluation of

service, marketers need and want to understand the factors that shape
them. Marketers would also Like to have control over these factor as well,
but many of the forces that influence customer expectation are
uncontrollable. In this section of the chapter we try to separate the many
influences on customer expectations.

Sources of Desired Service Expectations

As shown in Figure 4.6 the two largest influences in desired service level are
personal needs and philosophies about service. Personal needs, those states
or condition essential to the physical or psychological well – being of the
customer, are pivotal factors that shape what customer desire in service.
Personal needs can fall into many categories, including physical, social,
psychological, and functional. A fan who regularly goes to baseball game
right from work, and is there for thirsty and hungry, hopes and desire that
the food and drink vendors will pass be is section frequently, whereas a fan
who regularly as dinner elsewhere as low or zero level of desire service from
the vendors. A customer with high social and dependency need may have
relatively high expectation for a hotels ancillary services, hoping, for
example, that the hotel has a bar with life music and dancing. The effect of
personal needs on desire service is illustrated by the different expectations
held be to business insurance customers.
I expect (an insurance) broker to do a great deal of my work because I don’t
have the staff…… I expect the broker to know a great dill about my business
and communicate that knowledge to the under writer.
My expectations are different…….i do have a staff to do our certificate, etc
and use the broker minimally.
Some customers are more demanding than others, having greater sensitivity
to, and higher expectations of, service lasting service intensifiers are
individual, stable factors that lead the customer to a heightened sensitivity
to service. One of the most important of these factors can be called derived
service expectations, which accure when customer expectations are driven
by another person or group of people. A from a big family who is planning a
90th birthday party for favorite aunt is representing the entire family in
selecting a restaurant for successful celebration. Her needs are driven in part
by the derived expectations from the other family members. A parent
choosing a vacation for the family, a spouse selecting a home-cleaning
service, an employee choosing an office for the firm all these customers
individual expectations are intensified because they represent and must
answer to other parties who will receive the service. In the context of
business-to business service, customer expectations are driven by the
expectations of their own customers. The head of information technology
department an insurance company, who is the business customer of a large
computer vendor, has expectation based on those of insurance customers
she serves: when the computer equipment is down, her customers complain.
Her need to keep the system up and running is not just her own expectation
but is derived from the pressure of customers.
Business - to business customer may also derive their expectation from their
managers and supervisors, employees of a marketing research department
may speed up project cycles ( increase their expectations for speed of
delivery) when pressure by their management to deliver the study results.
Purchasing agents may increase demands for faster delivery at lower costs
when company management is emphasizing cost reduction in the company.
Another lasting service intensifier is personal service philosophy-the
customers underlying generic attitude about the meaning of service and the
proper conduct of service providers. If you have ever been employee as a
wait person in a restaurant, you are likely to have standards for restaurant
service that were shape by your training and experience in that role. You
might, for example, believe that waiters should not keep customers waiting
longer than 15 minutes to take their orders. Knowing the way a kitchen
operates, you may be less tolerant of lukewarm food or errors in the order
than customers who have not held the role of waitperson In general,
customer who are theme selves in service businesses or have worked for
them in the past same to have especially strong service philosophies.
To the extent that customers have personal philosophies about service
provision, their expectations of service providers will be intensified. Personal
service philosophies and derived service expectation elevate the level of
desired service.

SOURCES OF ADEQUATE SERVICE EXPECTATIONS

A different set of determinants affects adequate service, the level of service
the customer finds acceptable, in general, these influences are short-term
and tend to fluctuate more than the factors that influence desired service. In
this section we explain the five factors shown in Figure 4.7 that influence
adequate service : (1) temporary service intensifiers, (2) perceived service
alternatives, (3) customer self-perceived service role, (4) situational factors,
and (5) predicted service.
The first set of element, temporary service intensifiers, consists of short-term
individual factors that make a customer more aware of the need for service.
Personal emergency situations in which service in urgently needed (such as
an accident and the need for automobile insurance or a breakdown in office
equipment during a busy period) raise the level of adequate service
expectation, particularly the level of responsiveness required and considered
acceptable. A mail-order company that depends on toll-free phone lines for
receiving all customer orders will tend to be more demanding of the
telephone service during peak periods of the week, month, and year. Any
system breakdown or lack of clarity on the lines will be tolerated less during
these intense periods than at other times. The impact of temporary service
intensifiers is evident in these comments by two participants in a research
study conducted by one of us:

An automobile insurance customer : The nature of my problem influences my

expectations for example, a broken window versus a DWI accident requiring
brain surgery

A business : equipment repair customer : I had calibration problems with the

X-ray equipment. They should have come out and fixed it in a matter of
hours because of the Problems with the initial service can also to heightened
expectations. Performing a service right the first time is very important
because customers values service reliability above all other dimensions. If
the service fails in the recovery phase, fixing it right the second time ( that
is, being reliable in service recovery) is even more critical than it was the
first time. Automobile repair service provides a case in point. If a problem
with your automobile’s brakes sends you to a car repair provider, you expect
the company to fix the brakes. If you experience further problems with the
brakes after the repair ( a not-uncommon situation with car repair), your
adequate service level will in crease. In these and other situations where
temporary service intensifiers are present, the level of adequate service will
increase and the zone of tolerance will narrow.
Perceived service alternatives are other providers from whom the customer
can obtain service. If customers have multiple service providers to choose
from, or if they can provide the service for themselves (such as lawn care or
personal grooming), their levels of adequate service are higher than those of
customer who believe it is not possible to get better service elsewhere. An
airline customer who lives in a small town with a tiny airport, for example,
has a reduced set of options in airline travel. This customer will be more
tolerant of the service performance of the carriers in the town because few
alternatives exist. She will accept the scheduling and lower levels of service
more than the customer in a big city who has myriad flights and airlines to
choose from. The customer’s perception that service alternatives exist rises
the level of adequate service and narrows the zone of tolerance.
It is important that service marketers fully understand the complete set of
options that customers view as perceived alternatives. In the small town-
small airport example just discussed, the set of alternatives from the
customer’s point of view is likely to include more than just other airlines:
limousine service to a nearby large city, service, or droving. In general,
service marketers must discover the alternatives that the customer views as
comfortable rather than those in the company’s competitive set. For
example, airline companies must fully understand customer views of new
service technologies (see our Technology Spotlight).

TECHNOLOGY SPOTLIGHT
Customer Expectations of New Technology Services at the Airport

One the most difficult tasks than marketers face is understanding what
customers expect from completely new services, and nowhere this problem
more evident than when these new services involve technology. Customers
almost always resist new technology initially-perhaps because they do not
understand it, perhaps because they fear change-even when the technology
leads to improved service. Technology that makes obtaining service easier
and taster is springing up all over, even in airports around the country.
Customers are accepting some new service technologies and resisting
others. Here we discuss two innovations that are meeting different fates
One new service technology that is rapidly being accepted by customers is
automatic airline check-in : Customers walk up to computer screens, slide
credit cards, and use touch pads to retrieve their boarding passes and
receipts. Unless the flight is international, customers can check luggage
automatically as well, and an attendant takes their luggage from them
before they go to their gates. The service takes less time than working with
an attendant, and most airlines have added more computers than they
previously had lines for attendants, saving customers considerable time.
When these computer screens were first installed, customers were not sure
what to expect and did not know how to use them. Airlines that supplied
extra employees to stand and help customers use the computers found
success in converting customers from the human handling to the technology.
Today, most customers prefer the computers because of their speed and
ease.
Another airport technology that is being accepted more slowly by customers
is called Exit Express and is a technology substitute for toll booths as
customers leave airport parking areas. It works like this: Before customers
exit the airport, they use a machine (similar to a subway token machine) to
pay their parking fess in advance. They insert their parking ticket, then their
credit card or cash, and receive back their stamped parking ticket. When
they exit the parking lot, they use one of the many Exit express lanes, insert
their paid tickets and leave. Airport typically still retain a small number of
lanes that use live employees and operate in the traditional way.
Surprisingly, many airports are finding that customers do not us e exit
Express technology as much as expected. One of us, who love the new
technology and always uses it, typically finds herself alone in the exit
Express lanes while other customers line up in the live employee lane. Why
are customers resisting this technology that clear meets or exceeds their
expectations of getting out of airport quickly? One possible reason is that
they do not understand how the system work, even though a loudspeaker in
the parking lots trumpets the new system continously. They also my not
clearly seen the benefits being provided, possible because the airport did not
communicate them well enough, leading customers to believe that the old
system with toll booths was quick enough. Another reason is that most
airports have not stationed employees near the technology to familiarize
customers with it and to deal with services failures, as the airlines did with
automatic check-in. Customer may also fear that if some thing goes wrong,
they would be embarrassed and not know how to resolves the situation. A
final compelling reason is that many customers distrust automated teller
machine (ATM) technology when it was first introduced.
If new services created by technology are to meet the expectations of
customer, they must be trusted, understood, and introduced as valuable to
customer. Otherwise, the promise of meeting or exceeding customer
expectations will not be realized despite large investments.

Source : M.L Meuter, M.J Bitner,A.L Ostrom, and S.W

Brown, “Choosing Among Alternative Service Delivery Modes :
An Investigation of Customer Trial of Self-Service
Technology, “Journal of Marketing, (April) 2005 Reprinted by permission of
the American Marketing Association.

A third factor affecting the level of adequate service is the customers self-
perceived service role. We define this as customer perceptions of the degree
to which customers exert an influence on the level of service they receive. In
other words, customers expectation are partly shaped by how well they
believe they are performing their own roles in service delivery.14 One role of
the customer is to specify the level of service expected. A customer who is
very explicit with a waiter about how rare he wants his steak cooked in a
restaurant will probably be more dissatisfied if the meat comes to the table
overcooked than a customers who does not articulate the degree of
doneness expected. The customer’s active participation in the service also
affect this factor. A customer who does not show up for many of her allergy
shots will probably be more lenient on the allergist when she experiences
symptoms than one who conscientiously shows up foe every shot.
A final way the customer defines his or her role is in assuming the
responsibility for complaining when service is poor. A dissatisfied customer
who complains will be less tolerant than one who does not voice his or her
concern. An automobile insurance customer acknowledged his responsibility
in service provision this way :”You can’t blame it all on the insurance agent.
You need to be responsible too and let the agent know what exactly you
want.” A truck leasing customer recognized her role by stating, “there are a
lot of variables that can influence how you get treated, including how you
deal with them.”15
Customers, zones of tolerance seem to expand when they sense they
are not fulfilling their roles. When, on the other hand, customers believe they
are doing their part in delivery, their expectation of adequate service are
highened and the zone of tolerance contracts. The comment of an
automobile repair customers illustrate: “service writers are not competent. I
prepare my own itemized list of problems, take it to the service writer, and
tell him or her ‘Fix these’” Tis customer will expect more than one who did
not prepare as well to receive the service.
Level of adequate Service are also influenced by situational factors,
defined as service performance condition that customers view as beyond the
control of the service provider. For example, where personal emergencies
they are temporary service intensifier), catastrophes that effect the large
number of people at one time (tornadoes and earthquakes) may lower such
as serious automobile accident would likely intensify customer service
expectation of insurance companies because customer recognize that
insures are inundate with demands for their services. During the days the
World Trade Center disaster, telephone and internet service was poor
because so many people trying to get in touch with friends and relatives.
However, customers were forgiving because they understood the source of
problem. Customer who recognize that situational factor are not the fault of
the service company my accept lower levels of adequate service given the
context. In general, situational factor temporarily lower the level of adequate
service, widening the zone of tolerance.
The final factor that influence adequate service is predicted service
(figure 4.8), the levels of service that customer believes they are likely to
get. This type of service expectation can be viewed as predictions made by
customers about what is likely tu happening during an impending transcation
or exchange. Predicted service performance implies some objective
calculation of the probably of performance or estimate if anticipated service
performed level. If customer predict good services, their level of adequate
service are likely to be higher than if they predict poor service. For example,
full-time residents in a collage town usually predict faster restaurant service
during the summer month. On the other hand, customers of telephone
companies and utilities know that installation service from these firms will be
difficult to obtain during the first few weeks of school when myriad student
are setting up their apartment for the year. In this case, levels of adequate
service decrease and zones of tolerance widen.
Predicted service is typically an estimate or calculation of the service that
are customer will receive in an individual transaction rather then in the
overall relationship with are service provider. Where as desired adequate
service expectation are global assessment comprising many individual
service transactions, predicted service is almost always an estimate of what
will happen in the next service encounter or transaction that the customer
experiences. For this reason, predicted service is viewed in this model as an
influence of adequate service.
Because predictions are about individual service encounters, they are likely
to be more concrete and specific than the types of expectation levels
customers hold for adequate service or desired service. For example, your
predicted service expectation about the length of time you will spend in the
waiting room the next time you visit your doctor will likely be expressed in
terms of the number of minutes or hours you have spent in the waiting room
this time.

SERVICE ENCOUNTER EXPECTATIONS VERSUS OVERALL SERVICE

EXPECTATION
In Chapter 5 we discuss the different between overall service quality and
service encounter quality, viewing the service encounter as a discrete event
occurring over a definable period of time (such as a particular hotel stay or a
particular check-in experience at the hotel). Customers hold expectation of
the quality of each service encounter, just as they hold expectations about
the overall service quality of a firm. When the expectations are about
individual service encounters, they are likely to be more specific and
concrete (such as the number of minutes one must wait for a front desk
clerk) than the expectations about overall service quality (like speedy
service)
SOURCES OF BOTH DESIRED AND PREDICTED SERVICE EXPECTATIONS

When consumers are interested in purchasing services, they are likely to

seek or take in information from several different sources. For example, they
may call a store, ask a friend, or deliberately track newspaper
advertisements to find the needed service at the lowest price. They may also
receive service information by watching television or hearing an unsolicited
comment from a colleague about a service that was performed well. In
addition to these active and passive types of external search for information,
consumers may conduct an internal search by reviewing the information held
in memory about the service. This section discusses one internal and three
external factors that influence both desired service and predicted service
expectations: (1) explicit service promises, (2) implicit service promises, (3)
word-of-mouth communications, and (4) past experience.
Explicit service promises are personal and nonpersonal statement
about the service made by organization to customers. The statement re
personal when they are communicated by salespeople or service or repair
personnel; they are nonpersonal when they come from advertising,
brochures, and other written publication. Explicit service promises are one of
the few infliences on expectations that are compeletely in the control of
service provider.
Promising exactly what will ultimately be delivered would seem a
logical and appropriate way to manage customer expectations and ensure
that reality fist the promises. However, companies and the personel who
represent them who often deliberately overpromise to obtain business or
inadvertently overpromise by stating their best estimates about delivery of a
service in the future. In addition to overpromising. Company representatives
simply always know the appropriate promises to make because services are
often customized and therefor not easily defined and repeated , the
representative may not know when or in what final from the service will be
delivered.
All type of explicit service promises have a direct effect on
desired service expectation. If the sales visit portrays a banking service that
is available 24 hours a day, the customer’s desire for the service (as well as
the service competitors) will be shaped by this promise. A hotel customer
describes the impact of explicit promises on expectation: “They get you real
pumped up with the beautiful ad. When you go in you expect the bells and
whistles to go off. Usually they don’t.” A business equipment repair customer
state, “When you buy a piece of equipment you expect to get a competitive
advantage from it. Service is promised with the sale of the equipment.” A
particularry dangerous promise that many companies today make to their
business customers to provide a “total solution” to theor business need . This
promise is very difficult to deliver.
Explicit service promises influence the levels of both desired
service and predicted service. They shape what customer desire in general
as well as what they predict will happen in the next service encounter from a
particular service provider or in a certain service encounter.
Implicit service promises are service related cues other than
explicit promises that lead to infrences about what the service should and
will be like. These quality cuas are dominated by price and the tangibels
associated with the service. In general, ythe higher, thee price and the more
impressive the tangibels, the more a customer will expect from the service.
Consider a customer who shops for insurance, finding to firm charging
radically different piece. She may infer tthat the firm with the higher price
should and will provide higher quality service abd better coverage. Similarly,
a customer who stays at the posh hotel is likely to desire and predict the
higher standard of service than from the hotel with less impressives
facilities.
The iimportance of word-of-mouth communication in shaping
expectation of service is well documented.16 These personal and sometimes
nonpersonal statement made by parties other than the organization convey
to customers what the service will be like influence both ppredicted and
desired service. Word-of-mouth communication carries particular weight as
information source becayse iit is perceived as ubaised. Word of mouth tend
to be very important In services that are difficult to evaluate before purchase
and before direct experience of them. Experts (including Consumers report,
friends and family) are also word of mouth sources that can affect the levels
of desired and predicted service.
Past experience the customer’s previous exposure to service that
is relevant to the focal service, is another force in shaping predictions and
desires. The service relevant for prediction can be previous exposure to the
focal firm’s service. For example you probably compare each stay in a
particular hotel with all previous stays in hotel. But past experience with the
focal hotel is likely to be very limited view of your past experience. You may
also compare each stay with your experiences in other hotel and hotels
chain. CCustomers also compare across industries: hospital patients, for
example, compare hospital stays against the standard of hotel visits. Cable
service customers tend to compare cable service with the standard set by
telephone service, one reason cable servie is often judged to be poor. In a
general sense, past experience may incorporate previous experience with
the focal brand, typical performance of a favorite brand experience with the
brand last purchase or the top selling brand, and the average performance a
customer beliefes represent a group of simmiliar brand.17
How might a manager of a service organization use the information we
have developed in this chapter to create, improves, or market services? First
manager needs to know the patient expectations sources and their relative
importance for a customer population, a customer segment, and perhaps
even a particular customer. They need to know , for instance, the relative
weight of word of mouth, explicit service promises in shaping desired service
and predicted service. Some oof these sources are more stable and
peranentr in their iinfuence(such as lasting service intensifiers and personal
needs) than the other , which influence considerably over time (like
perceived service alternative and situational factors)
The diferent sources vary in terms of their credibility as well as their
potential to be influenced by the marketer. Oyr strategy insight shows the
breakdown of various factor and how services marketers can influence them.
Chapter 16 will detail these and other strategies that services marketers can
use to match delivery to promise and thereby manage expectations

ISSUES INVOLVING CUSTOMER SERVICE EXPECTATIONS

The following issues represent current topics of particular interest to
servicemarketers about customer expectation. Inthis section we discuss five
of the most frequently asked questions about customers expectations:
1. What does a service marketers do if customer expectations are
“unrealistic”?
2. Should the company try to delight the customer?
3. How does a company exceed customer service expectations?
4. Do the customer service expectations continually escalate?
5. How does a service company stay ahead of competition in meeting
customer expectations?
Strategy Insight
How Service marketers Can Influence Factor

FACTOR POSSIBLE INFLUENCE STRATEGIES

Explicit service promises Make realistic and accurate promises that reflect the service
actually delivered rather than n idealized version of the
service.
Ask contact people for feedback on the accuracy of promises
made in advertising and personal selling
Avoid engaging in price or advertising wars with competitors
because they take the focus off customers and escalate
promises beyond the level at which they can be met.
Formalize service promises through the service guarantee
that focuses company employees on the promise and that
provided feedback on the number of times promises are not
fulfilled
Implicit service promises Ensure that service tangibles accurately reflect the type and
level of service provided.
Ensure that price premiums can be justified by higher levels
of performance by the company on important customers
attributes
Lasting service intensifiers Use market research to determine sources of derived service
expectation and their requirements. Focus advertising and
marketing strategy on ways the service allow the focal
customers to satisfy the requirement on the influencing
customers.
Use market research to profile personal service philosophies
of customers and use this information in designing and
delivering service.
Personal needs Educate customers on ways the service addresses their
Temporary service needs.
intensifiers Increase service delivery during peak periods or In
Perceived service emergencies.
alternatives By fully aware of competitive offerings, and where possible
and appropriate match them.
Self-perceived service role Educate customers to understand their roles and perform
Word of mouth them better.
communications Stimulate word of mouth in advertising by using testimonials
and opinion leaders.
Identify influencers and opinion leaders for the service and
concentrate marketing efforts on them.
Use incentives with existing customers to encourage them to
say positive things about the service
Past experience Use marketing research to profile customers previous
experience with similar services
Situational factors Use service guarantees to assure customers about service
recovery regardless of the situational factors that occur
Predicted service Tell customers when service provision is higher than what can
normally be expected so that prediction of future service
encounters will not be inflated

Exhibit 4.1
Service Customers Want be the Basic

Type of Service Type of Customers Principal Expectations

Automobile repair Consumers Be competent. (“fix it right the first time”)
Explain things. (“explain why I need the
suggested repairs-provide a itemized list.”)
Be respectful. (“don’t treat me like a dumb
female”)
Automobile insurance Consumers Keep me informed. (“I shouldn’t have to learn
about insurance law changes from the
newspaper.”)
Be on my side. (“I don’t want them to treat me
like a criminal just because I have a claim.”)
Play fair. (“Don’t drop me when something
goes wrong.”)
Protect me from catastrophe. (“make sure my
estate is covered in the event of major
accident”)
Provide prompt service. (“I want fast
settlement of claims”)
Hotel Consumers Provide a clean room. (“Don’t have a deep-pile
carpet that can’t completely cleaned…you can
literally see germs down there.”)
Provide the secure room. (“Good bolts and
peephole on door.”)
Treat me like a guest. (“It is almost like they’re
looking you over to decide weather they’re
going to let you have a room”)
Keep your promise. (“They said the room will
 be ready, but it wasn’t at the promised time.”)
Property and casualty Business Customers Fulfill obligations. (“pay up”)
Insurance Learn my business and work with me (“I expect
them to know mw and my company”)
Protect me from catastrophe. (“They should
cover me the risk exposure so that is no single
big loss”)
Provide prompt service. (“fast claim service”)
Equipment repair Business Customers Share me sense of urgency. (“Speed of
response. One time I had to buy a second piece
equipment because of the huge downtime with
the first piece.”)
Be competent. (“Sometimes you are quoting
stuff from their instruction manuals to their
own people and they don’t even know what it
means.”)
Be prepared. (“Have all the parts ready”)
Truck and tractor Business Customers Keep the equipment running. (“Need to have
rental/leasing equipment working all the time-that is the
key.”)
Be flexible. (“The leasing company should have
the flexibility to rent us equipment when we
need it.”)
Provide full service. (“get rid of all the
paperwork and headaches.”)

What Does a Services Marketers Do if Customer Expectations are “Unrealistic”?

One inhibitor to learning about customer expectations is management’s and

employees’ fear of asking. This apprehension often stems from the belief that
customer expectations will be extravagant and unrealistic and that by asking about
them a company will set it itself up for even loftier expectation levels (that is,
“unrealistic” levels). Commpelling evidence, Shown in Exhibit 4.1, suggest that
customers’ main expectations of service are quite simple and basic: “simply put,
customers expect service companies to do what they are supposed to do. They
expect fundamentals, not fanciness; performance , not empty promises”18
Customers want to service to be delivered as promised. They want planes to take
off on time, hotel rooms to be clean, food to be hot, and service providers to show
up when scheduled. Unfortunately, ,any service customers disappointed and let
down the companies’ inability to meet these basic service expectations.
Asking customers about their expectations does not so much raise the levels
of the expectations themselves but rather heightens the belief that the company
will do something with the information that surfaces . Araguably the worst thing a
company can do is show a strong interest in understanding what customers expect
and than never act on the information . At a minimum, a company should
actknowledge to customers that is received and heard their input and that it will
expand effort trying to address their issues. The company may not be able to-and
indeed does not always have to-deliver to expressed expectations. An alternative
and appropriate response would be to let customers know the reason that desired
service is not being provided at the present time and describe the efforts planned to
address them. Another approach could be a campaign to educate customers about
ways to use and improve the service they currently receive. Giving customers
progress updates as service is improved to address their needs and desires is
sensible because it allows the company to get credit for incremental efforts to
improve service.
Some observes recommended deliberately underpromising the service to
increase the likelihood of meeting or exceeding customers expectations.19 While
underpromising makes service expectations more realistic, Thereby narrowing the
gap between expectations and perceptions. It also may reduce the competitive
appeal of the offer. Also, some research has indicated that underpromising may
have the inadvertent effect of lowering customer perceptions of service, particulary
in situation in which customers have little experience with a service.20 in this
situation customer expectation may be selffulfiling; that is, if the customer goes into
the service experience expecting good service, she will focus on the aspect of
service pro vision that are positive but if she expect low service she may focus on
the negative. Thus a salesperson who pitches a customers with a realistic promise
may lose the sale to another who inflates the offering. In chapter 16 we describe
various techniques for controlling a firm’s promises, but for now consider two
options. First, if the salesperson knows that no competitor can meetan inflated sales
promise In a industry, he could point that fact out to the customer, thereby refuting
the promise made by competitive salesperson.
The second option is for provider to follow a sale with a “reality check” about
service delivery. One of us bought a new house from a builder and I conducted a
final check on the house . At the front door, the builder turned to me and pointed
out that each new home has between 3000, and 5000 individual element and that is
his experience the typical new home had 100 to 150 defectcts. Armed with this
reality check, I thought the 32 defects found in my house seemed minor. Consider
my response in the absence of that reality check.

Should a company try to delight the customer?

Some management consultants urge service companies to “delight” customers to
gain a competitive edge. The delight that they refer to is a profoundly positive
emotional state that result from having one’s expectations exceeded to a surprising
degree.21 One author describes the types of service that result in delight as
“positively outrageous service”-that which is unexpected, random, extraordinary,
and disproportionately positive.22
A way that managers can conceive of delight is to consider product and
service features in terms of concentric rings.23 The innermost bull’s eye refers to
attributes that are central to the basic function of the product or service, called
musts. Their provision isn’t particulary noticeable, but their absence would be.
Around the musts is a ring called satisfiers; feature that have the potential to
further satisfaction beyond the basic function of the product. At the next and final
outer level are delight, or product features that are unexpected and surprisingly
enjoyable. These features are thing that consumers would not expect to find and
are therefore highly surprised and some times exited when they receive them. For
example, I n your classes the most consist of professor, rooms, syllabi, and class
meeting. Satisfiers may include professor who are entertaining or friendly,
interesting lectures, and good audiovisual aids. A delight might include a free
textbook for student signing up for the course.
Delighting customers may seem like a good idea, but this level of service
provision comes with extra efforts and cost the firm. Therefor the benefits of
providing delight must be weighed. Among the consideration are the staying power
and competitive implications of delight.
Staying power involves the questions of how long a company can expect the
experience of delight maintain the consumer’s attention. If is it fleeting and the
customers forget it immediately , it may not be worth the cost. Alternatively, if the
customers remembers the delight and adjust her level of expectation upward
accordingly, it will cost the companies more just a satisfy, effectively raising the bar
for the future. Resent research indicates that delighting customers does in fact raise
expectation and make it more difficult for a company to satisfy customers in the
future.24
The competitive implication of delight relates to its impact on expectation of
other firms In the same industries. If a competitor in the same industry is unable to
copy the delight strategy, it will be disadvantaged by the consumers increased
expectations. Is you offered that free textbox in one of your classes. Those classes
not offering the free textbook might not have high enrollment levels compared to
the delighting class . If a competitor can easily copy the delight strategy, however,
neither firm benefits (although the consumers does!), and all the firm may be hurt
because their costs increase and profits erode. The implication is that if companies
choose to delight, they should do so I areas that cannot be copied by other firm.

How Does a Company Exceed Customer Service Expectations?

Many companies today talk about exceeding customer expectation-delighting and
surprising them by giving more then they expect. This philosophy raises the
question, Should a service provider try simply to meet customer expectation or
exceed them?
First, it is essential to recognize that exceeding customer expectations of the
basics is virtually impossible. Honoring promises-having the reserved room
available, meeting deadlines, showing up the meeting, delivering the core service-is
what the companies supposed to do. Companies are supposed to be accurate and
dependable and provide the service they promised to provide.25 As you examine the
examples of basic expectation of the customers in exhibit 4.1 ask yourself if a
provider doing any of these thing would delight you. The conclusion you should
reach is that it very difficult to surprise or delight customers consistently by
delivering reliable service.
How than, does a company delight its customers and exceed their
expectation? In virtually any service, developing a customer relationship is one
approach for exceeded service expectation. The United States Automobile
Association (U.S.A.A), a provider insurance to military personnel and their
dependents, illustrate how a large companies that never interacts personally with
its customers can surprise and delight them with its personalization of service and
knowledge of the customer. Using a state-of-the-art imaging system, all USAA
employees can access any customer’s entire information file in seconds, giving
them full knowledge of the customers history and requirments and the status of the
customers recent interaction with the company. Expecting a lower level of
personalization from an insurance company and from most any service interaction
on the telephone, USAA’s customers are surprised and impressed with the care and
concern that employees demonstrate.
Using a similar types of information technology, Ritz-Carlton hotel, a winner
of the Malcolm Baldridge Quality Award, provides highly personalized attention its
customers. The companies trains each of its employees to note guest like and
dislike and to record these into a computerized guest history profile. The company
now has information on the on the preferences of more than 240,000 repeat Ritz-
Carlton guests, resulting in more personalized service. The am is not simply to meet
expectation of guests but to provide them with a “memorable visit.” The company
uses the guest history information to exceed customers’ expectation of the way
they will be treated. When a repeat customers calls the hotel central reservations
number to book accommodations, the reservation agent can call up the individual’s
preference information.. The agent then sends this information electronically to the
particular hotel that which the reservation Is made. The hotel put the data in a daily
guest recognition and preference report that is circulated to employees then greet
the repeat guest personally at check-in and ensure that the guest’s need/preference
are anticipated and meet.26
How well does the approach work? According to surveys conducted for Ritz-
Carlton by an independent research firm, 92 to 97 percent of company guest leave
satisfied?
Another way to exceed expectations is to deliberately underpromise the
service to increase the likelihood of exceeding customer expectation. The strategy
is to under promise and overderliver. If every service promise is less than what will
eventually happen, customers can be delighted frequently. Although this reasoning
sounds logical, a firm should weigh two potential problems problems before using
this strategy.
 First, customer with whom a company interacts reguraly are likely to notice
the underpromising and adjust their expectations accordingly, negating the desired
benefit of delight. Customer will recognize the pattern of underpromising when time
after time a firm promises one delivery time(we can not get that to you before 5
p.m tomorrow) yet constantly exceeds it (by delivering at noon).
Second, underpromising in a sales situation potentially reduces the
competitive appeal of an offering and must be tempered by what competition is
offering. When competitive pressures are high, presenting a cohesive and honest
portrayal of the service both explicitily (through advertising and personal selling)
and implicitly (such as through the appearance of service facilities and the price of
the service, may be the batter approach.
A final way exceed expectations without raising them in the future is to
position unusual service as unique rather than a standard. On a fight between
RaleighDurham and Charolotte, North Carolina, one of us experienced an example
of this strategy. The flight is extremely short, less than half an hour, and typically
too brief for beverage service . On the night in question, a crew member announced
over the interoom that an unusually ambitious crew wanted to try to serve
beverages anyway. He warned passengers that the crew may not get all of them,
and positioned the service as the scenario, passengers seemed delighted but their
expectations for regular service were not heightened by the action. (to this day, we
have never received beverage service on that route, but are really expecting it!)

Do Customer Service Expectations Continually Escalate?

As we illustrated in the beginning of this chapter, customer service expectations are
dynamic. In the credit card industry, as in many competitive service industries,
battling companies seek to best each other and thereby raise the level of service
above that of competing companies. Service expectation- in this case adequate
service expectation-rise as quickly as service delivery or promises rise. In a highly
competitive and rapidly changing industry, expectations can thus rise quickly.. For
this reason companies need to monitor adequate service expectations, on the other
hand, are far more stable. Because they are driven by more enduring factors, such
as personal needs and lasting service intensifiers, they tend to be high to begin with
and remain high.

How Does a Service Company Stay Ahead of Competition in Meeting Customer

Expectations?
All else being equal, a company’s goal is to meet customer expectation better than
its competitors. Given the fact that adequate service expectations change rapidly in
a turbulent environment, how can a company ensures that it stays ahead of
competition?
The adequate service level reflects the minimum performance level expected
by customers after they consider a variety of personal and external factors (figure
4.7), including the availability of service options from other providers. Companies
whose service performance short of this level clearly at a competitive disadvantage,
with the disadvantage escalating the gap wideness. These companies’ customers
may well be “reluctant” customers, ready to take their business elsewhere the
moment they perceive an alternative.
If they are too use service quality for competitive advantage, companies
must perform above the adequate service level. This level however, may signal only
a temporary advantage. Customers’ adequate service levels , will rise rapidly when
competitors promise and deliver a higher level of service. If a companies level of
service are barely above the adequate service level to begin with, a competitor can
quickly erode that advantage. Companies currently performing in the region of
competitive advantage must stay alert to the need of service increases to meet or
beat competition.
To develop a true customer franchise-immutable customer loyalty-companies
must not only consistently exceed the adequate service level but also reach the
desired service. Expeptional service can intensify customers loyalty to a point at
which they are impervious to competitive options.

Summary
Using a conceptual framework of the nature and determinants of customer
expectations of service, we showed in this chapter that customers hold different
types of service expectations: (1) desired service, which reflect what customers
want; (2) adequate service, or what customers are willing to accept; and (3)
predicted service, or what customers believe they are likely to get.
Customer expectations are influenced by a variacity of factors. The types and
sources of expectations are the same for end consumers and business customers,
for pure service and product-related service, and for experienced customers and
inexperienced customers.