Analysis of all constitutes of successful service delivery Essay

Analysis of all constitutes of successful service delivery - Essay Example Thus, prior to direct interaction with the service, consumers form own expectations about experiences related to the service consumption. In such way, customers establish own standards against which in the future the quality of the service received will be compared in accordance with the disconfirmation model. In case if the expectations about the service consumption were greater then the actual quality of product received, the outcome is negative disconfirmation or, in the other words, dissatisfaction with the service received. Whereas, if the expectations were smaller then the quality of the services received, the outcome is positive disconfirmation or product satisfaction. (Lovelock, C., & Wirtz, J. 2004). The higher customer satisfaction is, the greater is the possibility of customer loyalty in the post consumption stage. Thus, customer satisfaction and loyalty are directly related. The concept of customer loyalty is of vital importance as repurchase of services gives significant advantages to the service producer: a continuous stream of profit, reduction of marketing costs, growth of per-customer revenue, decrease in operating costs, increase in referral, increase in price premium (Youjae, Y., Suna, L. 2004). In relation to the customer loyalty, the service recovery concept should be emphasized, as customer loyalty is often seen as a consequence of successful service recovery. ... Thus, service recovery significantly influences customer's attitudes alongside with behavioral intentions and results in a possibility of customer loyalty when successfully executed (Lovelock, C., Patterson, P.G., & Walker, R.H. 2001). Customer Expectations of Services: Formation As previously stated, customer expectations are formed during the first two stages of customer purchase decision and are closely related to knowledge about a service a customer already has. The expectations formation process is not only influenced by marketer's communications, but also is shaped by word of mouth communication, past experience, and personal need. While marketer's communication is a relatively simple concept, word of mouth communication and past experience should be further categorized. Scholars distinguish two sources of customer knowledge about a service: external research and internal research. While internal search is directly linked to previous experiences and influences both the level of desired and expected services, external search category unites implicit and explicit promises (marketer's communication) and word of mouth secondary information received from second sources. Consequently, the two major types of knowledge are distinguished: experience and familiar ity, knowledge received through direct involvement and second hand knowledge, respectively (Palmer, A. 2001). Customer service expectations can be categorized into 5 overall dimensions: reliability, tangibles, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. The formation process is affected by numerous factors; in general, price is considered to be the dominant one. In the article "Understanding Customer Expectations of Service" by Parasuraman, A., Berry, Leonard L., Zeithaml, Valarie (1991), authors