3 Gaps Model
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THE GAPS MODEL OF SERVICE QUALITY
The Gaps Model of Service Quality
A third model for addressing services challenges is the gaps model of services quality.
The model focuses on strategies and process that firms can employ to drive service excellence.
It is a model that can be used to drive strategy as well as implementation
Custome r
Compan y Gap 1
Expected Service Custome r Gap Perceived Service
Service Delivery Gap 3 Customer driven Service designs and standards Gap 2 Company Perception of Consumer expectation
Gap 4
External Communication to customers
THE CUSTOMER GAP
The central focus of the gaps model is the customer gap, the difference between customer expectations and perceptions.
Expectations are the reference points customers have coming in to a service experience,
Perceptions reflect the service as actually received
THE CUSTOMER GAP
The firms will like to close this gap – between what is expected and what is received –
to satisfy their customers and to build long term relationships with them.
To close this all-important customer gap, the model suggests that four other gaps – the provider gaps –
THE PROVIDER GAPS
The provider gaps are the underlying causes behind the customer gap:
Gap 1: Not knowing what customers expect
Gap 2: Not selecting the right service designs and standards Gap 3: Not delivering to service standards Gap 4: Not matching performance to
THE PROVIDER GAPS
Gap 1: Not knowing what customers expect
A primary cause in many firms for not meeting customers’ expectations is that the firm lacks accurate understanding of exactly what those expectations are.
A gap exist between company perceptions of customers’ expectations and what customers actually expect.
We will try to explore why this gap occurs and develop strategies for closing it.
THE PROVIDER GAPS
Gap 2: Not selecting the right service designs and standards
Even if a firm does have a clear understanding of its customers’ expectations, there still have problems if that understanding is not translated into customer-driven service designs and standards
THE PROVIDER GAPS
Gap 3: Not delivering to service standards
Once service designs and standards are in place, the firm is on its way to delivering high-quality services. But this is not enough.
There must be systems, processes, and people in place to ensure that service delivery actually matches (or is even better than) the designs and
THE PROVIDER GAPS
Gap 4: Not matching performance to promises.
Finally with everything in place to effectively meet or exceed customer expectations, the firm must ensure that what is promised to customers matches what is delivered.
CLOSING THE CUSTOMER GAP
The gaps model says that a service marketer must first close the customer gap.
To do so, the provider must close the four provider gaps, or discrepancies within the organization that inhibit delivery of quality service.
The gaps model focuses on strategies and processes that firms can employ to
CLOSING THE CUSTOMER GAP CUSTOMER GAP
The figure corresponds to two concepts – CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS and CUSTOMER PERCEPTIONS
It plays a major role in services
Expected Service
Custome r Gap
Perceived Service
CLOSING THE CUSTOMER GAP
Customer Perceptions are subjective assessments of actual service experiences.
Customer Expectations are the standard of or reference points for performance against which service experiences are compared and are often formulated in terms of what a customer believes should or will happen.
CLOSING THE CUSTOMER GAP
The sources of customer expectations consist of
Marketer-controlled factors (price, advertising, sales promises etc.) and Factors which marketer has limited ability to affect (word-of-mouth communication, competitive offerings etc)
The goal of services marketing is to bridge this gap.
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR IN SERVICES
Consumer problem: Time Deficiency The Solution: Services
Changing family structure and job profile, dual career couple, single, atomic family etc. are realising consumer burning need: TIME. The antidote to time deficiency? New Services/Innovative features: Wedding consultants & arrangement, executive meeting organizer, presentation preparation, home delivery (retailer, banks, etc.). Extending working hours to suit consumer schedules
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR IN SERVICES
Primary objective of producers and marketers is identical: to develop and provide offerings that satisfy consumer needs and expectations. Other words, marketers need to be able to close the customer gap. Therefore it is also important to understand consumer evaluation process/ decision process for selection of a service
SERVICES: Search Vs Experience Vs Credence Properties
Easy to evaluate
Categories of properties of consumer products:
Difficult to evaluate
Search qualities: attributes that can be determined before purchasing of a product. Ex. Clothing, Jewelry, Furniture, Houses etc. Experience qualities: attributes that can be identified after purchase or during purchase. Meals, Vacation, Hair Cut etc. Credence qualities: characteristics that consumer may find difficult/impossible to evaluate even after purchase and consumption. Ex. Medical Diagnosis
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR IN SERVICES
Normally the decision process for goods purchase: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Need Recognition Information search Evaluation of alternatives Purchase Purchase outcome or feedback
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR IN SERVICES
In purchase of services:
Information Search Evaluation of alternatives Purchase and consumption Post Purchase Evaluation
These do not occur in sequence
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR IN SERVICES INFORMATION SEARCH •Use of Personal sources •Perceived Risk
EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVES •Evoked set •Emotion and mood
PURCHASE & CONSUMPTION •Service provision as drama •Service roles & scripts •Compatibility of customers
POST PURCHASE EVALUATION •Attribution of dissatisfaction •Innovation diffusion •Brand Loyalty
Information Search
Use of Personal Sources
Use of Non-personal Sources
Friends, experts etc. Mass or selective media
Non-personal sources may not be available if small, local vendors Perceived Risk
Some degree of risk perceived in all transactions Dissatisfied customers may not or rarely come back if alternatives are available They use the strategies to reduce the perceived risk.
Evaluation of Service Alternatives
Evoked Set
Set of alternatives - acceptable options in a given product category Smaller set as two brands of services are rarely provided in a single institution (bank, dry cleaner, hair salon etc.) Faced with the task of collecting & evaluation experience qualities, consumer may select the first one.
Emotion & Mood
It influence people (customers) perceptions and evaluations of their experiences.
Purchase and Consumption
Service Provision as Drama
Service Roles & Scripts
Both aim to create and maintain a desirable impression before an audience and required to manage the actors and the physical setting of their behaviour. Each player (both employees & customers) having a role to perform Employees need to perform their role as per the expectations of customers Customers are to be informed and educated about the expectations and requirements of service.
Compatibility of Customers
Role of other customers (Restaurants, dances, bars, spectator sports, movie hall etc.) Customers can be incompatible due to many reasons: difference in beliefs, values, experiences, abilities to pay,
Post Purchase Evaluation
Attribution of Dissatisfaction
Innovation Diffusion
May attribute to different sources, producers, retailers, or themselves Customers own decision making error Rate of diffusion depends on consumer perception of innovation Compatible to existing norms, values, and behaviours – more easily diffuse Ex. Novel Day Care Center: providing breakfast to the employee’s children
Brand Loyalty
Committed to particular brands depends on many factor: switching cost, availability of substitutes, perceived risk, degree of satisfaction in the past
The Gaps Model of Service Quality
A third model for addressing services challenges is the gaps model of services quality.
The model focuses on strategies and process that firms can employ to drive service excellence.
It is a model that can be used to drive strategy as well as implementation
Custome r
Compan y Gap 1
Expected Service Custome r Gap Perceived Service
Service Delivery Gap 3 Customer driven Service designs and standards Gap 2 Company Perception of Consumer expectation
Gap 4
External Communication to customers
THE CUSTOMER GAP
The central focus of the gaps model is the customer gap, the difference between customer expectations and perceptions.
Expectations are the reference points customers have coming in to a service experience,
Perceptions reflect the service as actually received
THE CUSTOMER GAP
The firms will like to close this gap – between what is expected and what is received –
to satisfy their customers and to build long term relationships with them.
To close this all-important customer gap, the model suggests that four other gaps – the provider gaps –
THE PROVIDER GAPS
The provider gaps are the underlying causes behind the customer gap:
Gap 1: Not knowing what customers expect
Gap 2: Not selecting the right service designs and standards Gap 3: Not delivering to service standards Gap 4: Not matching performance to
THE PROVIDER GAPS
Gap 1: Not knowing what customers expect
A primary cause in many firms for not meeting customers’ expectations is that the firm lacks accurate understanding of exactly what those expectations are.
A gap exist between company perceptions of customers’ expectations and what customers actually expect.
We will try to explore why this gap occurs and develop strategies for closing it.
THE PROVIDER GAPS
Gap 2: Not selecting the right service designs and standards
Even if a firm does have a clear understanding of its customers’ expectations, there still have problems if that understanding is not translated into customer-driven service designs and standards
THE PROVIDER GAPS
Gap 3: Not delivering to service standards
Once service designs and standards are in place, the firm is on its way to delivering high-quality services. But this is not enough.
There must be systems, processes, and people in place to ensure that service delivery actually matches (or is even better than) the designs and
THE PROVIDER GAPS
Gap 4: Not matching performance to promises.
Finally with everything in place to effectively meet or exceed customer expectations, the firm must ensure that what is promised to customers matches what is delivered.
CLOSING THE CUSTOMER GAP
The gaps model says that a service marketer must first close the customer gap.
To do so, the provider must close the four provider gaps, or discrepancies within the organization that inhibit delivery of quality service.
The gaps model focuses on strategies and processes that firms can employ to
CLOSING THE CUSTOMER GAP CUSTOMER GAP
The figure corresponds to two concepts – CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS and CUSTOMER PERCEPTIONS
It plays a major role in services
Expected Service
Custome r Gap
Perceived Service
CLOSING THE CUSTOMER GAP
Customer Perceptions are subjective assessments of actual service experiences.
Customer Expectations are the standard of or reference points for performance against which service experiences are compared and are often formulated in terms of what a customer believes should or will happen.
CLOSING THE CUSTOMER GAP
The sources of customer expectations consist of
Marketer-controlled factors (price, advertising, sales promises etc.) and Factors which marketer has limited ability to affect (word-of-mouth communication, competitive offerings etc)
The goal of services marketing is to bridge this gap.
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR IN SERVICES
Consumer problem: Time Deficiency The Solution: Services
Changing family structure and job profile, dual career couple, single, atomic family etc. are realising consumer burning need: TIME. The antidote to time deficiency? New Services/Innovative features: Wedding consultants & arrangement, executive meeting organizer, presentation preparation, home delivery (retailer, banks, etc.). Extending working hours to suit consumer schedules
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR IN SERVICES
Primary objective of producers and marketers is identical: to develop and provide offerings that satisfy consumer needs and expectations. Other words, marketers need to be able to close the customer gap. Therefore it is also important to understand consumer evaluation process/ decision process for selection of a service
SERVICES: Search Vs Experience Vs Credence Properties
Easy to evaluate
Categories of properties of consumer products:
Difficult to evaluate
Search qualities: attributes that can be determined before purchasing of a product. Ex. Clothing, Jewelry, Furniture, Houses etc. Experience qualities: attributes that can be identified after purchase or during purchase. Meals, Vacation, Hair Cut etc. Credence qualities: characteristics that consumer may find difficult/impossible to evaluate even after purchase and consumption. Ex. Medical Diagnosis
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR IN SERVICES
Normally the decision process for goods purchase: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Need Recognition Information search Evaluation of alternatives Purchase Purchase outcome or feedback
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR IN SERVICES
In purchase of services:
Information Search Evaluation of alternatives Purchase and consumption Post Purchase Evaluation
These do not occur in sequence
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR IN SERVICES INFORMATION SEARCH •Use of Personal sources •Perceived Risk
EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVES •Evoked set •Emotion and mood
PURCHASE & CONSUMPTION •Service provision as drama •Service roles & scripts •Compatibility of customers
POST PURCHASE EVALUATION •Attribution of dissatisfaction •Innovation diffusion •Brand Loyalty
Information Search
Use of Personal Sources
Use of Non-personal Sources
Friends, experts etc. Mass or selective media
Non-personal sources may not be available if small, local vendors Perceived Risk
Some degree of risk perceived in all transactions Dissatisfied customers may not or rarely come back if alternatives are available They use the strategies to reduce the perceived risk.
Evaluation of Service Alternatives
Evoked Set
Set of alternatives - acceptable options in a given product category Smaller set as two brands of services are rarely provided in a single institution (bank, dry cleaner, hair salon etc.) Faced with the task of collecting & evaluation experience qualities, consumer may select the first one.
Emotion & Mood
It influence people (customers) perceptions and evaluations of their experiences.
Purchase and Consumption
Service Provision as Drama
Service Roles & Scripts
Both aim to create and maintain a desirable impression before an audience and required to manage the actors and the physical setting of their behaviour. Each player (both employees & customers) having a role to perform Employees need to perform their role as per the expectations of customers Customers are to be informed and educated about the expectations and requirements of service.
Compatibility of Customers
Role of other customers (Restaurants, dances, bars, spectator sports, movie hall etc.) Customers can be incompatible due to many reasons: difference in beliefs, values, experiences, abilities to pay,
Post Purchase Evaluation
Attribution of Dissatisfaction
Innovation Diffusion
May attribute to different sources, producers, retailers, or themselves Customers own decision making error Rate of diffusion depends on consumer perception of innovation Compatible to existing norms, values, and behaviours – more easily diffuse Ex. Novel Day Care Center: providing breakfast to the employee’s children
Brand Loyalty
Committed to particular brands depends on many factor: switching cost, availability of substitutes, perceived risk, degree of satisfaction in the past
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