Services and Serivce Marketing

American Marketing Association defines Service(s) as follows:

"Products, such as a bank loan or home security, that are intangible or at least substantially so. If totally intangible, they are exchanged from producer to user, cannot be transported or stored, and are almost instantly perishable. Service products are often difficult to identify, because they come into existence at the same time they are bought and consumed. They comprise intangible elements that are inseparable; they usually involve customer participation in some important way; they cannot be sold in sense of ownership transfer; and they have no title. Today however, most products are partly tangible and partly intangible, and the dominant form is used to classify them as either goods or services (all are products). These common, hybrid forms, whatever they are called, may or may not have the attributes just given for totally intangible services."

Services, as a term, is also used to describe activities performed by sellers and others that accompany the sale of a product and aid in its exchange or its utilization. Such services are either pre-sale or post-sale and supplement the product, not comprise it. If performed during sale, they are considered to be intangible part so the product.

Now HUL's product , Vaseline petroleum is part tangible and partly intangible.

Pure Tangible part of Vaseline would be the jelly. The plastic container which is transportable.

Intangible part of Vaseline would be the service which get varied as the container size changes and the date of its manufacture.

The container ensuring that jelly doesn't get spoil in the heat, provides following information too:

• the ingredients.
• Weight of the container when packed.
• Manufcturing unit address.
• Product Quantity, Batch Number, Manufacturing Date, Maximum Retail Price and Code.
• Perishability Period.
• The feedback and queries mailing address, contact number and email address.

 Service industry is estimated to be nearly worth Rs 75,000 crore (US$ 13.56 billion) and is growing at a healthy CAGR of 17 per cent, whereas the Skin industry as a whole will register more than 18% CAGR during 2012-15.

Managing Service Quality-  Service quality of any firm is tested at each encounter with the customer. These qualities are tested by consumer on the basis of his expectations which he makes towards the product or service before consuming or using it. If service is not up to the mark then there are chances of losing the customer in near future perspective.

Customer Expectations- Customers usually form service expectations from various sources like past experinces or word of mouth or through word of mouth. With a opnion in mind the customer comapares the percieved service with that of the expected one's and if perceived service falls short of the expected services, then customers get dissapointed and do not use the product agai

GAP Model of Service Quality highlights the main requirements for delivering high service quality, also known as “Parasuraman, Zeitham and Berry model” or the "5 gaps model”.

It identifies the five gaps that cause unsuccessful delivery:

 

 

Provider GAP 1 (Between consumer expectation and management perception):  It is very difficult to perceive what customers want or what things can satisfy his/her expectations. For every management it is very necessary to identify the need and expectation of their customers if they want to attract more customers.

 

 

Provider GAP 2 (Between management perception and service quality specification): In this case management might correctly perceive customers wants but are not able to set performance standard.

 

 

Provider GAP 3 (Between service-quality specification and service delivery): This gap generally rises where manager specify everything clearly but the personnel is not well trained.

 

Provider GAP 4 (Between service delivery and external communication): Consumers expectations are always affected by the statements made by company representatives or through ads or through any promotion campaign.

 

Provider GAP 5 (Between perceived service and expected service): This gap occurs when the consumer wrongly perceives the service quality of the firm. This gap is from the consumers end and not from the provider’s end.