Qns: What are the primary differences between product and services? Give examples that highlight these differences between product and services. Give examples that highlight these differences and provide examples of hybrid offer.
Qns. Using a service example of your choice, explain how the service company can deal with intangibility, inseparability, variability and perishability.
Four Major characteristics of services:1) Intangibility
2) Inseparability
3) Variability
4) Perishability
Intangibility
*Lack of tangible assets which can be seen, touched, smelled, heard or taste prior to purchase. E.g., education, air travel, sporting events, highly intangible
*Purchasing movie ticket, buy you an experience, services subjectively evaluated
*Own set of perceptions and expectations, opinions differ regarding value of experience
*Customer returns home with a memory of experience and obtain physical ownership
Tangibility
*Anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use, or consumption that might satisfy a want or need
*Tangible assets; seen, felt, tasted or touched
*E.g. shoes, objectively evaluated before actual purchase
*Take shoes home, have ownership and physical possession of a tangible object
Hybrid Offer
*Offer a tangible product with their service, service is still intangible because consumer are purchasing the service, not the good
*Restaurant, consumer are paying the restaurant to prepare the food for them
*Evaluation of service is based on how well the restaurant prepared the food
*To reduce intangibility, an airline company feature tangible assets such as their airplanes, pilots, flight attendants, or other personnel in an advertisement
Inseparability
*Refers to the service provider's physical connection to the service being provided
*Involve customer's involvement in the service production