Marketing Individual Assignment 4: Questions: on Etihad Airways
Nie Yile
A0071699M
Marketing Individual Assignment 4 1. What unique characteristics of service are service operators and passenger airlines like Etihad Airways encountering? What unique challenges does Etihad Airways face as a result of such characteristics?
Services are intangible activities or benefits that an organisation provides to consumers in exchange for money or something else of value. There are 4 unique characteristics of service operations and passenger airlines like Etihad airways, namely intangibility, inconsistency, inseparability and inventory.
Intangibility
Firstly, services are intangible, meaning that they cannot be held, touched or seen before the purchase decision. This is unlike tangible traditional products, which you can see, touch and feel before deciding if you want to purchase it. For example, before you buy breakfast cereal, you might be able to sample it, see it and touch it, before buying it. Whereas for a service like car washing, you will not know how clean your car will become, until after you get your car washed. Since services are usually not an object, but rather a performance of duty, intangibility makes it very difficult to evaluate.
Figure 1. Goods and services offerings of different industries
As can be seen in Figure 1, Air travel is a mainly service-dominated industry, which means that Etihad Airways is also subjected to the intangibility of its offerings.
As a result, it is very difficult for potential passengers of Etihad Airways to decide if they should indeed engage their flights, as they are unable to experience the service to see if it will be good, before they paid and experience it on their own. This makes it more difficult for Etihad Airways to market their service, as compared to tangible traditional products. Furthermore, even after the flight, since service is an intangible product, it is hard for passengers to quantify the quality of their experience. Etihad Airways would
A0071699M
Marketing Individual Assignment 4 1. What unique characteristics of service are service operators and passenger airlines like Etihad Airways encountering? What unique challenges does Etihad Airways face as a result of such characteristics?
Services are intangible activities or benefits that an organisation provides to consumers in exchange for money or something else of value. There are 4 unique characteristics of service operations and passenger airlines like Etihad airways, namely intangibility, inconsistency, inseparability and inventory.
Intangibility
Firstly, services are intangible, meaning that they cannot be held, touched or seen before the purchase decision. This is unlike tangible traditional products, which you can see, touch and feel before deciding if you want to purchase it. For example, before you buy breakfast cereal, you might be able to sample it, see it and touch it, before buying it. Whereas for a service like car washing, you will not know how clean your car will become, until after you get your car washed. Since services are usually not an object, but rather a performance of duty, intangibility makes it very difficult to evaluate.
Figure 1. Goods and services offerings of different industries
As can be seen in Figure 1, Air travel is a mainly service-dominated industry, which means that Etihad Airways is also subjected to the intangibility of its offerings.
As a result, it is very difficult for potential passengers of Etihad Airways to decide if they should indeed engage their flights, as they are unable to experience the service to see if it will be good, before they paid and experience it on their own. This makes it more difficult for Etihad Airways to market their service, as compared to tangible traditional products. Furthermore, even after the flight, since service is an intangible product, it is hard for passengers to quantify the quality of their experience. Etihad Airways would