The document discusses key characteristics of marketing services, including the intangible and perishable nature of services. It outlines strategies for managing service quality and differentiation, such as exceeding customer expectations, emphasizing physical surroundings, and training employees. The service-profit chain links customer satisfaction to employee satisfaction and business profits. Managing capacity, consistency, and customer relationships are also important.

1. ©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens
Chapter 2
Service
Characteristics
of Hospitality
and Tourism
Marketing

2. ©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens
“Managers do not control the quality of the product
when the product is a service . . . .
The quality of the service is in a precarious state –
it is in the hands of the service workers who
‘produce’ and deliver it.”
-Karl Albrecht
©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens

3. ©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens
Chapter Objectives
• Describe a service culture
• Identify four service characteristics that affect
the marketing of a hospitality or travel
product.
• Explain marketing strategies that are useful in
the hospitality and travel industries
©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens

4. ©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens
The Service Culture
• The service culture focuses on serving
and satisfying the customer
• Empowers employees to solve
customer problems
• Majority of many countries’ GDP is
service based
©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens

5. ©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens
Characteristics of Service
Marketing
©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens

6. ©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens
Management Strategies for
Service Businesses
• Service companies must increase their
competitive differentiation, service
quality, and productivity
– Increase in competition and costs
– Decrease in productivity and quality
©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens

7. ©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens
Service-Profit Chain
Five Links:
• Healthy service profits and growth
• Satisfied and loyal customers
• Greater service values
• Satisfied and productive service employees
• Internal service quality
©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens

8. ©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens
Three Types of Marketing in
Service Industries
©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens

9. ©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens
Internal and Interactive
Marketing
• Internal marketing means the service
firm must effectively train and motivate
customer contact employees
• Interactive marketing means the
perceived service quality depends
heavily upon the buyer-seller
interaction during the service
encounter
©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens

10. ©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens
Managing Differentiation
• Solution to price competition
• Differentiation through people, physical
environment, and processes
• Differentiation through branding
©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens

11. ©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens
Managing Service Quality
• Exceed customers’ service-quality
expectations
• Expectations based on past
experiences, word-of-mouth, and
service firm advertising
©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens

12. ©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens
Common Virtues Regarding
Service Quality
1. “Customer obsessed”
2. History of top management commitment to
quality
3. High service quality standards set
4. Monitor performance closely
©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens

13. ©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens
Tangibilizing the Product
• Providing “evidence” of the service
– Promotional Material
– Physical Environment
– Employee appearance
– Why is Trade Dress Protection important?
©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens

14. ©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens
Managing the Physical
Surroundings
• Improperly managed physical evidence
can hurt a business
• Surroundings should reinforce company
positioning in customer’s mind
• Organizational Image is how customers
perceive your organization
©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens

15. ©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens
Stress Advantages of
Nonownership
• The customer does not have ownership
of service product
• Stress as a benefit
– Rather than own and staff corporate
lodging, negotiate a rate with a hotel and
pay for only what you use
©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens

16. ©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens
Managing Employees as
Part of the Product
• Employees are critical
• Training and motivating employees to provide
good customer service is internal marketing
• A point-of-encounter is any point at which
the employee encounters the customer
©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens

17. ©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens
Managing Perceived Risk
• Alleviate customer anxiety due to
inability to experience the product
beforehand
• Familiarization trips encourage clients
to experience the enterprise in a low-
risk situation
©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens

18. ©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens
Managing Capacity and
Demand
• Due to perishability, managers must
maximize service capacity and quality
during times of high and low demand
• Customer complaints increase when
service firms operate above 80%
capacity
©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens

19. ©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens
Managing Consistency
• No surprises!
• Not only should services be provided
correctly, but they should be done the
same way every time
• Beware fluctuating demand and
unintentional company policies that
may affect consistency
©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens

20. ©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens
Managing the Customer
Relationship – CRM
• Combines marketing, business strategy and
information technology to better understand
the customers
• Develop unique, lasting relationships with
customers
©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens

21. ©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens
Service Failure
• Problems will inevitably occur
• Keep the customer informed
• Provide service recovery options
©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens

22. ©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens
Overview of Service Characteristics:
The Servuction Model
©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens

23. ©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens
Interaction Between
Customer A and Customer B
• Contact between customers can be
positive or negative
• In some cases interaction between
customers can be managed
• Customers can significantly impact all
around them
©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens

24. ©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens
Contact Personnel
• Contact personnel have a direct impact
on the satisfaction of customers
• Characteristic of inseparability of
customer and employee during service
delivery system
©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens

25. ©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens
The Invisible Organization
and System
A service organization management must
decide what they want the guest to see
and what they want to keep out of the
guest’s vision
©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens

26. ©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens
Best Practices
• Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center offers
innovative ways to:
– Increase employee retention and loyalty
– Increase customer retention and loyalty
– Achieve service excellence in your
industry
– Effectively drive your organization’s
culture, philosophy, vision, and mission
©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens

27. ©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens
Best Practices
• Why are these hospitality and tourism
organizations service leaders?
– Chipotle Restaurants
– Marriott Hotel and Vacation Club
– Ting Tai Fung
– Club Med
– Disney
– Aramark
– British Airways
©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens

28. ©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens
Key Terms
• Interactive marketing
• Internal marketing
• Organization image
• Physical evidence
©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens

29. ©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens
Key Terms
• Point-of-encounter
• Service culture
• Service intangibility
• Service inseparability
©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens

30. ©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens
Key Terms
• Service perishability
• Service-profit chain
• Service variability
• Trade dress
©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 4th edition
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Kotler, Bowen, and Makens