Service Encounter for Services Marketing

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Multi-Attribute Model

The multi-attribute model is a model that helps consumers evaluate alternatives by comparing product attributes that are of importance to the individual consumer. Each chosen attribute holds some importance weight which compares which attribute of the product/service is of more importance to the individual. Below is the Multi-Attribute Model I have created which evaluates my two restaurant choices and the service attribute that I find to be important. Using the linear compensatory rule, I have multiplied the score of the restaurants attribute against its importance weight then added them together. The final results showed that Switch came at 9.15 compared to TGI Fridays which was 8.3 therefore, the choice I made was Switch Lifestyle as the restaurant for my birthday dinner. Switch management have ensured that the restaurant be considered as its location is prime and when consumers chose a place to dine the location attribute is generally the one with the highest importance weight as did mine. Switch also boasts a great service and quality an attribute consumers put a large amount of importance on when looking for restaurants.

SWITCH Lifestyle

TGI Fridays

Importance Weight

Convenience of Location +

9x0.35= 3.15

8x0.35= 2.8

35%

Quality of Food +

10x0.30= 3

9x0.30= 2.7

30%

Price +

8x0.25= 2

8x0.25= 2

25%

Friendliness of staff +

10x0.10= 1

8x0.10= 0.8

10%

Total Score =

9.15

8.3

100

After having chosen my provider from my alternative I booked a table over the phone which is a low contact service a week in advance from the 9th of August to ensure service availability.

Service Encounter Stage

After the initial process of making a purchase decision customers move to the fundamental part of the service experience which is the service encounter stage. This is where the customers engage in the service. The service can range from high-contact to low contact. As established before Switch Lifestyle is a restaurant which means it is a high-contact service which requires customers to be physically present at the venue to receive the service. High Contact services require customers to physically enter the service factory and the marketing factor of such a service is to ensure the physical environment be pleasing to customers meaning the exterior and interior be acceptable to the service being provided as well as all service personal that encounter customers represent the service in a positive and organizationally desirable light. Switch boasted a positive exterior and interior décor which set a relaxed and calm atmosphere the service staff were also well dressed and displayed a confident and helpful feeling when they attended customers such as myself. Low-contact Services are the opposite to high-contact services as they do not require direct communication between service providers and customers and can be undertaken through electronic devices or other physical distribution channels. A low-contact area of the Switch’s service is the process of making a reservation which could be done over the phone as I had done prior to my service encounter or online through their website this is when the customer does not physically need to be present at the service factory. Hence, Switch is mainly a high-contact service but elements of its service process such as the reservation can be low-contact processes.

Post-purchase Stage

This is the last stage of the service purchasing process and it is where the level of service received is evaluated against the expectations set for the experience. The expectations I had of the service was that I expected to eat a well-cooked meal with close friends in a relaxed environment. Using the 3 components of the customer delight function I can determine the Switch service encounter delighted me as a customer as the first component of unexpectedly high level of performance was achieved as service staff regularly checked in to see if we required any further assistance this was unexpected as in a prior experience this did not happen often. The second component of arousal was also met as I was surprised with a birthday cake my friends had bought and asked the service staff at Switch to store at the back until it was time for dessert this showed that the service provider went beyond its set operations in order to please and delight a customer. The third component of positive effect was definitely present as I enjoyed my service encounter and was very happy at the end of it. Thus, the service experience of dining at Switch was satisfactory as I expected a casual dining experience with a relaxed atmosphere and that is what I received and I was delighted by the overall delivery of the service.

References

Patricia Chew et al, 2012. Essentials of Services Marketing 2nd Edition. Pearson Education.