CUSTOMER

EXPECTATIONS AND
PERCEPTIONS

DR. VANDANA T KHANNA

 Defining Expectations
2

Standard of Comparison
This may be purely subjective or based on collective previous
experiences.

Are Dynamic
They will change with new experience and information.

Must be Managed
Critical for an organization to predict, understand and
manage their customers expectations.

Dr. Vandana Khanna 3/8/2017

 Customer Expectations
3

Customer Expectations are beliefs about the service

delivery, which acts as standards or reference points
while judging the service performances.

Customers hold the different types of service

expectations:
Desired service wished-for level of service quality that
customer believes can and should be delivered
Adequate service minimum acceptable level of service

Dr. Vandana Khanna 3/8/2017

 Customer Expectations
4

Difference between the desired service and the level of

service is represented by Tolerance Zone (range within
which customers are willing to accept variations in service
delivery).

Different customers have different tolerance zones,

which increases or decreases due to number of factors,
service attributes or dimensions. Therefore, another
type of service expectation is Predicted Service What
consumers believe they are likely to get.

Dr. Vandana Khanna 3/8/2017

 Components Of
Customer Expectations
5

Dr. Vandana Khanna 3/8/2017

 Factors Influencing
Customer Expectations
6

Explicit & Implicit

Personal Needs Service Promises
Word-of-Mouth
Desired Service Past Experience
Beliefs about
What Is Possible
ZONE
OF
TOLERANCE
Perceived Service
Alterations
Adequate Service Predicted Service

Situational Factors

Source: Adapted from Zeithaml, Parasuraman & Berry

Dr. Vandana Khanna 3/8/2017

 Factors Influencing
Desired Service Expectations
7

The Desired Service Expectations are affected by:

Enduring Service Intensifiers
Personal Service (based on own experience as provider)
Derived Expectations (intensified by other expectations)

Personal Needs (hope and wishes for the service)

Functional
Physical
Psychological
Social needs

Dr. Vandana Khanna 3/8/2017

 Factors Influencing
Adequate Services
8

Adequate Services are affected by:

Transitory Service Intensifiers
Short term needs and situations
Perceived Service Alternatives
Lack of and setting for less
Customers Self-perceived Service Roles
Customers sense of responsibility
Situational Factors
Acknowledged as beyond control of provider

Dr. Vandana Khanna 3/8/2017

 Factors Influencing Desired
and Adequate Services
9

Factors common to both, the desired service and the

adequate service expectations are:
Explicit service promises
Provide realistic information/get feedback
Educate customer on service & their role
Implicit service factors
Ensure tangibles reflect level of service
Justify pricing with quality of service
Word of mouth
highlight firms reputation via testimonials
Past experiences
Reduce Risks
Standardize service process
provide guarantees: service recovery

Dr. Vandana Khanna 3/8/2017

 A Framework For Managing
Customer Expectations
10

Source: Jukka Ojasalo, (2001),"Managing Customer Expectations In Professional Services",

Managing Service Quality: An International Journal, Vol. 11 Iss 3 pp. 200 - 212

Dr. Vandana Khanna 3/8/2017

 A Dynamic Model of Expectations
11

Explicit
Fuzzy Expectations Implicit
Expectations Expectations

Unrealistic Realistic

Focusing, revealing and calibrating

expectations increase long-term quality

Intentional dynamics = expectations management

Unintentional dynamics
Source: Jukka Ojasalo, (1999),Quality Dynamics in Professional Services",
Helsinki: Haken school of Economics finland/CERS, pp.97

Dr. Vandana Khanna 3/8/2017

 How Product Attributes Affect
Ease of Evaluation
12

Most Goods Most Services

Easy Difficult
to evaluate to evaluate
Clothing

Restaurant meals

Computer repair
Haircut

Legal services
Complex surgery
Motor vehicle

Foods
Chair

Entertainment
Lawn fertilizer

High in search High in experience High in credence

attributes attributes attributes
Source: Adapted from Zeithaml
Dr. Vandana Khanna 3/8/2017
 Unrealistic Customer Expectations
13

Unreasonable demands
Demands against policies
Unacceptable treatment of employees
Drunkedness
Breaking of societal norms
Special-needs customers

Use scripts to train for proper response

Dr. Vandana Khanna 3/8/2017

 Customer Perceptions
14

Customer Perceptions are what and how customers

perceive about services; how customers assess the
service encounters, service quality, regarding their
satisfaction and value of the service.

Perceptions are always considered relative to

expectations.

Dr. Vandana Khanna 3/8/2017

 Customer Perceptions
15

Primary factors that influences the customer

perceptions are:
Service encounters
Evidence of service
Image
Price

Dr. Vandana Khanna 3/8/2017

 Perceptions Related to
Service Attributes
16

Security
Consistency
Attitude
Completeness
Condition
Availability
Timing

Dr. Vandana Khanna 3/8/2017

 The Integrated Service Marketing Model
- Coordination of all marketing instruments
- Achievement of marketing goals:
- Service marketing offers several opportunities to balance customer
expectations with customer perceptions
- Customer satisfaction (service quality) is a main factor that impacts
customer retention
- Continuous and constant service quality accompanied by continuous,
constant, and balanced communication efforts lead to the development of a
strong brand image
- Growing impact of service marketing on the whole marketing field