Consumer Decision and Service Delivery

PART 1:  CONSUMER DECISION PROCESS

Apply the consumer decision process to a recent purchase you have made for a service. Examples include: hotel services, airline services, selection of a university, etc. Create a 400-500 word response discussing the following questions:

• Discuss the consumer decision process model for services. Describe what consumers experience in each step in the process for the service you selected.
• In the information search step of the process, describe what is meant by the awareness set, evoked set, and consideration set.
• It is very normal for a consumer to experience a certain level of cognitive dissonance. What does this mean and how do marketers try to minimize the customer’s cognitive dissonance? Did you experience cognitive dissonance with the service you selected?
• Consumers of services perceive a higher level of risk than consumers of goods during the pre-purchase decision stage of the process. What are the types of risks perceived by consumers of services and how may a marketer address these risks?

Be sure to properly cite your sources using APA; include your references and in-text citations.

PART 2:  SERVICE DELIVERY PROCESS

Select a service firm of your choice and answer the following questions:

• Define blueprinting and discuss what is meant by a one-sided blueprint versus a two-sided blueprint.
• Prepare a blueprint for a service firm of your choice. Outline the process time and the activity time for each step in the service delivery process. Make sure you indicate the following elements in your flowchart:
• Physical evidence
• Customer action
• Line of interaction
• Contact employee actions
• Line of visibility
• Backstage contact employee actions
• Line of internal interaction
• Support processes
• As part of your flowchart design, describe the specific actions taken by customers and employees.
• Discuss how a service blueprint helps an operations manager and a marketing manager improve service delivery.
• Should a service blueprint be used in the new product development process? Why or why not?

Submit your answers in a three- to four-page Microsoft Word document. Use APA guidelines for your submission. Be sure to properly cite your sources using APA; include your references and in-text citations.

 Include a minimum of three peer reviewed articles for your paper (these are attached).  Also, use text reading http://digitalbookshelf.southuniversity.edu/books/1133343910/id/L5-2-27, Chapter 4 Services Consumer Behavior; Chapter 5 The Service Delivery Process; and Chapter 6 The Pricing of Services

Grading Criteria for Part 2: