Service products

Service products代写 Service products are different from a manufactured product, which usually have a more tangible element.

 

Introduction

Service products are different from a manufactured product, which usually have a more tangible element. Service products are intangible in nature and cannot be seen by the recipients. Other characteristics that service product have are:

  • They are inseparable fromthe service provider. In this case, the service product is consumed at the time and place of production. For example, a spa service cannot be separated from the attendant.
  • Services are variable from one service provider to the other and also depend on the other circumstances during the service provision. For instance, a hotel may cook good food and provide excellent service to customers one day and may disappoint them on another day with poor services.
  • Services are also heterogeneous which makes it hard for firms to standardize their service deliveries. In this case, it rangesfrom simple to complex services, low contact service to high contact services, personal to non-personal services etc.
  • Services are perishable: meaning that when service is delivered it cannot be repeated in exactly the same way. Also,lack of ways to store service for future use makes service perishable.

The tremendous factor of heterogeneity makes that is really hard to make a single standard to define quality about all service industries (McCollin, et al., 2011).  Service products代写

You cannot make a comparison between global airlines or financial player with small local service companies because their way of services approaches and routines are different.

Public services utilities such as museums, technology centers, art galleries and theatres, for long they are seen as places for public education, information and entertainment to the public (Yeh & Lin, 2005; Lagrosen, 2003). Considered the relationship between education and culture communication, the major objective of the museum is to attract and stimulate public (Yeh & Lin, 2005).  Museums provide intangible services such as culture, science, history or another kind of service to visitors.

SERVQUAL is the acronym for “Service quality”. According to the Hume (2008):

  • Service quality, directly and indirectly, influences the value attached to the museum.
  • Service quality directly and positively affects customer satisfaction in a museum context.
  • Service quality influences the performanceof the museum by directly and positively affecting the retention and loyalty of clients in the museum context.
  • Customers’ retention and loyalty areaffected by customer satisfaction I the museum context.

The SERVQUAL scale has been developed by Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry in 1985, 1988 and 1990 separately, which was regarded as the measurement scale for assessing service quality of a service situation. It provides a scoring system to every industry to assist management with credibility through Tangibles, Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance, and Empathy to serve the purpose of service improvement.

Base on Hume’s (2008) hypothesis as a category of (intangible) service using SERQUAL to measure museum service quality could improve its customer experience, which could stimulate repurchase intention and footfall. Aiming to stimulate the flow of tourists and increasing reputation of local museums, this study focuses on measuring tourists’ perceptions towards service quality which provided by one of the York museums and exploring a feasibility plan for them.

Literature Review  Service products代写

The service sector is increasing in most of the countries around the world (Wirtz and Lovelock, 2017). With the development of the economy, the employment share between agriculture, industry, and service all changed dramatically, which achieved 2/3 of the value of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (Figure 1).1

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                   Figure 1: Contribution of service industries to GDP globally. 2

A major contribution to service quality conceptualization and measurement was made by Parasuraman et al. (1985;  1988).

Who proposed that service quality is a  five-dimensional concept and results from comparing customers’ expectations and perceptions of service performance. Based on these arguments they developed a model for measuring service quality,  called  SERVQUAL.  The  SERVQUAL  model uses 22 statements to measure both expectations and perceptions.  The statements cover five service quality dimensions, namely reliability, responsiveness, tangibles, assurance, and empathy.  The level  of  agreement  with  the  given  statement  is  assessed  by  using  the Likert-type scale. Over the years, this model has become the most widely adopted and tested conceptualization of service quality (Ladhari 2008; 2009).

The literature review indicated that several studies have been conducted in the context of service quality measurement in museums.  Nowacki  (2005) used the SERVQUAL model to evaluate museum quality in Poznan (Poland). Phaswana-Mafuya and Haydam (2005) explored the expectations and perceptions of tourists visiting the Robben Island Museum  (South  Africa),  while Hui-Ying and Chao-Chien  (2008) measured service quality and customer satisfaction in the  National Museum of Prehistory in Taiwan. Using  a  modified  version  of  the  SERVPERF  model,  Mey  and  Muhamad  (2010) explored the perceived service quality in museums in Malaysia

Current situation of service marketing  Service products代写

The digital transformations including cloud, social media, and large data analysis have redefined service marketing. The modern service marketers must apply both combined art and science to meet changing needs of the service market places, including digital technologies, thought leadership and storytelling, and analytics for key insight.

In tourism marketing, marketers need to be strategic in their planning process for effective service marketing. According to Morrison (2010), tourism marketing system calls for well-selected multi-choices, have correct actions for the specified markets, dynamic approach to challenges, adapting to changes, and ways for measuring success. In tourism marketing, the PRICE concept is applied in strategic marketing management where they:

  • P: plan – the current position
  • R: research – the future expectation
  • I: implement – the strategy to reach the goals
  • C: control – making sure to get there
  • E: evaluation – the signs of achievement

Morrison further explains that using this way, service marketers can be more assured customers’ need satisfaction and achievement of organizational goals. Service marketing triangle is used to describe the relationship between the museum, staff, and customers. Below is the service marketing triangle illustration.

Service products代写
Service products代写

Services marketing triangle [Long Description] (adapted from Morrison, 2010) 

Normally, in marketing, the message is broadcasted directly to the consumers, but in service marketing like a museum, staffs play an integral component. The communications between the three groups can be summarized as follows (Morrison, 2010):

  • External marketing: this aim at attracting prospective customers tothe museum services.
  • Internal marketing: the main aim is to foster culture, internal communication, and offer staff training which increase staff delivery of services.
  • Interactive marketing: this is the exchanges between the staff and the new customer. This marketing enabled the staff to deliver the intended museum services.

The direct and indirect ways that a museum reaches its prospective customers or guests can be grouped into eight concepts known as the 8 Ps of services marketing.

8 Ps of Services Marketing  Service products代写

The 8 Ps are best described as the specific components required to reach selected markets. In traditional marketing, there are four Ps: price, product, place, and promotion. In services marketing, the list expands to the following (Morrison, 2010):

  • Product: this is the range of service mix offered to the client
  • Place: explains how the service reaches customers or how it will be made available through distribution channels and partnership.
  • Promotion: these are the various mix of marketing strategies applied to museum marketing.
  • Price: this is the adopted pricing and anticipated revenue management.
  • People: this is the human resource development to improve interaction between staff and customers.
  • Programming: these are activities whose aims are to create customer loyalty, improve service appeal and retention.
  • Partnership: also referred to as cooperative marketing, increasing the reach and impact of marketing efforts.
  • Physical evidence: ways in which museums can demonstrate their marketing claims and customers can document their experiencessuch as stories, reviews, blog posts, or in-location signage and components

These components work together in a seamless series of activities referred to as integrated marketing communication. This ensures that the customers get the right message and their expectations are met.

Today, service marketers can use various marketing approaches than before in conveying their messages to prospective customers.

Consumers of services, on the other hand, respond differently to the various techniques used. To choose from these methods and come up with the right mix depends on the museum objectives, situation analysis, and positioning intended (Morrison, 2010).

In marketing museum as a tourism product, the marketers besides using traditional marketing techniques, largely use modern methods to reach their customers. These methods include:

  • Online media:
  • Out-of-home channels which constitute billboards and light signs

Current situation of Museum service  Service products代写

The current museum services are built on many years of history and artifacts. Majority of modern people around the world are becoming interested in the medieval arts and features. These have contributed much to the growth of museums services owing to the increased number of tourists frequenting various sites in the York. Therefore, upon realization of these tourism trends, most service marketers are investing more in marketing to promote the industry further. The stakeholders are also ensuring they provide high-quality services to ensure customers retention and loyalty.

Service quality in the museum setting is a complex concept that refers to several aspects of the museum experience. It relates to museum exhibits and their presentation, as well as to personal competence and empathy.  Gilmore and Rentschler  (2002) revealed that education,  accessibility,  communication,  relevance and frequency of special exhibitions are important elements for delivering service quality in museums. In addition, Phaswana-Mafuya and Haydam  (2005) suggested that service quality in museums comprises accessibility, safety, cleanliness, and providing information.

In order to measure service quality in the heritage context, including museums, Frochot and Hughes (2000) have re-modified the SERVQUAL model into a new model called HISTOQUAL.  This model included  24  items, grouped according to five dimensions (responsiveness, tangibles, communication, consumables, and empathy) and was tested in three historic properties located in England and Scotland.

According to Frochot and Hughes (2000), responsiveness is related to staff efficiency and the ability to recognize customer needs.  

Tangibles refer to the property environment (interior and exterior), such as cleanliness, authenticity, and attractiveness. Communication describes the quality and detail of the information provided. Consumables refer to additional services such as restaurants and shops.  Empathy is defined as the willingness to take into consideration the needs of children and less able visitors.

The main focus of this paper is measuring tourists’ perception of service quality for York museums. As a historic city, York has been of strategic importance since Roman times and remained a garrison town in the eighteenth century (Griffin, 2018).

Other reason visitors choose York  Service products代写

York its medieval streets are rich with history, attracting hordes of tourists in search of a quintessentially British experience. If you’re in search of cobbled streets, quaint tearooms, Gothic buildings and evidence of a slightly murky history, this is the city for you.

•  To admire the views from the top of York Minster.

The best views in the city can be seen from the top of the 275 steps that climb up York Minster’s Central Tower to the highest point in the city. From here you can look down on York and admire the rooftops of the old and new buildings and the sight of the River Ouse snaking around the city.

•  To wander down the Shambles.

Probably the most famous place in York, the Shambles is one of the best preserved medieval streets in the entire world. The street is part of the rabbit’s warren of narrow, twisting cobbled lanes in the city with most of the buildings dating back to the 14th and 15th centuries. Many quirky independent shops, cafés, andpubs have taken up residence in the buildings, most of which used to be butchers when they were first built. The street is so narrow that when walking down the lane it is possible to stretch out your arms and touch the buildings on both sides.

•  To discover the city’s history at the JORVIK Viking Centre.  Service products代写

York’s Viking heritage is one of the most interesting parts of the city’s history, so it’s no surprise that the JORVIK Viking Centre is among the most visited tourist attractions in the entire country. It was as recently as the 1970s that the remains of the Viking community in York werediscovered beneath a shopping center. Following the discovery, the JORVIK Centre was created to take visitors underground to view an interactive exhibition profiling what life would have once been like.

•  To walk along the city walls.

York’s City Walls are were built in the 13th century and are the longest town walls in the whole of England, offering a two-mile, predominantly elevated route around the historic city. It takes around two hours to walk around the complete route, taking in impressive views of the medieval buildings, river, andramparts along the way.

•  To browse its many bookshops.

York is famed for its many quirky bookshops, offering an incredibly impressive collection of rare, antique and second-hand tomes. There are many small and specialist bookstoresto discover on the winding streets of the city center, but two in particular are famed for their collections.

•  To visit the greatest railway museum in the world.  Service products代写

People interested in locomotive the National Railway Museum has its home here, displaying over a million different objects related to the history of the railway. Alongside an impressive collection of trains and related paraphernalia, including the only Japanese Bullet Train outside of Japan, the museum also offers a variety of fun activities to keep children happy.

•  To take a boat trip on the Rivers Ouse and Foss.

See the city from a different perspective by taking to the water and enjoying a relaxing cruise along the Rivers Ouse and Foss. Yorkboat offers several cruises of different lengths that allow visitors to sit back and enjoy the views while listening to interesting facts about the city’s history.

Due to those reasons, York annually attracts a considerable number of visitors.

However, when compare with the visitor number of landmark (e.g. York Minster), the visitors number of local museum only got 1/3 or even more less (Atkinson,2018; York Museums and Gallery Trust, 2017). Most of tourist may only consider York as a short trip destination and will not spend a lot time at there (REF), although York has an abundance museum culture. Tourist development leads to a growing competition in the tourist market (Nowacki, 2005).

How does tourist market effects local economy/community?  Service products代写

Aiming to stimulating the flow of tourists and increasing reputation of local museums, this study focus on measuring tourists’ perceptions towards service quality which provided by one of the York museums and exploring a feasibility plan for them.

Tourist perception is the ideas of a tourist prior to actual visit, which is related to the consumers’ satisfaction with service quality and the preference for travelling location (Hassan, 2018; Weiermair, 2000).  The development of tourist perception contributes to their motivation to visit various sites in York. Growth of local museum is directly affected by tourist prior perception which determines their preference to visit them.

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Deloitte (2010) report showed that York is a world class heritage city with tourism as the major economic driver. Tourism contributed more than 7.1 million visitors annually with the earning totalling over $443 million to the economy. This has changed unemployment level significantly with over 23,000 jobs created which a major boost to the local community. The report also established how tourism has contributed to the growth of local artefacts and juakali enterprises. Tourists were considered as a source of market for the local products thus contributed significantly to its growth.

What is consumers’ satisfaction (CS)  Service products代写

Customer satisfaction is generally considered among the most important long term objectives of firms. The marketing concept suggests that a satisfied customer will be more likely to repurchase products or use the services again than those are dissatisfied (Al – Wugayan et al., 2007). Al – Wugayan et al, (2007) also concluded that it is generally accepted that satisfaction is a psychological state that results from consumer experiences after consumption. Additionally, the basic conceptualizations focus on either or both of two aspects: the customers’ initial expectations in relation to product attributes and the customers’ perceptions of the product performance in relation to these expectations.

There are many different factors influencing customer satisfaction these are friendly employees, courteous employees, knowledgeable employees, helpful employees, accuracy of billing, billing timeliness, competitive pricing, service quality, good value, billing clarity and quick services (Hokanson, 1995).

In order to gain the customer satisfaction, first of all firms have to understand and satisfy their customer needs and wants (La Barbera and Mazursky, 1983). According to Kotler (2000) customers’ needs illustrate the felt deprivation of a customer. Meanwhile customers’ wants refer to the form taken by human needs as they are shaped by culture and individual personality.

Singh, H. (2006) indicated that customer satisfaction affect positively and directly to an organization’s profitability.  Service products代写

Hoyer and MacInnis (2001) claimed that satisfied customers form the foundation of any successful business as customer satisfaction leads to repeat purchase, brand loyalty, and positive word of mouth. To some extents, the consequences of a lack of customer satisfaction need to be taken into account. According to Hoyer and MacInnis (2001), dissatisfied consumers can decide to discontinue purchasing the good or service; complain to the company or to a third party and perhaps return the item, or engage in negative word – of – mouth communication.

From summarizing a numerous previous researches about satisfied customer and dissatisfied ones, La Barbera and Mazursky (1983) made a conclusion that ‘satisfaction influences repurchase intentions whereas dissatisfaction has been seen as a primary reason for customer defection or discontinuation of purchase’.

Moreover, customer satisfaction affects positively and directly customer loyalty as well as customer retention.

According to Sivadas and Baker-Prewitt (2000), there is an increasing recognition that the ultimate objective of customer satisfaction measurement should be customer loyalty. It can be denied that high customer satisfaction will result in increased loyalty for the firm and that customers will be less prone to overtures from competition (Fornell, 1992). Anton (1996) also shared his opinion with statement: ‘satisfaction is positively associated with repurchase intentions, likelihood of recommending a product or service, loyalty and profitability’.

Clearly, customer loyalty brings customer retention to repurchase or use the products and services the firms supply. In addition, long-term customer retention in competitive markets requires the business to go beyond mere basic satisfaction and to look for ways of establishing ties of loyalty that will help ward off competitor attack (Clare, 2001).

According to Kozak and Rimmington (2000), the tourists’ satisfaction with destination attractions makes them visit a place again. The quality of tourist attraction and the ability to manage them to satisfy tourists’ need is the most important part for improving the perception of visitor (Nowacki, 2005).

What is Consumer’s expectation (CE), what is the gap between CS and CE.  Service products代写

The suitable purpose of evaluation could help manager (or professionals) to achieve the target service that they wishing to provide for the public (Ham and Krumpe, 1996). For that, a visitor-based survey is necessary to understand what consumers expect, that survey should follow by an analysis about how managers could do to satisfy visitors’ need and achieve their target (Loomis, 1996).

SERVQUAL be used as major research strategy for survey, that method rarely be mentioned by researchers who focus on the service marketing of museums.

SERVQUAL has been developed by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry in 1985, 1988 and 1990, which is a questionnaire scale for measuring service quality of a service situation. The measuring process and service quality factors that influence it identified by four “Gaps”, which may exist and course quality issues. Those quality lead fifth gaps, each gap corresponding with the difference between consumer expectations of service and the perception of service that they actually received. This difference defined as service quality by authors (Parasuraman, Zeithaml & Berry, 1988). While customers’ expectation based on verbal information, which not only include personal needs, experience but also commercial information.

Service products代写
Service products代写

Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Berry (1985) base on the result of interview and focus group established 10 discrepancies of the relationships between customer and service supplier. After three years, authors provide a five-dimensional scale for measuring service quality, which included: tangible feature, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. This result first been tested by banking, credit cards, repair services and telephone service.  SERVQUAL scale has been used for evaluation service quality in many fields of service marketing, including tourism. Ekinci and Riley (2001) has adapted SERVQIAL to measure service in hotel, Babakus and Mangold (1992) using that scale to teste the service quality of hospitals.

Region’s tourist product also has been analyzed by that scale, although that study did not focus on any specific tourist destination (Augustyn and Samuel, 1998; Danaher and Arweiler, 1996; Golembski, 1991). Cliff and Ryan (1994) applied SERVQUAL for measuring service quality of travel agencies, which can be summarized as that perceived by clients related more with material element and personnel positively skills rarely link to the reliability of the supplied service. (此段文献需要扩充 添加2010年后的文献 )

This study based on York’s local museum and evaluate the service quality of that museum for improve the tourist perception.  Service products代写

简要介绍约克历史 和约克的博物馆

The practical feasibility of this research exists at the low cost of survey and the opening time of museum, most of York museum opened every day. Researcher will ask museum managers’ permission to doing survey with museum visitors then provide questionnaire for them if they agree to take a part of survey.

Some of the former has talk about the performance of tourism partnership, the role and future development and the tourist planning of York, but none of one article has using SERVQUAL scale to evaluate the perception of York tourist and the service quality for that local museum. The aim for this study is to measure the tourist perception of service quality for (one of) York museum. SERVQUAL would be used for evaluating how clients feel about the service that museum provided and identify visitors’ satisfaction. This study could help York local museum to target tourists’ needs and improve the perception by advancing service quality. (此段介绍)

METHODOLOGY  Service products代写

Research questions, objectives and hypotheses

The main purpose of this study was to empirically investigate the service quality in the York museum sector.  Specifically, the study intended to answer the following research questions:

i.  What is the level of customer expectations regarding museum service quality?

ii.  What is the level of customer perceptions regarding museum service quality?

iii.  What  are  the  differences  between  perceived  and  expected  service  quality  in museums?

iv.  What are the key dimensions of service quality expectations in museums?

v.  What are the key dimensions of service quality perceptions in museums?

Based on the defined research questions, the study aimed to  Service products代写

a) assess museum visitors’ expectations  and  perceptions,

b) determine  potential  differences  between  perceived and  expected  scores  of  museum  service  quality,

c) identify the main dimensions  of perceived and expected service quality in museums,

In addition, the present study aimed to test the following research hypotheses:

H1: The level of expected museum service quality is high.

H2: The level of perceived museum service quality is high.

H3:  There is no statistically significant difference between expected and perceived service quality in museums.

Research instrument  Service products代写

The  instrument  for  collecting  primary  data  in  this  study  was  an  on-site  and  self-administered  questionnaire.  The questionnaire consisted of  three parts,  designed  to measure  the  expected  and  perceived  service  quality,  of a various museum variables.

The  respondents’ demographic  information  included  age,  gender,  economic  status, level of education, frequency  of visiting  museums in general, and number  of previous visits to the  particular  museum. These characteristics were measured using a nominal scale.

Mean values for questionnaire items and differences between perception and expectation.

Questionnaire items

expectations perceptions differences
Surrounding of the attraction

1) external appearance of the building

2) suitable car park

3) easy access for the elderly and disabled

 

4.45

3.77

4.38

 

3.92

1.85

1.78

 

0.53

1.92

2.62

Reception and ticket office  Service products代写

1) friendly and sensitive personnel

2) ticket office staff gave clear instructions and support

3) clear markers of individual attractions

4) easy access to information for various sites

5) availability of the maps to access various sites

6) computerized system of tourist information

7) safety measures to protect tourists

8) accessible information about the restricted areas

 

4.23

4.36

 

4.22

4.16

4.21

2.71

3.82

3.55

 

3.26

2.4

 

2.64

2.65

2.19

1.73

1.9

 

0.97

1.97

 

1.57

1.51

2.02

 

2.1

1.65

Literature and souvenirs area

1) very attractive and variety of products

2) affordable prices of the literature and souvenirs

3) presentation of the product

 

3.46

3.88

 

3.34

 

3.21

2.61

 

2.79

 

0.25

1.27

 

0.55

Exhibitions  Service products代写

1) good arrangement and attractive

2) logical presentation

3) presentation of natural environment issues

4) historical events

5) staff contact to visitors

6) staff competent service to visitors

7) availability of information for children

8) simulation for discussion with friends and family

9) exhibition aesthetic

10) signage and directions for movement and orientation

11) suitability of information transfer

12) clarity of information in the exhibition

13) staff appearance

 

4.63

4.25

4.03

3.86

3.86

4.49

4.16

3.61

 

4.19

4.31

 

4.19

4.37

3.69

 

3.47

3.62

2.58

3.01

2.21

2.28

1.91

2.79

 

3.96

2.87

 

2.65

3.37

2.99

 

1.16

0.62

1.45

0.85

1.65

2.21

2.25

0.82

 

0.23

1.49

 

1.54

1

0.7

Hospitality and catering

1) suitable food menu

2) décor

3) quality of food service

4) level cleanliness

 

4.02

3.96

4.45

4.69

 

3.1

2.47

2.63

3.02

 

0.92

1.49

1.83

1.68

Ablution blocks  Service products代写

1) conditions of the area

2) cleanliness level

 

4.53

4.73

 

3.37

3.4

 

1.16

1.33

General impression

1) attraction that entice visitors to the vicinity

2) attraction appearance which allows its appreciation

 

4.51

4.41

 

3.73

3.53

 

0.78

0.88

Mean value

Standard deviation

4.19

0.43

2.9

0.61

1.36

0.59

SERVQUAL questionnaire is used to get opinion of the customers (Parasuraman et al., 1988). The questionnaire is divided into main elements of tourist concerns which include access, exhibitions, hospitality and catering, souvenirs, and ablution facilities. It also include the 35 statements distributed under each elements in which the customer give the rating from 1 to 5. These elements take into account all the important dimensions needed in evaluating the service quality as established by Parasuraman.

Study results  Service products代写

From the questionnaire it was observed that the clients’ highest expectations targeted ablution facilities: the cleanliness of the area was given 4.73 and their state was given 4.53. Also considered important by the clients was the cleanliness of the hospitality and catering areas and services which was given a rating of 4.63 while food quality was given 4.45. The third in the rating was physical facilities and exhibition elements with arrangement and attractiveness rated 4.63, attractive vicinity rated 4.52, and competent services and staff rated 4.49.

Computerized system of tourist information, presentation of product, and product quality rated 3.34 were considered least important by the visitors. The mean values for all the variables were 4.19, with the standard deviation of 0.43. The results mean that there are high requirements placed for better tourist attraction.

Then the difference between the expectation and perception is taken in all attraction elements. The least differences observed were on the exhibition, quality of the products, and appearance of the building with the ratings of 0.23, 0.25, and 0.53 respectively. However there was large difference between expectation and perception of accessibility of elderly and disabled, children information, and competence of the staff with the rating of 2.65, 2.25, and 2.21 respectively.

New Knowledge  Service products代写

This study is important in contributing the knowledge of service marketing of museums in tourism industry. There is no much studies done on marketing and service quality in the modern day tourism. Therefore, this research will provide more information on how to improve customer satisfaction and perception of York museums.

Conclusion

 

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