CU-SEM-III-MBA-Marketing of Services- Second Draft-converted

labour unions. This has paved the way for bank executives to use banking technology to increase productivity and decision-making for consumer value formation. The State Bank of Travancore prioritises branch mechanisation. As of March 31, 2003, the Bank had 320 completely computerised branches and 76 partially computerised branches. User-friendly back-office automation software was built in-house in order to further harness technology, and the kit was introduced in 71 non-computerized divisions. As of the end of March 2003, computers had captured 80 percent of total market. 56. Telebanking Face-to-face interactions are giving way to phone interactions. Self-service is increasingly replacing personal service, often with the use of computers or simple machines. Voice telephone connections are being replaced or supplemented by web contacts. 14.8 MARKETING OF PROFESSIONAL SERVICES Professional services, also known as consulting, is primarily a knowledge-based practise with a development position that spans a broad variety of industries. Not only do consultancy services play an important role in the economy's growth, but they also increase the visibility of Indian technical expertise abroad and boost the external sector in a variety of ways, including foreign exchange revenues, promotion of technology and merchandise export (especially capital goods and raw materials), and personnel training, among others. In 2007, the consulting and professional services industry in India produced US$ 4.41 billion in revenue. Despite the fact that consulting contributed just 0.44 percent to GDP in 2007, the industry's growth rates have been highly promising in recent years, with a CAGR of about 73.68 percent between 2002 and 2007. In 2008, the Asia Pacific (APAC) consulting industry produced $33.5 billion in revenue, with India accounting for US$1.81 billion, or 5.4 percent of the total APAC market. Management consultancy and engineering consultancy are the two broad categories of consultancy services. Detailed project reports, impact analyses, evaluation/ appraisal studies, advisory services, design, and detailed engineering are some of the most widely offered services in both fields of consultancy. Individual consultants, consulting companies, R&D organisations, academic institutes, and professional bodies are among the many institutions that provide consulting services in India. Individual consultants (22%) are the most common players, followed by research and development organisations (10%), academic institutions (3%), and technical bodies (2%). (1 per cent). Agriculture, banking and financial services, chemicals, education, electricity, entertainment, climate, governance, public administration and policy, hospitality, infrastructure, 251 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

manufacturing, real estate, retail, information technology, telecommunications, transport, and utilities are among the client sectors for which consulting services are offered. The Indian management consulting market is still in its infancy, with fast growth and a large number of new players among its distinguishing features. Despite its limited revenue size in comparison to the global management consultancy sector (US$ 1.5 billion in 2006-07), the Indian management consultancy industry has shown strong growth, owing in part to the low base from which it grew. Exports of management consulting services grew at a rapid pace, reaching US$7.3 billion in 2006-07. The Indian engineering consultancy sector is booming, thanks to a slew of large-scale construction ventures that are propelling it forward. In comparison to the management consulting industry, it is a more mature market. The Indian engineering consultancy industry has shown steady growth over the last few years, despite its limited revenue size in comparison to the global engineering consultancy sector, which stood at US$ 2.91 billion in 2006-07. Over the last decade, India has become one of the world's fastest rising consulting markets. Increased investment activities are largely due to the liberalisation of FDI restrictions, the entry of many new players into the Indian market, high growth in most main sectors, and India's status as an emerging economy and low-cost sourcing destination. 14.9 SUMMARY • Promotion of tourism commodities, languages, and related businesses and products. It has a variety of negative effects on the ecosystem, including the habitats of many endangered species. Tourism has the potential to overshadow or, on the other hand, radically alter a place's indigenous cultures. • To maintain a healthy immune system and prevent illness, we must live a healthy lifestyle. Maintaining a strong immune system to protect the body is referred to as \"maintaining.\" International airlines play an important role in the tourism industry by providing mass and fast transportation between countries in a clean, standardised, and cost-effective manner. Breaking down the whole tourism operation into its component parts helps to understand its relationship to the tourism industry. • Marketers' solutions for improving health care include encouraging innovation and manufacturing (of medical devices), international partnerships, increasing medical research spending, improving medical, nursing, and technical education, and upskilling current manpower. 14.10 KEYWORDS • Travel agents: A travel agency is a business that operates as the intermediary 252 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

between the travel industry (supplier) and the traveller (purchaser). • Market Segmentation: dividing a heterogeneous market into homogenous sub-units • Niche Marketing: catering to a specialized segment • Tourism Industry: Iindustries of tourism are; accommodations, food and beverage Services, recreation and entertainment, transportation, and travel services • Ambulance Services: linked by state-of-the-art telecommunications and fully equipped with doctors. • Diagnostic Services: offer a wide range of facilities for instance, Oncology, Orthopedics, Neurology, Plastic surgery and so on. 14.11 LEARNING ACTIVITY 1. As an agency, will you be a full-service medical travel agency, a health tourism agency, a broker or facilitator or an on-site international patient care management service? As a provider, will medical travelers be a significant part of your business or an incidental part? Discuss ___________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 14.12 UNIT END QUESTIONS A. Descriptive Questions Short Questions 1. What is Cultural Tourism? 2. Explain in brief about tourism 3. Name of the few of the Casualty Services in Healthcare industry 4. What are the few services offered under healthcare services? 5. Briefly explain about Marketing of Online Services. Long Questions 1. Suggest some suitable services marketing strategy to develop tourism services in India. 2. Critically examine the formulation of services marketing strategies for airline industry 3. Prepare a marketing plan for a hospital ( healthcare) proposed to serve a low income group people. 4. Develop an appropriate marketing mix model for a online service 253 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

5. Develop the Marketing plan how the technology plays an important role in different services sectors. 6. Explain the importance of advertisement as an important promotional tool in the airlines. B. Multiple Choice Questions 1 Who is known as the father of Travel Agency business. a. Thomas Cook b. Jeena & Co c. Lee and Muirhead d. Cox and Kings 2. A wholesaler who sells package tour is called a. Travel operator b. Travel Agency c. Travel Agent d. None of these 3. The main purpose of travel and tourism can be a. Business b. Pilgrimage c. Pleasure d. All of these 4. The linkages in hotel industry are a. Transportation b. Accommodation c. None of these d. Both (a) & (b) 254 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

5. Planning a new hospital starts with setting goals for the hospital, without which the organization cannot have a definite direction or focus. Which of the following areas is not considered by an organization while studying existing hospital facilities in an area? a. Bed ratio b. Hospital occupancy c. Physical condition of facilities d. Volume of services provided e. Perception of patients Answers 1 – a, 2 – b, 3 – d, 4-d, 5-e 14.13 REFERENCES Text Books: • Zeithaml V. A. ,Bitner M. J. and Pandit, A., Services Marketing, 5th Edition, Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Co. Ltd. New Delhi. • Lovelock C. H., Wirtz, J. and Chaterjee, J., Service Marketing: People, Technology, Strategy, 6thEdition, Pearson Education, New Delhi. Reference Books: • Hoffman, K. D. & Bateson, J. E.G., Marketing of Services, Cengage Learning, • Kurtz D. L. and Clow K. E., Services Marketing. Biztantra, New Delhi. • Nargundkar, Rajendra, Services Marketing Text and Cases, 3rd Edition, Tata 255 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

UNIT 15: EMERGING ISSUES IN SERVICE MARKETING Structure 15.0 Learning Objectives 15.1 Introduction 15.2 Strategic approach in Services Marketing 15.3 Service Marketing in e-Commerce and e-Marketing and Telemarketing Services 15.4 Service Marketing Research for Global Markets and Rural Markets 15.5 Innovations in Services Marketing 15.6 Ethical Aspects in Service Marketing 15.7 Summary 15.8 Keywords 15.9 Learning Activity 15.10 Unit End Questions 15.11 References 15.0 LEARNING OBJECTIVES After studying this unit, you will be able to: • Describe nature of Marketing of Services • Identify scope of Marketing of Services • Benefits of Marketing of Services • Process of Marketing of Services 15.1 INTRODUCTION Because of the fundamental disparity that exists between service and products, service marketers face many challenges. • Understanding consumer preferences and quality expectations; • Tangibilizing the service offering are only a few of the obstacles they face on a regular basis. • Dealing with a wide range of individuals, both internal and external clients, as well as 256 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

distribution issues; • Following through on commitments made to customers. The assessment and control of quality, however, is the most fascinating challenge. Some questions about service quality have yet to be answered definitively: • When the product is intangible and non-standardized, how can service quality be specified and improved? • How can new services be successfully planned and evaluated when they are basically intangible processes? • How can the service company be sure that its communication was accurate, reliable, and important, particularly when its other marketing channels are also communicating? This apprehension is particularly strong when it comes to the position of service providers in the transaction. 15.2 STRATEGIC APPROACH IN SERVICES MARKETING The management and marketers of the service company must address a number of major issues. It is extremely difficult to develop a strategic strategy for services due to their intangibility. Different people assign different characteristics to a service and rate it in various ways. Because of the variety, services cannot be standardised, making it much more difficult to choose a strategy. When deciding on any plan, a service marketer should always keep the needs of the customers in mind, since each customer's needs are different. Demand and supply constraints must also be managed, which is both necessary and challenging. Market is a variable that is affected by a number of factors, and service businesses face the task of matching ability to demand. They will also attempt to manipulate the demand variable in order to meet their own ability. With low capacity and high demand, the issue of long queues arises. This is one of the areas where the service company loses the majority of its clients. Customers despise standing in queues. Customers are becoming more impatient as more alternatives and replacements become available. For service businesses, managing waiting lines is also a significant challenge. You'll hear about competitive service techniques, turnaround strategies, and how demand, supply, efficiency, and waiting lines are handled in this unit. A service company that sells a variety of products and services must develop different strategic strategies for each business proposition and sector in which it competes. For example, when comparing the retail banking strategies of HDFC, which has now merged with its parent firm, HDFC Bank, or its insurance ventures HDFC Standard Life and HDFC Chubb, HDFC Home Finance would have different strategic plans. 257 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

Then there will be a need for action plans for various functions such as marketing, human resources, and finance, among others. Thus, the HDFC Group (which includes home finance, retail banking, life and general insurance) or the ICICI Group (which includes the universal bank with all of its various divisions such as institutional, retail, home and consumer finance, life and general insurance, information technology, and so on) may have strategic strategies on three levels: 1. Strategic planning at the corporate level: The service agency has a number of SBUs, and the planning has an effect on all of them. The aim is to incorporate the individual SBU strategies to adhere to the group's goal. For instance, Ratan Tata and his Tata Sons board of directors decide that the Tata Group will concentrate on infrastructure, steel, cars, telecommunications, information technology, hospitality, tea, and chemicals. At this stage, decisions were made to exit FMCG (TOMCO, Lakme), liquor, and office goods (Forbes, Forbes & Campbell), among other things. 2. Strategic planning at the business-unit level: Decisions that impact an individual SBU as a whole are made at this level. As a result, if Taj Hotels chooses to expand by acquisition rather than organic means, the decision will be made at this stage. 3. Strategic planning at the functional level: This would have an effect on the various functions of an SBU. There are a few templates that are often used when developing marketing strategies. In the following subsections, we'll go over each one individually. A marketer's strategy is a course of action that is the responsibility of top marketing executives, is typically long-term and systematic in scope, and impacts the entire enterprise as well as the firm's entire market. It consists of the following activities: • Conduct a situation analysis • Develop marketing objectives • Select target markets, after appropriate segmentation and measure market demand • Determine positioning and differential advantage(s) • Design strategic marketing mix(es) 15.3 SERVICE MARKETING IN E-COMMERCE AND E-MARKETING AND TELEMARKETING SERVICES For most businesses that want to use this method of service, e-commerce offers many benefits. One of the most significant benefits is that it allows for lower warehousing and inventory costs due to automation. For the most part, ecommerce is unaffected by size; any company may conduct business over the Internet. 258 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

The Internet also eliminates the benefit that big corporations have over small businesses by levelling the playing field (Wilder, 1998). Organizations will access global areas that would be impossible to reach otherwise. This is beneficial because it allows for global connectivity and product distribution to customers who may not be able to buy the product in their own country. E-commerce companies can also improve their convenience by establishing a 24- hour service, allowing customers to shop whenever it is convenient for them (Pallab, 1996). E-commerce also allows for more ads and a wider range of segments. It's also self-selective; people who visit your site are interested in learning more about your company or product (Wehling, 1996). Perhaps the most significant benefit of e-commerce is its one-to-one marketing (Wehling, 1996). E-commerce also enables businesses to collect data on their customers or prospective customers. It's also a one-of-a-kind form of marketing research that's relatively inexpensive (Pallab, 1996). One of the key points of contention is the intangibility of online purchases. When shopping online, the intangibility is caused by the inability to concentrate on concrete aspects. Since a consumer cannot physically touch or feel a product, the risk of making a purchase is increased. Creating visible signals that the consumer knows is the secret to reducing intangibility. Developing a positive brand image lowers the risk (Kurtz, 1998). Purchasing a product with a high-quality picture, for example, reduces the risk for consumers. Companies must concentrate on developing a positive and trustworthy brand. Intangibility may also be reduced by emphasising the product's real or perceived benefits. It's important to assure the consumer that the product's benefits would exceed their expectations. For example, if a company sells golf clubs online, they can emphasise the fact that they can hit the ball farther and straighter, increasing the person's enjoyment of the game. It's also crucial to concentrate on the product's actual components. Explaining the advantages of the product's handle and shaft would also draw attention away from the intangible aspects. It is also important for businesses to focus on the benefits of shopping online in order to boost sales. It is critical to express the ease of purchasing your product online on your website. The consumer can realise that they won't have to wait in queues or interact with other people if you convey the message that your product is easily available. Long lines and other customers may deter customers from purchasing or cause them to reduce the amount they are willing to spend. Explaining the benefits of online shopping will help to alleviate the issue of intangibility. The ease of online shopping may be harmed in certain circumstances. When a customer eventually agrees to buy something, it's critical that the transaction be swift and painless (Foster, 1999). The faster and more precisely this action can be completed, the better. Customers can defect and purchase the product from a nearby retail outlet if this action takes too long. Companies must be mindful of this and incorporate appropriate technologies to ensure that this obstacle is reduced to the bare minimum. 259 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

Since goods cannot be seen in person, a barrier between the company and the customer is created. Technology can be one way to solve this obstacle. The consumer can gain a greater understanding of the goods if actual pictures of the product are shown. High-quality images on a website minimise perceived risk, which can lead to increased sales for a business. Clothing, for example, is manufactured in a variety of sizes, which poses a challenge for businesses. Customers who wish to purchase the product may be hesitant to do so because they are unsure about how it would fit. This is an issue for the company; it's vital to have a forgiving return policy, but even more importantly, they should invest in software that assists with sizing (Mardesich, 1999). Customers will be able to enter their measurements into the app, and the website will recommend the best size for them (Mardesich, 1999). This form of technology would lower the risk, resulting in a higher number of goods being sold. The service in question is also a stumbling block that must be properly understood and handled (Mardesich, 1999). A lenient or equitable return scheme would reduce the perceived risk. If the consumer knows that returning the product would be easy and free, they are more likely to buy it. Rising sales is directly linked to providing excellent service. Companies should also cover the cost of returning the items. Paying the postage will, once again, reduce the perceived danger and, as a result, will most likely help to boost sales. Of course, this would only be useful if the product does not have a high rate of defects. 15.4 SERVICE MARKETING RESEARCH FOR GLOBAL MARKETS AND RURAL MARKETS According to Thompson, the study of rural marketing encompasses all operations and agencies involved in the transportation of farm-produced food, raw materials, and derivatives, such as textiles, from the farm to the final consumers, as well as the impact of such operations on producers, middlemen, and consumers. Rural marketing, according to Ramkishen.Y, is the process of designing, selling, promoting, and distributing rural-specific products and services, leading to exchanges between urban and rural markets that meet customer demand while also achieving organisational goals. As a result, rural marketing is a two-way marketing mechanism that encompasses the movement of goods and services from rural to urban areas, as well as the flow of goods and services within rural areas. Jha (1988) introduced a rural marketing domain, which has gained traction in the current literature. He imagined the flow of products between rural and urban areas as the realm of rural marketing. According to Jha's framework, rural marketing broadly refers to the movement of products from rural to rural, rural to urban, and urban to rural areas. As a result, it's a two-way marketing mechanism in which transactions can include: 260 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

1. Urban to rural: This refers to the sale of goods and services in rural areas by urban markets. Pesticides, fast-moving consumer goods, and consumer durables are only a few examples. 2. Rural to urban: a rural commodity (involved in agriculture) is sold in the urban sector. This may not be the most straightforward approach. Fruits, vegetables, grains, pulses, and other foods are usually sold through middlemen, agencies, government co-operatives, and other means. 3. Rural to rural: This includes selling farm equipment, horses, carts, and other items to a neighbouring village. Rural marketing research is described by the American Marketing Association as \"the systematic preparation, collecting, documenting, and analysing of data about problems related to the marketing of products and services.\" According to the definition of market research, rural market research uses a systematic, methodological methodology to perform any research. It entails: • The systematic design, collection, review, and reporting of data and findings related to a particular marketing situation that the business is facing in the rural sector. Rural market research has existed for much longer and has a framework even before urban markets have fully grown. This is ironic, but it is real, because most health, literacy, family planning, and infrastructure-related research begins in the suburbs or rural areas. However, research into marketing and its challenges has only recently begun to take shape as companies such as HLL, Dabur, Colgate Palmolive, and Richardson Hindustan Ltd. (now P&G) began to make inroads into rural markets and discovered that they had very little or no knowledge about the markets. V/S Urban Marketing is a company that specialises in urban marketing. A market is a location were buyers and sellers trade goods. In layman's words, \"it is a place where buyers and sellers trade goods/services in exchange for a monetary value.\" As a result, the Market is the same everywhere. However, there is a distinction in consumer conduct. Each market will have its own set of buyers. This is due to a variety of factors that influence them. Figure 15.1 261 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

15.5 INNOVATIONS IN SERVICES MARKETING Technological innovation has boosted the service sector around the world, including in our own region. As a driving force, technology, especially information technology (IT), is currently transforming the service sector and deeply influencing the practise of service marketing. It has given rise to numerous opportunities and challenges in the field of service marketing. In the following regions, technology has had a major impact on service marketing: 1. Introduction of New Service Offerings 2. Providing New Process of Service Delivery 3. Facilitating both Customers and Employees 4. Extending the Reach of Services 5. The Internet Becoming an Enlarged Service The Internet Becoming an Enlarged Service The Internet can be viewed as a massive, expanded service. The vast majority of producers, associations, and service marketers have websites on the Internet. They're all on the internet, offering services to consumers. The Internet has a direct influence on service marketing and management techniques, approaches, technologies, and principles. Because of the accessibility provided by the World Wide Web, geographical borders are no longer an issue. Sale, networking, market analysis, and payment are all popular uses of the Internet. This is what conventional marketing entails. Since a number of service transactions can be initiated and completed over the Internet, it is also an interactive marketing vehicle. The Internet, for example, becomes part of the service process by offering e-mail connections to helpdesks or other functions of a service provider. The way it works has an effect on the company's digital marketing impact. This will necessitate the service provider's ability to assume its position as a virtual interactive partner. For example, customer invitations to communicate, such as by e- mail, must be replied to as quickly as the customer deems appropriate, if not immediately. Slow or no answer ensures that no interactions take place, and the customer's interest is lost. Even though it is often only used as a networking and advertising tool, the Internet is a service-oriented and relationship-oriented medium. It's important for advertisers to remember that the company isn't the one who makes the first online contact with a customer. The interaction is initiated by the customer or prospective customer. A partnership can arise if the communication can be built into a service process with interactions between the business and the customer. Since it is so simple to hop from one website to the next, developing a relationship-oriented service is important. Interaction with a specific customer can be a successful way to keep a customer interested in the organisation and generate repeat sales. 262 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

15.6 ETHICAL ASPECTS IN SERVICE MARKETING Although it may have been appropriate in the past for companies to seek profits solely for the sake of profit with little or no regard for the broader social and environmental consequences of their operations, this is no longer the case. The consumer movement and the environmental lobby have developed themselves as diligent and effective watchdogs, effectively bringing about reforms in corporate practises and laws governing how companies must function. This isn't to suggest that companies haven't reacted to the criticism they've received. Many people have voluntarily modified their ways of working to account for these broader issues. For example, in marketing, the term \"marketing concept\" has come to mean \"consumer-oriented,\" and the more recent \"societal marketing concept\" extols the need for marketers to understand both society's and customers' wants and long-term needs. At first glance, it seems that advertisers, at the very least, are acknowledging their global obligations. Product-Related Ethical Concerns Product protection, expected obsolescence, and misleading packaging are three major ethical concerns associated with goods and services. You must now examine each of these in turn. Safety of The Product One of the most recent product safety issues has been the safety of genetically modified (GM) products. Greenpeace (www.greenpeace.org) and other vocal pressure groups have spoken out against the risks of genetic engineering. As a result of these issues and the resulting publicity, Monsanto (www.monsanto.com), one of the pioneers of genetic modification, has backed away from further production of GM foods, and grocery chains have banned such produce from their shelves. Many new products are launched with a certain degree of risk, according to supporters. A new pharmaceutical product, for example, could cause minor harm to a small percentage of consumers, but the utilitarian concept of \"the greater good for the greatest number\" will justify its release. It is a fact of modern business that new goods, such as automobiles, pharmaceuticals, and foods, are subjected to rigorous safety testing prior to release. Anything less would be a violation of the 'right to protection' of the user. Obsolescence on Purpose: Many items on the market were not intended to last for an extended period of time. This makes sense from the producer's perspective because it encourages repeat purchases. As a result, cars rust, computer software becomes obsolete quickly, and fashion pieces are quickly replaced by the new trends. Consumers agree that nothing lasts forever, but the main focus of this debate is about how long anything can last until it has to be replaced. Competition is one of the guiding forces. Automobile manufacturers such as Ford (www. ford.com) and Volkswagen (www.vw.com) have improved the rust resistance of their body shells to combat the Japanese invasion. Furthermore, it must be acknowledged that many customers welcome 263 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

the opportunity to purchase new clothing, new appliances with the most up-to-date features, and new car models. Anticipated obsolescence, critics contend, limits consumers' freedom of choice because certain consumers might be willing to drive an old car as long as the body shell is free of rust and the vehicle works properly. As previously stated, the forces of competition will act to deter planned obsolescence excesses. Ethical Concerns in Price Management: Price fixing, predatory pricing, misleading pricing, price discrimination, and commodity dumping are only a few of the ethical concerns surrounding pricing. Fixing of prices: One of the factors pushing down prices is competition. As a result, it could be in the producers' best interests to agree not to compete on price. The 'act of collusion,' as it is called, is prohibited in many countries and regions, including the EU. Article 83 of the Treaty of Rome prohibits practises that discourage, limit, or distort competition, unless they contribute to productivity while ensuring that customers receive a fair share of the benefits. Cartels are said to be groups of companies that prepared ahead of time, and they're not easy to find. The discovery of an illegal cartel involving 23 of Europe's biggest chemical firms from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Finland, Norway, and Austria is one of the European Commission's most well-known successes. In the face of extreme overcapacity, they were able to maintain profitability for low density polyethylene and PVC by collusion. Quotas were established to restrict corporations' attempts to gain market share through price competition, and prices were set to harmonise regional disparities in order to deter consumers from shopping around for the best offers. Price fixing opponents argue that it is immoral because it restricts consumers' freedom of choice and interferes with each company's desire to provide high-quality goods at the lowest possible price. Its proponents claim that price fixing is important in difficult economic times to ensure a reasonable profit for the industry and prevent price wars that could lead to bankruptcy and unemployment. Pricing that is deceptive: Predatory pricing describes a condition in which a company lowers its rates in order to drive out the competition. The company is willing to lose money in the hopes of making a large profit by raising rates once the rivalry has been eliminated. Budget airline easyJet (www.easyjet.com) has accused British Airways of unfair pricing through its no-frills subsidiary Go; easyJet says that Go's low rates are subsidised by BA's other operations' income. Pricing that is deceptive: When customers are fooled by the price offers offered by businesses, this is known as deceptive pricing. Price comparisons that are deceptive and 'bait and switch' are two 264 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

examples. When a store sets excessively high prices for a short period of time in order to demand even lower ‘sale' prices later, this is known as misleading price comparisons. The aim is to trick the consumer into thinking they're getting a good deal. Some nations, such as the United Kingdom and Germany, have legislation stating the minimum amount of time a standard price must be paid before it can be used as a reference price in a sale. The practise of advertising a very low price on a product (the lure) to draw consumers to a retail store is known as bait and switch. While inside the shop, the salesperson persuades the customer to purchase a more expensive item (the switch). The consumer may be informed that the lower- priced item is out of stock or of poor quality. 15.7 SUMMARY • Most examples of unethical behaviour that make the news are likely to be those in which the perpetrator did so knowingly and intentionally, and such behaviour will always be a possibility in business as well as other spheres. • Marketing in a specific industry faces unique challenges that are not found in most other organizations. The commodity is variable, the consumer is rarely willing to purchase, and there is no true price value swap. Quantitative and qualitative skills are important for the marketing professional. The ability to reach consensus among the players involved in the delivery of a clinical service or customer engagement is a vital skill. Marketers must demonstrate market analysis capabilities as well as a willingness to collaborate. 15.8 KEYWORDS • Pegged: ready made • Condemnation: expressing of a strong disapproval • Dilemmas: a situation in which a difficult choice has to be made Conventional: an accepted custom 15.9 LEARNING ACTIVITY 1. Perform a SWOT analysis for LIC of India and FedEx ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 15.10 UNIT END QUESTIONS A. Descriptive Questions 265 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

Short Questions 1. Discuss the contribution of the service sector to Indian Economy. 2. What are the reasons for the growth of the service sector in India? 3. Explain how technology has been a driving force for growth of services. 4. Explain briefly about Deceptive pricing 5. Describe briefly about Innovations in Service Marketing Long Questions 1. What are the special characteristics of services as compared to products? 2. Discuss the significance of the service marketing triangle. 3. Explain the service marketing mix and its components. 4. Explain in detail about Ethical aspects in Service Marketing. 5. Explain in detail about Service Marketing in e-commerce. B. Multiple Choice Questions 1. Which of the following decisions is most likely to be taken at the corporate level? a. Marketing strategy to launch a product b. Hire new front line employees c. Designing the mission and vision of the service organisation d. Testing the service delivery process 2. ………. are SBUs that are in low growth or mature industries but have relatively high market shares. a. Stars b. Cash cows c. Questions marks d. Dogs 3. In …………… strategy, the products or SBUs are disposed off from the portfolio of the service organisation if they are not performing well. a. Invest b. Protect 266 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

c. Harvest d. Divest 4. ………………. strategy is adopted by a service firm or the SBU when it concentrates its entire attention on a very specific customer segment and their needs. a. Cost leadership b. Differentiation c. Focus d. Invest 5. Charging customers different prices for essentially the same service is called _________ a. Price discrimination b. Price Determination c. Price segmentation d. Price Settlement Answers 1 – c, 2 – b, 3 – d, 4 – c, 5 - a 15.11 REFERENCES Text Books: • Zeithaml V. A. ,Bitner M. J. and Pandit, A., Services Marketing, 5th Edition, Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Co. Ltd. New Delhi. • Lovelock C. H., Wirtz, J. and Chaterjee, J., Service Marketing: People, Technology, Strategy, 6thEdition, Pearson Education, New Delhi. Reference Books: • Hoffman, K. D. & Bateson, J. E.G., Marketing of Services, Cengage Learning, • Kurtz D. L. and Clow K. E., Services Marketing. Biztantra, New Delhi. • Nargundkar, Rajendra, Services Marketing Text and Cases, 3rd Edition, Tata 267 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)