MKT 723 Chapter 4: Customer Expectations of Service.docx
14 May 2015
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Document Summary
The level of experience can vary depending on the reference point the customer holds. The highest form of service expectation is desired service: what the customer believes can be possible and should be possible. The threshold level of service a customer will accept is adequate service: minimum tolerable expectation. Customers typically hold similar desired expectations across categories of service, but these categories are not as broad as whole industries: ex. fast-food restaurants vs. fine-dining. Adequate service expectation levels may vary for different firms within a category or subcategory: ex. service at mcdonalds vs. burger king. The extent to which customers recognize and are willing to accept the variation in service across providers, employees, and even the same service employee is called the zone of tolerance. The zone of tolerance can be considered the range or window in which customers do not particularly notice service performance.
