Journal Entry Guidelines

The guidelines are as follows.

1. Provide a detailed description of the service encounter. (Figure 10.1 in the Service Marketing textbook is a great resource for this assignment!)

a. What are your initial perceptions? Be mindful of everything that is affecting your

perceptions.

b. What is the servicescape like?

c. Where is the business located?

d. What is the situation?

e. What processes are in use?

f. Discuss both positive and negative aspects of the encounter.

g. Use class concepts.

h. What tangible and intangible things affected your perceptions?

i. What was the performance level?

j. How satisfied were you?

k.

2. Apply the gaps model to the encounter (assess where the company has wide gaps and where it

has narrow ones).

a. Which gaps are issues? Which are being dealt with efficiently?

b. How do your experiences during the encounter relate to your assessment of the various

gaps?

c. What factors are affecting the various gaps?

3. What does the company need to do to reduce the gaps or maintain the gaps at the current

level? Give advice for management. How can it reduce gaps?

Page 293 / 514 The framework shown in Figure 10.1 is detailed in the next sections. It represents a comprehensive stimulus-organism-response model that recognizes complex dimensions of the environment, impacts on multiple parties (customers, mployees, and their interactions), multiple types of internal responses (cognitive, emotional, and physiological), and a variety of individual and social behaviors that can result. Behavior Physical environment dimensions Holistic environment Internal responses Emotional Mood Attitude Cognitive Beliefs . Categor- ization Symbolic meaning Physiological Pain Comfort Movement . Physical fit Individual Behaviors Affiliation Exploration Stay longer Commitment . Carry out plan Ambient Conditions Temperature Air quality Noise . Music Odor Etc. Employee Responses Perceived Servicescape Space/Function Layout Equipment Furnishings Etc. Social Interactions Between and among customers and employees Customer Responses Signs, Symbols and Artifacts Signage Personal artifacts Style of decor Etc. Individual Behaviors Attraction Stay/explore Spend money Return . Carry out plan Cognitive Beliefs . Categor- ization Symbolic meaning Emotional Mood Attitude Physiological Pain Comfort Movement Physical fit FIGURE 10.1 A Framework for Understanding Physical Environment-User Relationships in Service Organizations