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1. We discussed a theory from social psychology that seems similar in some ways to Shostack's idea of "peripheral clues."  How do these "peripheral clues" or "peripheral cues" function in the marketing of services?  Under what conditions should a services marketer maintain a focus on peripheral clues rather than on the core product features?  What is an example that clearly illustrates how a services marketer would successfully use peripheral clues?

2. We talked about logistics customer service and issues of capacity with services in general.  An important issue in these discussions was that of trade-offs.  What are some of the trade-offs that must be considered in services marketing and management? 

3. Your professor argues that the notion of "exceeding customer expectations" does not make any sense in many service situations -- that it is simply not possible to exceed expectations in some situations.  Using a graph as a supporting illustration, explain why it is not possible to exceed expectations in many situations, or how it is possible to cause dis-satisfaction with an erroneous belief that expectations can be exceeded.  Graph and explain how it is indeed possible to exceed expectations in some cases.  Provide supporting examples.

4. How is it that "productivity" in services can be counter to "efficiency" and "effectiveness"? How is it that you could re-define "productivity" so that it is indeed congruent with "efficiency" and "effectiveness"?

5. Vuorinen, Javinen, & Lehtinen note that "quality" is difficult to define objectively.  While your professor has defined quality as "conformance to specifications," these authors argue that this notion can be regarded as inadequate in the case of services.  With regard to services, who is right?  Explain.

6. A problem in the conduct of research is in defining the constructs under study.  Discuss some of the constructs of services marketing research that are difficult to define from a measurement perspective.

7. In discussing capacity issues, Kimes & Chase discuss a matrix as a way to think about strategies for controlling price and duration in services.  Is this matrix of value in considering the sorts of issues that are faced by our class client?  Fully explain why you believe that this matrix is or is not a useful tool in this particular situation.

8. The Lovelock text defines yield as "the average revenue received per unit of capacity."  If we accept this definition, what are some generalizable tactics that can be used to manage (or increase) yield in a services setting?

9. In criticizing the assertions made in the Owen & Szul reading, one class member reminded us that a particular problem with services is that they are difficult to measure.  What are some of the characteristics of services that makes it difficult for us to set specifications for service production and to set standards for quality measurement?  Is it possible to overcome these difficulties such that we could provide warranty contracts with service offerings that would not be easily challenged by "jaycustomers" -- is it possible to create " bulletproof" service guarantees?