1.

Identify examples of customers using search, experience, credence quality to evaluate

the good or service.

ANS. As a brick-and-mortar business in a widely known online landscape, I think that

running a bookstore business is both challenging and remarkable. Avid customers like me

find that these bookstores are not archaic just yet, as many assume. The day-to-day

operations in a bookstore do not exactly look like other retailers but, while it has its own

difficulties, the customer side of it is not its biggest problem. Bookstores still manage to

maintain a considerable customer base as regards the way customers evaluate the books

they buy and the service the bookstore offers inside.

An example of a search good in a bookstore is buying an encyclopedia or a dictionary.

When customers come into the store, they already know what to expect of the product as

they can most likely identify what should the book contain. While books are not generally

commodities, they can fall within such a category for students who are looking for a

specific book in their mind. When the customer finds the book in a specific section of the

bookstore so that he/she would not be hassled, the bookstore is able to provide a better

experience attached to buying the basic product itself.

Experience goods are fiction books, for example. These are books that customers will not

be able to assess until they have read the actual book in its entirety. The bookstore may

put a sign inside the bookstore of a list of books that are highly recommended by a

renowned publisher or author.

 Credence quality goods include a reading with an author of a new book featured in the

bookstore and seeking professional advice from them for a fee. When customers

experience this, they do not exactly know its value as there is no benchmark but these

services inside the bookstore may contribute to customer satisfaction in accordance with

their expectations met and encounter with the author.

Reference:

Bussel, R. K. (n.d.). How To Open An Independent Bookstore. Forbes. Retrieved October

13, 2023, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelkramerbussel/2018/12/30/how-to-

open-an-independent-bookstore/?sh=43c46afa37f3

2. Describe a situation where self-service and technology help create and deliver the

customer benefit package. Provide examples of how such a system can cause a defect, a

mistake, or service upset.

ANS. In many fast-food chains nowadays, self-service and technology are being used. On

several occasions, they have improved the service. Fast foods are infamously known for

long queues. The service time would be significantly shortened by the self-service

ordering kiosk because customers would no longer have to line up to order and pay. The

self-order feature serves as a restructuring of the entire process it used to take, thus,

making it more cost effective in terms of time and money on both ends.
However, this same technology can also be very detrimental to customers when the

technology does not actually translate to better and faster service. One such example is

when customers change orders or are confused with the menu on the screen. What

happens sometimes is that they ordered an item they did not intend to. This will

ultimately lead to mistakes in the preparation of the food and a waste of time for both the

employees and the customers. In fine, customers will then be upset about the whole

service despite their possible contribution to the ordeal. At the end of the day, these

customers still expect the business to provide them their meal as quickly as possible

regardless of factors they may have contributed to the delay.

Reference:

Motaz Zaitouni & Kevin S. Murphy (2023) Self-Service Technologies (SST) in the U.S.

Restaurant industry: An evaluation of consumer perceived value, satisfaction, and

continuance intentions, Journal of Foodservice Business Research