Sy guy I cant find subject to put this, so I put under Econ subject: Marketing q

Question

Sy guy I cant find subject to put this, so I put under Econ

subject: Marketing question

Passage:- Question 4

Providing service-fuelled flights

With an expanding network of destinations, a menu of services to suit different budgets and high-quality frontline service, budget airlines appear to be closing the gap with their full-service counterparts.

The latest Customer Satisfaction Index of Singapore(CSISG) survey showed that gains in the budget airlines sub-sector increased by 4.88 % points year-on-year. A notable outcome of the budget airlines’ stronger CSISG performance is improved customer loyalty.

Perhaps the biggest reason for the gains is the fact that budget airlines have vastly expanded their network in recent years. As such, travellers today have a wider choice when travelling on business or leisure. For example, Jetstar Asia promises greater access by offering 18 weekly services to popular holiday destinations in Cambodia, Indonesia and China.

Another major draw is the a La carte style of service provided by budget airlines, which allows passengers to choose only products and services they need. Depending on their budgets, customers can choose anything from a bare-bones option to value-added options such as pre-booked meals or more legroom.

These no-frills players have also been innovating. Tiger Airways recently launched an app to help its customers book flights. It also recently implemented “combo-flights” that allow for the simultaneous reservation of two separate, connecting flights. Similarly, Air-Asia has a FLY-THRU programme which offers passengers hassle –free and seamless connection of flight to over 85 destinations

Questions:

Using any of the budget airlines mentioned in the case examples, explain the concept of customer satisfaction by examining customer perceived performance and customer expectations,.

Variability and perishability are two of the distinctive characteristics of services that can greatly affect a company’s marketing and programmes.
i) Analyse the potential impact of variability and perishability on flight services offered by Tiger Airways.

ii) For each of the service characteristics mentioned in (i) discuss 2 possible strategies that Tiger Airways can undertake to better control and manage them.

Explanation / Answer

1. Customer of a budget airline is price sensitive. Most of them want a service that is cheaper and not much expensive than alternative modes of transport. He /she wants convenience, punctuality,seamless connections to the destination of his / her choice, reasonably good flight experience like good legroom, attentive and polite crew, fresh and hygienically prepared and served food, hassle free check in and check out, good equipmnt conditions and effective communication from the airlines at all times, before, during and after the flight.

A customer expects the airline to conform to all above counts as a norm. Customer is said to be satisfied if the expectations mentioned above are met, or almost met with one or two minor exceptions. The degree of expectations met decide the customer satisfaction index for an airline.

Variability or inconsistency in the levels of service are the aberrations that happen due to many factors. Human factors, technical snags, adverse operating conditions due to weather and other factors are some conditions that lead to delays and inconvenience to the passengers. These factors are sometimes unavoidable, but the impact of which can be minimized by proactive approach.

Perishability of services is the non usability of service after certain time. For airlines, it is mostly the tickets that go unsold after departure of flights, resulting in loss for that amount to the airline. Other conditions are the delays and cancellations that cause penalties, refunds and sometimes provision of hotel accomodation to the guests.

For minimizing variabilities on factors beyond control, timely information and making the arrangements to make the guests comfortable is the only option, while variability due to other causes can be minimized by equipment maintenance, human training, effective schedulng of resources and adherance to the norms.

For minimizing perishability, effective booking policy can be a solution, taking help of advance technology for optimization. For preventing the delays and missed connections, efficiency and readiness of alternative options are the solutions.

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