Three Stage Model free essay sample

The three-stage model of service consumption is a customer decision making process of the service purchasing. There are three stages of the purchase process for service which are as follows: pre-purchase stage, service encounter stage and post-encounter stage. Pre-purchase stage is a stage before making decision. At this stage, consumers seek solutions to aroused needs. For instance, student needs to purchase a textbook in order to complete his assignments during semester. Then he tries to search information from different sources: external (friends, family, advertisements) and internal (memory, past experience), and evaluate which online bookstore (Amazon. com, Barnes amp; Noble, Borders, Biblio. com, etc) can deliver the best solution for him in order to come with the right decision. In this process, marketers should identify customers’ needs, clearly understand customers service expectations and what benefits they are looking for, in order to deliver what they need. The next stage is a service encounter stage. We will write a custom essay sample on Three Stage Model or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page At this stage, customer uses the service. In our case, when student buying a book from chosen online bookstore, for instance, Amazon. com. Service encounters range from high contact to low contact. Online textbook purchase is a low-contact service, customers are not in contact with any services while the service is performed as well as no physical contact with service personnel. Customers usually contact the company through e-mail or website. The last stage is a post-encounter stage. In other words it is a post purchase evaluation stage- a stage after consumers use the service. If customer expectations equal or exceed service performance, it means customer is satisfied with the service. If expectation is lower service performance than, it means the customer is not satisfied with service which gives negative effect to the company in the future. For example, if student receives ordered textbook in a good condition, on time or even earlier than he will be satisfied and definitely will buy from this online store again what creates loyalty to the service provider. If student is not satisfied he will never use this service again. 2. What types of risks might be inherent in making an online textbook purchase? You may face several risks when purchasing a textbook online. For instance, many online retailers may sell textbooks at significantly lower prices compared with a local bookstore. Even with shipping, youll often get a better deal on books online than you would in your local bookstore. You may be able to find a website that offers free shipping but it will take maybe two weeks before you receive your books. But if you wait until the last minute to shop for your textbooks online, you will not be able to take advantage of the free shipping and you will pay very costly shipping fees to get them in time. These fees will take away from the savings you will receive by shopping online and you may even find that you would be better off buying the book from your educational institutions bookstore. Also some online bookstores sell used books at very good prices. But when you are buying a used book that book might not be in the best condition. There could be missing pages as well as notes and highlighting that others wrote in a book before you, that would distract you and would be critical for studying. There is no way to check the condition of a book from an online retailer until it arrives at your door. Next risk is getting a wrong book. You realize that only when the package is opened. It’s not a big deal to return a textbook if you received the incorrect one, but it will take a little longer into the semester before you have the needed materials and you might be forced to go to the bookstore and it will cost you. In order to try to avoid this situation you should ask teacher for the books ISBN number to ensure youll find the right copy. Finally, you may not receive your book at all. In order to remedy this situation check the website you ordered from to decide what steps you should ake which are different with each site. What type of risk reduction strategy would you suggest an online book shop employ to reduce customer risks perception? I would suggest an online bookstore to give customers online access about order status, so they could track orders on the web. Stores can  provide  consumers with a Login ID thus they can go online and view a screen listing all their orders. In addition, when the shipment is delivered, customers will be able to review and print a copy of the invoice. Also email notifications will help them to track status changes. In order to handle customer questions online bookshop might have real-time chat features, but most rely on email or phone calls. Moreover, I would suggest online stores to provide free trial  for the e-textbooks. People can try their product free and without obligation for 5 days,7 days, or more.