Assessment Description

You are to act as a “mystery shopper" and document the service experience with an organisation (e.g., small business such as hairdresser or massage services) or event (e.g., local festival or cinema). The service experience diary is designed to help you understand customer expectations and why consumers are sometimes satisfied or dissatisfied with the service experience.

You are required to visit or experience a service organisation or event in the last 12 months. For example, going to a cinema, exercise at fitness centre, dine out in the restaurant, getting hair cut at the beauty salon OR receiving a service at University such as using the library.

The report will be easier to do if you select a service that is heavily intangible dominant. Refer to the figure from the lecture slides for intangibility spectrum

The service may be selected from the list in the following table (you must experience the chosen services in the last 12 months)

You are encouraged to attend the workshop on Referencing and Research Practice organised with the Academic Success Team (AST). You may also schedule a one-on-one workshop with the AST by emailing [email protected].

Process, structure and content:

You are required to write Services Audit report, with the following information:

1. Briefly (a couple of sentences) provide some relevant background about you (e.g., demographics, psychographics such as strong interest in health and sport if the service is using a gym or attending a sport event) and any situational influences that may be relevant to this service experience and state why it is relevant.

2. Describe the pre-purchase stage. This may include the process undertaken to find information on the organisation, how the customer (you) planned to get there, your expectations of the visit (what you expected to see, time taken, cost, etc.), and any perceived risks.

3. Describe the actual visit/experience, (the consumption stage). Indicate the day and time of the visit and the weather conditions (if relevant) on the day and the effect on the experience. Indicate the composition of the group (if applicable). Express what happened during the visit and your feelings about the service (express emotions). Refer to 'emotions in service encounters' chapter/information from the text. Include interactions with personnel and the inanimate environment as relevant.

4. Conclude this section by providing a satisfaction rating, and/or a value for money rating and whether the service would be recommended to a close friend or family member and why it would be appropriate for them. It is strongly recommended that you read and refer to the chapter in the required text book relating to customer satisfaction and service quality. It is not sufficient to simply state that the service was liked or disliked. It must have a formal rating scale based on recognised service quality models.

5. Analyse the overall judgement and feelings about the service providing organisation in terms of services theories and concepts. This may be based on theories such as 'expectations', 'satisfaction', and 'service quality' or the services gap theory (gap 1 to gap 4). Wherever possible make reference to the theories, tools and techniques of services marketing to achieve a decent grade. All published materials utilised should be listed in the reference list and cited throughout the body of the report.