Overview
In the current service-driven economy, organisations are increasingly utilising market insights and intelligence to improve service quality. Innovative service strategies are also being developed to enhance customer acquisition and retention. This unit will enable you to examine service products, service consumption, and service positioning. In this unit you will analyse various theories based on the 7Ps of services marketing which provide foundation for practical applications in different service contexts. You will also examine the challenges and opportunities in services marketing, including managing customer relationships.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Prerequisites: MRKT11029 or MRKT11028
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 2 - 2024
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback – Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Unit evaluation
Some students would like to see some refreshed and/or updated unit content, using more recent research/knowledge.
Unit Moodle site to be refreshed/updated to include newer services marketing case studies, YouTube videos, and journal articles.
Feedback from Unit evaluation
Some students were looking for greater clarity regarding unit requirements and assessment feedback.
Unit requirements and unit expectations, including assessment tasks, to be explicitly outlined in the UC welcome message at the beginning of term, and this information to also be reflected in the unit profile and on the Moodle site. All assessment submissions to receive clear and constructive assessment feedback from markers, with a marking rubric supplied to justify.
Feedback from Student feedback
Some students were receptive to the provision of clear and detailed assessment guidelines, marking rubrics, and mark sheets.
Provide students with additional assessment support for all three assessments in the form of clear, detailed assessment guidelines, marking rubrics, and mark sheets available through the unit Moodle site.
Feedback from Student feedback
Some students liked communicating with the unit coordinator through scheduled weekly Zoom workshops that address weekly learning activities and to spend time discussing assessments.
Offer at least one weekly timetabled Zoom workshop to address the weekly leaning activities and to discuss assessments. All Zoom sessions will be recorded and uploaded within 24 hours to the unit Moodle site for the benefit of students who cannot participate.
- Examine the critical differences between goods and service products, as well as the nature of service consumption and service positioning
- Analyse the marketing of service products using a range of tools and techniques including the 7Ps
- Identify the major elements that improve the marketing of service products
- Examine the roles of relationship marketing and customer service in adding perceived value to service products
- Critically evaluate the roles of service quality and service recovery in gaining and retaining customers.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Online Quiz(zes) - 10% | |||||
| 2 - Portfolio - 40% | |||||
| 3 - Written Assessment - 50% | |||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Communication | |||||
| 2 - Problem Solving | |||||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | |||||
| 4 - Information Literacy | |||||
| 5 - Team Work | |||||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | |||||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | |||||
| 8 - Ethical practice | |||||
| 9 - Social Innovation | |||||
| 10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | |||||
Textbooks
Essentials of Services Marketing
Edition: 4th (2022)
Authors: Jochen Wirtz
Pearson Education Limited
Harlow Harlow , Essex , United Kingdom
ISBN: 9781292425191
The prescribed textbook is also available in e-Book format.
The prescribed textbook is also available in e-Book format.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
- Microsoft Word
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 7th Edition (APA 7th edition)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
w.lawson1@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Introduction to Services Marketing & Understanding Service Customers
Chapter
Chapters 1 & 2
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Positioning Services in Competitive Markets
Chapter
Chapter 3
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Developing Service Products and Brands
Chapter
Chapter 4
Events and Submissions/Topic
Online Quiz Opens: Week 3 Monday (22 July 2024) 9:00 am AEST
Module/Topic
Promoting Services and Educating Customers
Chapter
Chapter 7
Events and Submissions/Topic
Online Quiz Closes: Week 4 Monday (29 July 2024) 9:00 am AEST
Module/Topic
Setting Prices and Implementing Revenue Management
Chapter
Chapter 6
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Distributing Services through Physical and Electronic Channels
Chapter
Chapter 5
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Designing Service Processes
Chapter
Chapter 8
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Balancing Demand and Capacity
Chapter
Chapter 9
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Crafting the Service Environment
Chapter
Chapter 10
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Managing People for Service Advantage
Chapter
Chapter 11
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Managing Relationships and Building Loyalty & Complaint Handling and Service Recovery
Chapter
Chapters 12 & 13
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Improving Service Quality and Productivity & Building a World-class Service Organisation
Chapter
Chapters 14 & 15
Events and Submissions/Topic
Contact information.
For on-campus students, your campus workshop leader/tutor is the first point of contact regrading initial inquiries about this unit, unit contents, and each of the assessments.
For distance education students (DST), students are to contact the unit coordinator (see my details below), either by email or telephone, about this unit, unit contents, and each of the assessments.
Email: w.lawson1@cqu.edu.au
Telephone: +61 (03) 9616 0518
I am based on the Melbourne Campus and can be found during term in the Business and Law staff room on level 4, 120 Spencer Street.
1 Online Quiz(zes)
Assessment task 1 consists of one (1) online quiz, with twenty (20) questions. The online quiz ensures that students engage with the conceptual material taught in weeks 1 to 3. Specifically, the following chapters of the prescribed textbook are covered: 1, 2, 3, and 4. The online quiz is timed for a maximum of 40 minutes. See table below for quiz opening/closing days and times.
Your task is to complete the online quiz.
Instructions and advice
- This is an individual assessment (no groups).
- The quiz is attempted online through the unit Moodle site.
- The quiz can be accessed from inside the Assessment tile on the unit Moodle site.
- The quiz will be open only for a 7-day period.
- Refer to the table below for the quiz opening and closing time.
- The quiz will address content from relevant chapters of the prescribed textbook.
- The quiz is worth a maximum 10% towards your overall grade.
- The quiz consists of 20 questions and is a maximum 40 minutes in duration.
- Answer format will be a combination of multiple choice and true or false.
- There are no negative marks for incorrect answers.
- All quiz questions are randomly assigned from a test bank.
- This is an open book quiz, so you can have your textbook with you when doing the quiz.
- The quiz can only be attempted ONCE, so do not open the quiz until you are ready to complete the entire quiz.
- Responsibility for access, Internet Service Provider, browsers, Internet connection and the computer you use remains with the student.
- Refer system access problems (e.g., Moodle login or password issues) to the Technology and Services Assistance Centre (tasac@cqu.edu.au) as soon as possible.
- Any issues during the quiz (e.g., screen has frozen) email the unit coordinator as soon as possible, identifying the unit, your full name, student number, campus, and approximate time the issue occurred.
- Students are encouraged to provide their own timer and not rely on the computer.
| Quiz covers topics from weeks 1 to 3 |
Quiz Opening Day/Time | Quiz Closing Day/Time |
| Chapters 1, 2, 3, and 4 | Week 3 Monday (22 July 2024) 9:00 am AEST | Week 4 Monday (29 July 2024) 9:00 am AEST |
1
(see quiz opening and closing times in 'Task Description')
Marks are shown on completion of the quiz
- Each question is worth half a mark (0.5 mark).
- Twenty questions x 0.5 mark x 1 quiz.
- Total: 10 marks.
- Examine the critical differences between goods and service products, as well as the nature of service consumption and service positioning
- Analyse the marketing of service products using a range of tools and techniques including the 7Ps
- Identify the major elements that improve the marketing of service products
2 Portfolio
The Assessment 2 task requires you to select one (1) Australian-based service provider for the purpose of analysing and critiquing their recent use of social media (e.g., YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, X/Twitter) regarding good or bad customer service outcomes. Specifically, you need to identify two instances of good social media customer service outcomes or two instances of bad social media customer service outcomes in 2024, and then provide one recommendation for enhancement. It is imperative that your discussion is supported by a minimum of five (5) scholarly academic articles. This portfolio article analysis should be 1500 words maximum excluding the title page and reference list.
The following criteria need to be addressed:
- Briefly provide an outline of your chosen Australian-based service provider and the social media they are utilising for customer service.
- Identify and discuss, with support from scholarly academic articles, 2024 examples of two good social media or two bad social media customer service outcomes. Evidence (e.g., screenshots from their social media) must be included in your written document.
- Provide one recommendation for the Australian-based service provider as to how they can enhance their use of social media as a tool for customer service.
Instructions
- This is an individual assessment (no groups).
- Submit your portfolio article analysis through the Assessment tile on the unit Moodle site.
- A single Word document (no PDF), including a title page, that addresses each of the 3 criteria listed above plus a reference list, using APA referencing style.
- Use in-text at least five (5) scholarly academic articles.
- Use size 12 font with double-line spacing in this Word document.
Week 6 Friday (23 Aug 2024) 11:45 pm AEST
Week 8 Friday (6 Sept 2024)
The return date will apply to submissions made before or on the due date.
- Brief outline of Australian-based service provider and their social media use for customer service (6 marks).
- Identify and discuss two good or bad recent social media service outcomes (14 marks).
- Inclusion of social media evidence of good or bad service outcomes (6 marks).
- One recommendation to further enhance use of social media as a tool for customer service (8 marks).
- Writing style and referencing (6 marks).
- Total: 40 marks.
- Examine the critical differences between goods and service products, as well as the nature of service consumption and service positioning
- Analyse the marketing of service products using a range of tools and techniques including the 7Ps
- Identify the major elements that improve the marketing of service products
- Examine the roles of relationship marketing and customer service in adding perceived value to service products
- Critically evaluate the roles of service quality and service recovery in gaining and retaining customers.
3 Written Assessment
The Assessment 3 task requires you to select one (1) Australian-based service provider that you have personally dealt with, as a customer, within the past twelve months. Specifically, you will write a report for the owners/senior management giving feedback on the service standard provided to you utilising any two of the three extended marketing mix for services (i.e., process, physical environment, and people). In addition, two recommendations will need to be included. Your first recommendation will focus on improving one of the two extended marketing mix for services covered in your report based on your own service experience, and your second recommendation will be a self-reflection on how service recovery could be initiated and executed by this service provider. It is imperative that your discussion is supported by a minimum of ten (10) scholarly sources of information. This report should be 2500 words maximum excluding the title page and reference list.
The following criteria need to be addressed:
- Select one Australian-based service provider you have personally dealt with, as a customer, within the past twelve months. Evidence must be included in your report that supports this (e.g., copies of receipts, invoices, photographs, narrated diary entries, online reviews etc.).
- Write a report for the owners/senior management providing a brief outline of your chosen Australian-based service provider and critically examine, utilising scholarly sources of information, how well the service provider uses your chosen two of the three extended marketing mix for services (i.e., process, physical environment, and people).
- Make one recommendation for the service provider on one of the two extended marketing mix for services, as covered in your report, focusing on how it can be improved based on your own service experience.
- Make one recommendation, based on self-reflection about the most possible service failure that could occur to the service provider, proposing a creative service recovery strategy to address the failure.
Instructions
- This is an individual assessment (no groups).
- Submit your written report through the Assessment tile on the unit Moodle site.
- A single Word document (no PDF), including a title page, that addresses each of the 4 criteria listed above plus a reference list, using APA referencing style.
- Use in-text at least ten (10) scholarly sources of information.
- Use size 12 font with double-line spacing in this Word document.
Week 12 Friday (4 Oct 2024) 11:45 pm AEST
Marked assessments will be returned following certification of grades (Friday, 1 November 2024).
- Brief outline of Australian-based service provider (5 marks).
- Service performance analysis for two of the three extended marketing mix for services (15 marks).
- Inclusion of evidence showing personal dealings with the service provider (5 marks).
- One recommendation to improve one of the two extended marketing mix for services (10 marks).
- One service recovery strategy recommendation based on self-reflection (10 marks).
- Report format, writing style, and referencing (5 marks).
- Total: 50 marks.
- Examine the critical differences between goods and service products, as well as the nature of service consumption and service positioning
- Analyse the marketing of service products using a range of tools and techniques including the 7Ps
- Identify the major elements that improve the marketing of service products
- Examine the roles of relationship marketing and customer service in adding perceived value to service products
- Critically evaluate the roles of service quality and service recovery in gaining and retaining customers.
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
