SERVICES MARKETING : CHAPTER – 2
Consumer Behaviour in Services Marketing
INTRODUCTION :
In this chapter we’ll study Consumer Behaviour (CB). This is defined as the actions & beliefs that guide a person to purchase a particular product or service. The emphasis on services by companies across the worlds has lead to a growth in the expectations of customers today. The customer seeks customised services at his doorstep & is himself involved in defining the kind of service he expects. The purchase decisions of customers are not made in isolation, but rather they are influenced by environmental factors such as culture, social class, family & other institutional factors. The study of CB requires inputs from various disciplines, such as sociology, psychology & economy. CB deals with the study of the factors that influence a customer in purchasing a product, service and the process that he goes thro’, to evaluate the product/service prior to & even after its purchase & use.

Difference between Characteristics of Goods & Services :
There are three basic attributes on the basis of which the differentiation of evaluation of goods & services take place. They are Search, Experience & Credence (SEC). As explained below : 1. Search qualities : This is a characteristic that can estimated before the purchase or consumption of a product. This is the quality on the basis of which some goods/services can be searched. Goods have a higher degree of this search qualities as compared to services. a. For goods it can be all physical attributes like, price, colour, design, looks, style, shape, size, etc. So they are easy to search. b. For services this can be price, convenience, presentation, promptness of service, courtesy, mannerism, ambience, etc. Here these are not easy to search, so other factors like tangibility are used for help in searching. 2. Experience qualities : This