Analysis of Services Provided by Virgin Atlantic

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1.0 Introduction

It has been argued that there is no universally recognised definition for services. However, Philip Kotler (1997) has defined services as ‘any activity that does not result in the ownership of anything’. There are generally two types of distinguished services, tangible and intangible. Tangible services are services that customers can touch and feel whereas intangible services cannot be perceived by senses. The service sector across the globe has had a revolutionary change and businesses such as Virgin Atlantic have been using the latest technology; mainly the internet; as a base for expansion but also to offer a larger customer base its services. Certain services such as those provided by Virgin Atlantic are an example of service consumption at business-to-consumer level (B2C).

For the purpose of this assignment, the services provided by Virgin Atlantic will be the point of focus. Service marketing focuses on four distinctive characteristics; intangibility, inseparability, variability and perishability; of services and how they affect both consumer behaviour and the marketing strategy employed by the organisation. The four characteristics of services of the airline are key to understanding how their customers interact with their staff and the service they provide. It is crucial to consider these four characteristics as it helps to distinguish and predict current and future customer behaviour.

Furthermore, to ensure the continuing success of Virgin Atlantic, it is also essential to discuss the expanded marketing mix also known as the service marketing mix. The additional variables of the traditional marketing mix,; people, process and physical evidence; have been added due to service providers in today’s ma...

... middle of paper ...

...f services. Available at:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/21328368/Characteristics-of-Services

Slideshare (2010) Characteristics of service marketing. Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/iipmff2/characteristics-of-a-service-marketing

Boundless (2014) Services marketing: intangibility. Available at: https://www.boundless.com/marketing/services-marketing/services-versus-products/intangibility/

Boundless (2014) Services marketing: perishability. Available at:

https://www.boundless.com/marketing/services-marketing/services-versus-products/perishability/

Virgin Atlantic (2014) Customer service training. Available at:

http://www.virginatlantic.com/en/gb/allaboutus/training/customerservicetraining.jsp

Cite Management Article Repository of Cite.Co (2006) Characteristics of services. Available at:

http://www.citeman.com/274-characteristics-of-services.html

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