The Central Bank of Australia (CBA) - Essay Example

How would you categorize this service according to the types of services described in Chapter 1?

I would categorize the service provided by the Central Bank of Australia (CBA) as Intangible actions directed at people’s minds. In its aim to gain a competitive edge over the three other major banks in Australia, CBA created the “CAN” slogan. The slogan acted as a motivation to the Australian CBA bank users, to reach their potential, achieve their goals, and to press forward in life. They also provided their customers with EFTPOS sales, which offered instant transactions and the Commbank Property Guide, which helped customers make better decisions regarding the buying and selling of property. These services fall within this category because they are mental stimuli (Lovelock et al., 2015).

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Do you consider this website a ‘product’ or ‘service’? Why?

I consider this website service because of the characteristics associated with it. The website provides information to its customers, a service that is intangible, and which its consumers cannot claim ownership of, but provide value, which in this case, is enhanced educational information, which can further translate to higher grades in school. The books available on this website are accessed through nonphysical channels, which is the internet. The consumers of the books on this website access the books anywhere regardless of their physical location. The books on this website are intangible, and access to them requires customer cooperation, and the books can be accessed immediately one log into the website.

What is the ‘core product/service’ of this website? Who is its target market?

The core service of this website is educational information. This service comes in the form of books that can be rented or bought online as eBooks. The customer only has to log in to the website to have access to the books, and therefore to the books contained within them. The services provided are independent of distance since the eBooks can easily be downloaded into one's computer ones bought. The target market for the website is students, educational providers, and anyone interested in learning in detail about particular topics or subjects.

If you consider it as a ‘service,’ how could you manage the process in order to meet renters’ expectations?

If I consider it as a service, I will manage the process of renting books to meet the renters’ expectations by easing the process. I would do this by allowing the loading of the books to the next page independent of the internet availability because, under low internet, some of the pages do not load as required. I would retain most of the features on the website as they are. Features such as read-aloud, notes and highlights, download feature and, flashcards and review mode are already very efficient in meeting the renter’s expectations.

Discuss the ‘business model’ of this website. Do you think it is profitable? Why?

Vital Source website embraces the subscription business model where the customers have to pay a certain amount per month, after which they can access any content within the website. I think this subscription model is profitable because it meets the satisfaction of students of all kinds, varying from those who specialize in single or varied disciplines. Students, therefore, will feel they receive value for their money. Vital source allows the subscriber to build a collection of books; with the help of recommendations and trending books, their subscribers can access more books that would be interesting to them. This model must be successful because users have control over the content they access, and therefore the pricing.

Chapter 2 Mini-Case: Personal trainers – a growth opportunity:

What might be important behavioral considerations for John to take into account in thinking about this opportunity?

One of the essential behavioral considerations for John to take into account when thinking about this opportunity is the culture of potential clients (Lovelock et al., 2015). John should be able to understand the different dimensions of cultural values such as individualism/collectivism, power distance, masculinity/femininity, and uncertainty avoidance and how his potential clients respond to them. This information will help John understand how to better serve his clients to their satisfaction without invading in their personal spaces while providing them with maximum training services.

If John goes ahead, what might be typical risk factors of concern for his clients, and what would you recommend by way of dealing with them effectively?

The typical risk factor of concern for John’s clients would be temporal and financial aspects. His clients are likely to worry whether they’ll get the personal training services they’ll have paid for within the period they’ll visit the gym or whether they’ll waste their time there waiting for the gym trainer to attend to others first. John is likely to deal with kind of risk by working closely with his clients to create a schedule that would be convenient for them while allowing him to attend maximally to all his clients. He can manage financial risks by equipping his gym with all the necessary equipment for a fitness workout.

What other behavioral considerations are likely to be important in providing this service, and why?

Another behavioral consideration that is likely to be important in providing this service is customer engagement. According to Javornic and Mandelli (2012), customer engagement creates loyalty by making them take an active role in the consumption of the goods or services offered by the business. John can engage his clients to increase their loyalty and, therefore, the frequency with which they attend the personal training exercises, by sending personalized message reminders of the training sessions. He can also provide them with branded Tshirts as gifts. This behavioral consideration is vital because it increases consumer satisfaction, who, in turn, stays loyal to his business and can as well refer new members to John.

References

Javornik, A., & Mandelli, A. (2012). Behavioral perspectives of customer engagement: An exploratory study of customer engagement with three Swiss FMCG brands. Journal of Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management, 19(4), 300-310.

Lovelock, C., Wirtz, J. & Patterson, P. (2015). Services Marketing: An Asia-Pacific and Australian Perspective (6th ed.). Pearson Australia Group.