Experienced Service Experience in Airline Industry

Running Head: Service Marketing
Service Marketing

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Description of the Service Experienced
Service encounter is a very useful when it comes to evaluating the
service of any company. This factor becomes more strategical in Airline
industry because the time spent by the consumer in his entire journey is
significantly a lot in comparison to other industries (Saleem, Zahra &
Yaseen, 2017). I was travelling a few months back from New Delhi
(India) to Sydney by Qantas airline, and it was one of the most satisfying
experiences for me and my family members. I was travelling with my
mother who is suffering from acute cervical cancer, and we were going
for better treatment facility which was available in Sydney.
I booked the flight through the application of the Airline Company, which
was very easy to navigate, offered me 10% discount and in less than 3
minutes I was done with the booking confirmation. This was my first
service encounter with the company, and it was extremely pleasant
because of the time factor. Second when I reached the Airport, I was
running a little behind my flight timing, the team from Qantas called me
and asked about my whereabouts. The customer support team was warm,
courteous and extremely humble, they understood that I am travelling
with the patient and cooperated with me and ensured that they would not
fly, I was running just 5 minutes late, however I made in time. But, the
assurance the customer support offered me was beyond overwhelming
and I thanked them deeply for being so empathetic. They offered my
mother a wheelchair and gave a personal assistance to take her to the
flight; it further gave me a feeling of immense satisfaction. On our way to
the flight as well, they offered complementary juice to my mother and me
to beat the heat strokes of Delhi, it further boasted my confidence in the
extremely high service quality of Qantas Airline.
On reaching the flight, we were received in a warm manner and
comfortably taken to our seats. Throughout the journey, the Cabin Crew
was polite, helpful and helped my mother in the washroom. Without even

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asking we were provided an extra set of blanket and pillows to comfort
my mother. I was more than just relaxed and happy to see that in the
present day when companies are running blindly money, Qantas Airline is
one such company which ensures that it runs to ensure high customer
satisfaction, rest other things would fall in place.
Discussion of Relevant Service Marketing Theories
Every service provides wants to know in depth what the customer cares
about, and what service element clicks to him to ensure customer
satisfaction. Companies have become extremely cogent in defining their
service elements to ensure customer delight for their service experience
(Galeeva, 2016). One such model which is very helpful in defining and
evaluating the services of any company, in this case of the Qantas Airline
is RATER model. RATER model is a comprehensive tool of evaluating and
classifying the service of any company according to the five parameters
(Gandhi, Sachdeva & Gupta, 2018).
 Reliability
 Assurance
 Tangibles
 Empathy
 Responsiveness

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(Source: Luke & Heyns, 2017)
The model is a great framework which focuses on the difference between
the customer experiences and customer expectations.
Service Parameter Implied Meaning
R-Reliability This is concerned with the ability of
the company to provide and deliver
the agreed upon services
consistently and on time (Goyal &
Chanda, 2017).
A-Assurance This is related to how convincingly
customer communicates his
knowledge to the customers, and
how the customer trust, feel and
respond to the assurance given by
the employees(Oh & Kim, 2017)
T-Tangibles This is related to the appearance of
the physical facilities, equipment,
personal, website and other
communication material (Gera,
Mittal, Prasad & Batra, 2017).
E-Empathy It is related to the deeper
understanding of the customer’s
concern by putting themselves in
the shoes of the customers(Orel &
Kara, 2014)
R-Responsiveness This is how quick the organization
is to respond to the query of the
customer and give him the solution