South Asian Journal of Management

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Value Marketing Strategy for After Sales Service of Select White Goods Using the Value Gap Model: An Assessment of Consumers in Delhi and Mumbai, India


Affiliations
1 IES Management College And Research Centre, Bandra Reclamation, Mumbai 400050, India
2 K J Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research, Vidyanagri, Vidyavihar, Mumbai 400077, India
     

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In today’s rapidly changing market place, impact of excellent after sales service has never been more important earlier years than now. Customers consider after sales service as a collective organizational responsibility rather than merely a functional activity. After sales service is a key differentiator as it generates profit and also can impact the product service mix. In today’s services’ dominated economies, organizations are moving from a product based to a customer based focus towards a solution provider Among four objectives set for study of after sales service, one of the purpose was to study perception of 690 consumers at Mumbai and Delhi, their experience of and expectations from the after sales service for select white goods like refrigerators, washing machines and microwave ovens, and to model and measure gap between consumer expectations and experience of after sales service and draw suitable inferences. For refrigerator after sales services there is an impending need to improve on availability of spare parts and competence of technicians. However for washing machines there is an impending need to improve on call centre services only. On the contrary, microwave oven users feel more than satisfied as they are between just met and exceeding expectation. Value marketing strategy is developed for each of the white goods, based on these and other inferences. It is required that the product must work as claimed by the manufacturer followed by good service and delivering on time. Value approach to marketing is nothing but creating, communicating, and delivering value to customer who sets the expectations.

Keywords

After-Sales-Service, Customer Expectation, Strategy Gap, Time-Based Strategy, Value Marketing.
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  • Value Marketing Strategy for After Sales Service of Select White Goods Using the Value Gap Model: An Assessment of Consumers in Delhi and Mumbai, India

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Authors

Mohan B. Rao
IES Management College And Research Centre, Bandra Reclamation, Mumbai 400050, India
S. N. V. Sivakumar
K J Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research, Vidyanagri, Vidyavihar, Mumbai 400077, India

Abstract


In today’s rapidly changing market place, impact of excellent after sales service has never been more important earlier years than now. Customers consider after sales service as a collective organizational responsibility rather than merely a functional activity. After sales service is a key differentiator as it generates profit and also can impact the product service mix. In today’s services’ dominated economies, organizations are moving from a product based to a customer based focus towards a solution provider Among four objectives set for study of after sales service, one of the purpose was to study perception of 690 consumers at Mumbai and Delhi, their experience of and expectations from the after sales service for select white goods like refrigerators, washing machines and microwave ovens, and to model and measure gap between consumer expectations and experience of after sales service and draw suitable inferences. For refrigerator after sales services there is an impending need to improve on availability of spare parts and competence of technicians. However for washing machines there is an impending need to improve on call centre services only. On the contrary, microwave oven users feel more than satisfied as they are between just met and exceeding expectation. Value marketing strategy is developed for each of the white goods, based on these and other inferences. It is required that the product must work as claimed by the manufacturer followed by good service and delivering on time. Value approach to marketing is nothing but creating, communicating, and delivering value to customer who sets the expectations.

Keywords


After-Sales-Service, Customer Expectation, Strategy Gap, Time-Based Strategy, Value Marketing.

References