Introduction
The plan for the day was to have an outing within town. However, we wanted to complement the outing with some snacks. We settled on having vanilla, the ice cream we realized was only offered at Domino Pizza. As a matter of fact, Domino Pizza is one of the restaurants in town that offer variety of fast food products and a mixture of services. We settled on Domino Pizza due to the exemplary services delivery, affordability, and the quality of services being offered.
The pre-purchase stage
According to services consumption, the pre-procurement phase in the restaurant services consumption starts from touching the requirements of the clientele, which continue through the examination of info, as well as assessing the available options to the final decision concerning the procurement of specific services (Marsden & Littler, 1998). The final decision to buy the service will depend on the level of the need of the consumer to buy that service (Hunt, 2004).
The need awareness
We wanted something that was more of a snack and suitable for the outdoor outing. Moreover, we wanted a snack that is fashionable and affordable according to our pre-planned outing within the town center. When we were setting out, we had not decided yet on which restaurant we will visit or what kind of snack we will buy.
However, we knew that at some point we would need some snacks. Our need for a snack was not only aroused by the physical well-being, but also in the manner by which Domino Pizza has been advertizing its ice creams on the television (Shashikala & Suresh, 2013).
The advert claims that it is stylish and fashionable only when an outing was complemented with the ice creams. Nevertheless, our need for the ice cream was motivated by combined factors. According to McColl-Kennedy and Fetter (1999), the consumer needs can be aroused by the physical well-being or condition of the individual, aspirations, as well as external sources.
However, we could shift our wants depending on the situation on the ground and the type of services the ice cream dealers will provide. Gabbott and Hogg (2005) argue that fast food dealers’ knowledge of shifting the attitude of the consumer offers an opportunity to understand and meet the changing needs of the consumer.
Information search
Once we already agreed on the ice cream, we embarked on the search for the type of ice creams available and the restaurants that offered such types of the ice creams. The information search we embarked on was in line with Kim et al. (2010) assertions that once the customer has identified the need, he will be driven to search for information and evaluate the alternatives before the final decision could be made. In addition, the recognition that we wanted an ice cream motivated our search for the resolution.
The process of looking for the best restaurant that offers the best ice cream is what constituted our information search (Marsden & Littler, 2008). We were not only looking for the best restaurant but also restaurants that were affordable and offered quality services.
Exploring solutions
The fact that we wanted affordable ice creams that were of high quality prompted us to look for a restaurant that offered vanilla. Thus, the recognition of this need motivated us to look for the best solutions. According to Alba and Hutchinson (2008), the solution should suit our need.
We were looking for a restaurant that not only serve Vanilla flavors but also had better services. After identifying the need, we began looking for the best restaurant.
We came up with various options and started to look for the pros and cons of each restaurant. The process took some time before settling on the final restaurant. From the available internet information, we decided to settle on Domino Pizza because of its quality vanilla and services rendered to the clients. In fact, their prices were affordable according to the amounts we wanted to spend on the ice creams.
Evaluating various alternative service providers
Vanilla and other types of ice creams were served on various restaurants around town. However, we settled on Domino Pizza because of its quality and prices. We found out that the vanilla we wanted was affordable and was served with candy-coated creams, an extra flavor that other restaurants did not have.
In addition, the physical environment, the furnishings of the rooms, the packages, and the quality of supportive services met our expectations. Hirschman (2003) asserts that customers will have to evaluate different service offerings when faced with various alternatives. Besides these attributes, we realized that the restaurant was safer as opposed to what we expected. Hogg (2004) argues that most of the restaurant customers are risk averse and will always prefer safer options.
The purchase decision
We decided to purchase the Domino Pizza products after we had already assessed the physical environment including the furnishings and other attributes such as the prices and the quality of supportive services. However, prices were fundamental consideration before making the final purchasing decision.
We compared the prices of various Vanilla flavors and settle on the one that was affordable. According to Hjorth-Andersen (2007), the final decision to purchase the services comes after the customers have assessed the performance of the important attributes of the competing services providers, the perceived risks, and the predicted level of the satisfaction with the service. In fact, the quality of services within Domino Pizza was beyond our expectation.
The service encounter stage
The stage is amongst the core of the services consumption experience. In this stage, the customer experience direct interaction with the services providers. The duration of interaction will depend on the type of services being consumed (Holbrook, 2007). In fact, our encounter with the Domino Pizza personnel began from the point we made an inquiry of the available choices of ice cream flavors. The decision to buy the Vanilla, a type of ice cream that we wanted was because of the way the steward presented herself. The Vanilla was elegant and was served with candy-coated creams that explode in the mouth.
Generally, the restaurant personnel, furnishings, equipment, packaging, and the type of flavors were beyond reproach. We decided immediately that this is the place to visit whenever we need ice creams. The steward serving us decided to offer another type of vanilla with dried fruit for free to find if it tasted good.
She explained that they wanted to introduce the new flavor and the flavor was found only in Russia. We were so pleased and the flavor tasted so good that we decided that we would buy immediately when on sale. In this first visit, we already developed long-term relations with this restaurant.
Throughout our stay within the restaurant, consumption experience was appealing in terms of the physical environment and the interaction with the restaurant personnel. As expected, during the stay in the restaurant, the physical clues about the restaurant became distinguishable.
Indeed, everything was appealing. The equipment and furnishings, the behavior and appearance of the restaurant personnel were beyond criticism. In fact, the restaurant has utilized the “moment of truth” model to ensure that they provided satisfactory services to their customers.
Post-encounter stage
In this stage, consumers evaluate the performance of the experienced services against their expectations (Holbrook & Hirschman, 2002). In the context of restaurant services, the affirmation or non-affirmation of the pre-utilization prospects become indispensable co-determinants of consumer contentment.
In other words, consumers of the services have predetermined levels of satisfaction before the consumption (Holbrook, 2007). The predicted levels of services are the result of the information search and choice processes. The post service satisfaction depends on the pre-consumption expectations.
Going to Domino Pizza was informed by the expectation that they offered the best ice creams around town. Besides, apart from various brands of ice creams that met our expectations, the restaurant had the best services. The restaurant stewards are very fast in their services delivery. No queues and crowding that characterize the normal ice cream shops within town. From the information received from the internet, Domino Pizza packages are attractive and sparkling clean.
Within the restaurant, tables, service equipment, and even the way the personnel presented themselves are beyond reproof. The expected extra services Domino Pizza was offering were drawn from the information that was searched about the restaurant rooms. In fact, it was pleasurable to find out that Domino Pizza offered such services beyond our expectations. The likelihood that the restaurant will be revisited and recommended to other students is high.
Recommendations
Since Domino Pizza has services with high-end attributes, consumers have difficulties in their evaluation processes before they make their purchases (Hudson & Murray, 2006). Most of the products and services offered by Domino Pizza have increased amount of acceptance characteristics that it becomes a problem for most of customers to appraise before making the final decision for purchase (Gould, 2005).
Since most of the customers could not evaluate the products before making purchase, they felt that it would be risky to buy what they have not tasted. Therefore, Domino Pizza should occasionally offer gifts particularly on the new products they introduce in the market since customers would prefer going for their usual brands instead of new brands of pizza.
In addition, the services being offered by Domino Pizza are high-end and therefore they are challenging to the customers (Barry & Howard, 2000). Domino Pizza personnel have many points in which they interact with the customers. Therefore, the management should ensure that the personnel manage these various points of contact properly to ensure satisfactory services delivery.
Proper management can be achieved by developing appropriate services delivery system. When developing their services delivery system, Domino Pizza should ensure that the backstage activities are well coordinated with the front state activities to increase the satisfaction experience to the customers.
Domino Pizza should be aware of the shifting attitude of its customers in order to offer services that meet their changing needs. Satisfied customers will make repeat purchases and recommend such services to other people. In fact, Domino Pizza should ensure that their services are pleasurable and surprising, offer positive disconfirmation, and exceed the desired levels of their customers.
Conclusion
Restaurants like Domino Pizza should understand how individuals recognize the need for services they provide, seek out for alternative solutions, attend to the apparent threats, choose, utilize, and experience particular services. Finally, Domino Pizza must comprehend how customers assess their services experiences depending on the perceived outcome.
In essence, managing the behavior of customers within the three stages of services consumption is central towards creating value to meet the needs of customers. In the context of restaurants that need repeat business, satisfying customers is vital in building the required long-term relations.
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