SERVICE AND RETAIL MARKETING

Single discipline educational activity

Course Sheet

Academic Year of enrolment:

2020/2021

Type of Course:

Characterising

Optional/Mandatory:

Compulsory

Degree:

Master's Degree Programme in BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Location:

SASSARI

Disciplinary Sector:

Corporate Finance

Language:

Italian

Credits:

Programme Year:

Professor and Collaborators:

DEL CHIAPPA Giacomo

Hours of classroom activity:

Prerequisites:

Marketing and Management Principles

AF code:

A002975

Assessment Methods

Verification of learning:

Each student (attending classes or not) will be evaluated based on:
1) a written/oral final exam lasting 2 hours (The exam will be managed orally through the platform Microsoft teams if this might be needed, according to the department and university regulations, to cope with the “COVID-19 pandemic”).The exam will consist of three theoretical open-ended questions covering the entire program. During the exam student will be allowed to use only calculators.
1) an individual written report of max. 20 pages (all included: text, tables, bibliographic sources) aimed to examine a specific topic related to the discipline as suggested by the Professor at the beginning of the teaching module. The report could be theoretical and/or empirical in nature. In order to develop an empirical report, the student might use primary data (“fresh” data collected directly by the student) and/or secondary data (collected from available information sources). Non-attending students will identify the topic of their report by booking an appointment with the teacher. Foreign students will be allowed to prepare their report in English.

Each theoretical question can obtain an evaluation ranging from 0 to 8 points. Hence, the maximum score that the student might achieve in the written exam will be up to 24/30. The written report can obtain an evaluation ranging from 0 to 6 points. The student will have passed the exam when the overall evaluation (written exam plus report) will be at least 18/30.

Teaching period

Second semester

Objectives

needed to be able to examine the main aspects of service & retail marketing and management, devoting particular attention to a marketing-based perspective. At the end of the teaching module the student will have acquired:
- knowledge and comprehension: understanding the main characteristics of services and their differences when compared to products, the concept of quality in service sector, the role of customer and frontline employees in service sector, the concept of customer satisfaction and its measurement, the main aspects of complaint handling and service recovery, the criteria of customer relationship management and loyalty management, the main dimensions of servicescape and its influence on customer behavior, the different types of retail format and related evolutionary trajectories (particularly in in term of supply chain management)and, finally, the different types of retail services and retail marketing variables. Further, the student will acquire the knowledge needed to understand the role that the Information and Communication Technologies, Internet, social media and technologies 4.0 (virtual reality, augmented reality, robotics, artificial intelligence, etc) play in service retail management and marketing activities.
- ability to apply knowledge and ability of understanding: ability to apply the theoretical principles to real business problems, such as those related to quality-related gap analysis, complaint handling and service recovery, servicescape design and management, strategic planning, promotion, assortment, merchandising, creation and development of private label.
- critical thinking: ability to apply the acquired knowledge to consciously interpret and evaluate the main problems related to service and retail marketing and management and to identify possible solutions (problem solving). The course will also allow students to develop the ability to identify and have access to different types of (academic and non-academic) information sources that can guide their decision making.
- communication skills: ability to use the specific terminology related to the discipline to describe the most relevant principles of service and retail marketing and to critically interpret and evaluate real business problems. Furthermore, the course will allow students to develop the communication skills (written and oral) implicit to the learning process. Specifically, this will be possible by: a) stimulating student-teacher and peer-to-peer verbal discussions about the retails marketing principles, b) requiring students (both sitting in the classes or not) to prepare a report developed to analyze a specific topic identified with the teacher.
- learning skills: the course provides the basis for learning the basic principles of service and retail marketing and will offer students with the background needed to attend advanced university courses.

Contents

The main characteristics of services
Service Quality
The role of customers and employees in services
Measuring and managing customer satisfaction
The gap model of service quality
Complaint handling and service recovery
Phisical and digital servicescape and its influence on consumer behavior
The role of ICTs, internet, social media and technologies 4.0 in services
Evolution of the retail sector
Consumer needs in the retail sector
The offer of retailers: products, services and experiences
Competitive strategies
Marketing segmentation and positioning
Retailing mix
1. Product assortment
2. instore marketing and merchandising
3. communication mix
Communication and promotion
Price: creating and managing profit margin
Private label
Trade marketing
Innovation in retail sector
Retail 4.0

Recommended Bibliography

Wilson, A., Zeithaml, V, Bitner M. J., Gremler, D., (2020) Service Marketing: integrating Customer Service Across the Firm. McGraw-Hill: London.

Castaldo, S. (2008). Retail & channel management. Egea: Milano (capp. 5 and 6 excluded).

Slides and other reading materials will be suggested at the beginning of the teaching unit and will be made available to students.

Methods of Provision

Conventional

Teaching Methods

60 hours (in presence, online and/or hybrid modality based on the regulations that the department and the university will adopt to cope with COVID-19 pandemic and evolution).

Traditional, interactive lessons and guest lectures. All the activities will be delivered by using, where useful, slides and multimedia materials.

All the materials (slides, papers and supplementary readings, informative materials, etc.) will be available in the e-learning platform of the Department (https://edisea.uniss.it/) also for students who will not constantly attend classes.

Contacts/More Information

International students will have the possibility to use the English language to interact with the Professor (during teaching activities, etc.), as well as to make the final exam.

All the information on how and when to have the possibilities to meet the Professor, please visit the following website: www.edisea.uniss.it. Students can contact the professor by phone (+39 393 90 26 400), email (gdelchiappa@uniss.it) and skype (ID: giacomo.del.chiappa).

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SERVICE AND RETAIL MARKETING