Document 20 .docx - 1. How does marketing cars differ from...

1. How does marketing cars differ from marketing service for those same vehicles?
Automoblie industry is something different. Marketing and promoting in the automobile industry takes
an extra skills. Marketing cars differs from the method of marketing services: Marketing cars can be done
in the orthodox way of marketing Marketing cars works with the marketing mix, which attempt to
control the 4P’s (Product, Place, Price, Promotion). Automobile or the cars are tangible products that are
being sold in unit. The procedure of production a car and consumption or usage of a car are separated
process. On the other hand, marketing a service for a car includes the 7P’s (Product, Place and Time,
Price, Promotion and Education, Physical Environment and People). Service industries face more
challenges than its product counterpart because of the people factor. Marketing a car will usually
emphasis on the buying process of the consumer, involving transection, to take ownership of the
product. On the other hand in service monetary transection, time and effort are exchange for labor or
skills, but the ownership of the product is not seen or heard of. But a service is an intangible product that
must offer superior service in order to hold a competitive advantage. Products and Service can differ in
many aspects:
• Intangibility: A car as a product is tangible, which means the customer can touch and see the product
before deciding to make a purchase unlike car services which are intangible. So service marketing should
focus on the satisfaction and value a consumer can get in return to his purchase. Service marketing must
tackle more the consumer perception of the value of the service due to this intangibility. Sometimes it is
necessary to attribute tangible measures for the service which highlights the Physical evidence in service
marketing representing a new “P” added to the 4 traditional product marketing mix “P”s (product,
promotion, price, and place).
• Inseparability: Unlike products (goods), services can’t be separated from the service provider. The
production and consumption of services is simultaneous contrary to products (goods) where it can be
produced and stored then on a later stage purchased and consumed. This has its implications on
marketing a car service and marketing a car. This highlights two other “P”s (processes and people) in
service marketing that are added to the four product marketing “P”s. In the case of a car service, the
technicians (people) perform the different service tasks (conditioning of steering and suspension, oil
change, etc.) in an efficient way (process) to ensure delivery of the qualified service. In return, the
customers pay a price for the added value by the different things that form the service such as the skills
of the technicians, the use of specialized equipment or tools, service time and much more. Marketers of
a car service should consider these issues.
• Non-standardization: Products are homogenous compared to the nature of the services which are
heterogeneous. Ford cars of the same type are almost identical. However, the car service provided by

auto dealers might not be the same, even the service might be different in the same car service center