The Four Characteristics of Services Offered by Air Asia

The Four Characteristics of Services Offered by AirAsia

One of the characteristics of service offered by AirAsia is intangibility. Services intangibility is inevitable and sometimes could be a challenge for every service provider. According to Pride & Ferrell (2011) intangibility of services can be defined as the characteristic that the service is not physical and cannot be perceived by the senses. For instance like AirAsia which provides flight services, it is impossible for the customers to touch the flight as it is a journey to specific destinations. They might be able to touch the plane, but in the context of services, the customers do not own the physical tools or equipment used to deliver the service but are only entitled to get the service which is the flight service.

Intangibility distinguishes between services and goods. Unlike goods, services have no physical attributes that can be used by the consumers to make judgment. Therefore, the customers cannot imagine what would they get from a particular service. The customers might think of the possible risks that they would encounter if they buy the service. Hence, the service provider must consider enhancing their marketing strategy to convince the customers about their services and reduced the perceived risks.

The next characteristic of service offered by AirAsia is inseparability. Inseparability refers to a distinguishing characteristic of services that reflects interconnection among the service provider, the customers involved in receiving the service and other customers sharing the service experience (Hoffman&Bateson, 2010). Based on this definition, it can be concluded that the inseparability in the service involves the participation by both the customers and also the service provider. Different from the goods that are manufactured prior to its sale, the services production includes the presence of the customers in its production process. For AirAsia, the production of the services started as soon as the passengers board the plane. Since the production and the consumption of the services happen simultaneously, then punctuality is very important especially for AirAsia, which is an airline. AirAsia must ensure that their flights depart on time and should try their best to avoid flight delays. This is because flight delays will cause dissatisfaction to the customers and might cause inconvenience to them.

The next characteristic is heterogeneity. Heterogeneity in services has caused customers to receive inconsistent services, even though the services are purchased are the same services and from the same service provider. It also differentiates services from goods.