Using the Service Gaps Model, Identify Potential Areas That Tiger Might Not Be Fulfilling. How Can Tiger Address These Gaps?

1. Using the Service Gaps Model, identify potential areas that Tiger might not be fulfilling. How can Tiger address these gaps?

Tiger might have four potential service gaps that need to be closed over time. The criticisms and high volume of complaints reflect a fairly broad knowledge gap between Tiger Airways and its customers. To address this gap, Tiger needs to listen to these complaints and better understand customers’ real expectations by some means such as the voice-of-customer program, by which Tiger may collect customer inputs and avoid developing or practicing improper service delivery strategies based on its prior experience or assumption.

Another potential service gap might be the standards gap. Tiger’s check-in cut-off time is strictly set to 45 minutes, which is not as flexible as its competitors such as Jetstar and Virgin, whose check-in cut-off times are 30 minutes on average. Such a rigid service standard may leave inconvenience to customers and decrease consumer value. Tiger can reconsider this policy and modify it to some degree, to get its service standard satisfy customers’ needs better.

The third potential gap is delivery gap. Tiger was fined because it kept emailing customers after they unsubscribed its online service. This indicates that the employees of Tiger who take charge of sending emails may lack of training in terms of utilising database properly. Tiger can close this gap through updated database tools and training and supporting its employees to apply the tools correctly.

Additionally, Tiger’s website crashed when it launched the lowest price promotions in 2013, which reflects a communication gap of service. The company actually could not offer the service that it promised to consumers, perhaps because of poor capability of its website. To close this gap, firstly Tiger should not promise any services beyond its competence, it can thus manage customer expectations well. Then Tiger needs to enhance its website’s capability such as adding more servers and data centres.

1. How can Tiger utilise the five distinct service dimensions to reposition itself in the airline industry?

Tiger needs to reposition itself for two main reasons. One reason is the suspension crisis due to concerns about its safety protocols raised by the CASA. This crisis damages Tiger’s corporate image and dents consumer trust because when customers choose an airline, the majority would focus more on safety rather than prices. To eliminate consumer skepticism about safety, Tiger can reposition itself with service dimensions of reliability and tangibles. Use real flight data to show it can perform services appropriately, which may help Tiger gain reliability. Moreover, upgraded communication materials, convenient facilities and neat staff uniform will help Tiger to demonstrate its capability to offer better services.