Using the Critical Incident Technique as a Learning Tool in Services Marketing Courses

Service quality continues to be difficult to define and even more troublesome to assess. A methodology that has been used for both evaluating and exploring the nature of service quality is the Critical Incident Technique (CIT). This article outlines how a CIT exercise can be experientially incorporated into a services marketing course. The primary benefit of this learning activity is that students gain an appreciation for the complexity of service quality. In addition, educators receive valuable feedback to improve teaching quality in the services course.