Elements of Not‐for‐Profit Services: A Case of University Student Accommodation

Not‐for‐profit organizations are faced with several problems in providing services to consumers. In order to attract sufficient funds, they must respond to consumer needs and competitive forces. This requires identifying which aspects of service provision are valued most. However, services are difficult to evaluate before purchase because of their intangibility, heterogeneity and joint production with consumption. Consequently, consumer attitudes towards actual service provision, and its salience, are likely to change over time with experience. This has implications for both service provision and the way it is positioned, and requires that tracking techniques are periodically used to monitor and control consumer satisfaction. A case study shows how this can be achieved. The findings suggest that consumers may not always be prepared to pay for what they want. By selectively increasing the salience of specific aspects, student choice might be influenced; and by interpreting dissonance effects, satisfaction regulated.