Question

Alex Smith rents storage space to college students who go home for the summer but do not want to haul all of their property home and back. The business is profitable during the summer months, but when the storage space is unoccupied in the off-season, Alex loses money. Which of the following characteristics of service is most likely the source of Alex's problem?a) intangibility
b) perishability
c) inconsistency
d) variability
e) inseparability

Answer 1

Answer:

d) variability

Explanation:

Variability is the quality of a service that does not follow a fixed, or predictable pattern, following instead a changing (or variable), or unpredictable pattern.

Seasonality is a type of variability that occurs when a business is subject to very rigid time constraints: in some periods of time it booms, and in other periods, it busts.

Alex's business is seasonal because it only becomes profitable during the summer months, while the other three seasons represent a net loss for him.