Universal Studios Singapore Case Study

1.0 Introduction

Universal Studios Singapore theme park was unveiled on 16 October 2006 by Genting International P.L.C. and Star Cruises Limited (RWS, 2006), as part of the integrated Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) in a bold S$5 billion investment plan (Genting International & Star Cruises, 2006). Situated within RWS on Sentosa, Universal Studios Singapore (USS) occupies 20 hectares of the 49 hectares RWS is developed on. USS features 24 attractions within 7 themed zones surrounding a lagoon, and at least 16 rides based on blockbuster movies or drama such as, Transformers, Jurassic Park, Madagascar, and Battlestar Galactica. All of which are specially designed for Singapore. The theme park’s workforce is also included in RWS’s 12,500 strong team

The theme park is based on many well-known movies, providing its visitors an immersive entertainment experience that brings the screen to life.

USS also provide supplementary services to help to differentiate its core service and create competitive advantage by enhancing the value and appeal of its core service. The Flower of Service concept developed by Lovelock is used to display the two types of supplementary services that surround the core product (Lovelock, 2015).

Below is an illustration of supplementary services offered by USS: Fig. 1 Flower of Service of Universal Studios Singapore

Many theme parks are providing similar services to similar target group. It is important for the business to enhance or customise some of its supplementary services as determinant attributes to entice customer’s decision.

3.2 Service Placement

The service blueprint analysis for USS focuses on the process that a visitor goes through when queuing for an attraction. The temporal risk that visitors goes through when queuing for

an attraction can result in a negative disconfirmation and lower perceived experiential value if not managed

The high prices were derived through USS ability to offer visitors many global brands under one roof. A higher tier express pass is also available to reduce visitors’ temporal risk as it helps to shorten the queuing time of attractions through priority queues.

Experiential value is satisfied through the sensual and emotional experience the service provides. The park is setup based on the streets seen in movies and staffs were dressed up in different characters, where the ambience provides a fun and exciting experience for its visitors as if reliving the movies.

The pricing structure in Appendix A shows the different values the visitors perceived in different price packages. However, USS should adjust its pricing strategy according to different visitors (i.e. locals vs tourists), as they have different price threshold. Thus, it is important to psychologically fix different prices to suit different group of visitors’ pricing threshold in order to encourage purchases (Trasorras, 2008).

3.4