Services Marketing

The following sections are included:

• Dedication
• Brief Contents
• Contents
• About the Authors
• Preface
• Acknowledgments

The following sections are included:

• OPENING VIGNETTE
• WHY STUDY SERVICES?
• WHAT ARE THE PRINCIPAL INDUSTRIES OF THE SERVICE SECTOR?
• POWERFUL FORCES ARE TRANSFORMING SERVICE MARKETS
• BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS SERVICES AS A CORE ENGINE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
• OUTSOURCING AND OFFSHORING OFTEN WORK IN TANDEM
• WHAT ARE SERVICES?
• FOUR BROAD CATEGORIES OF SERVICES — A PROCESS PERSPECTIVE
• SERVICES POSE DISTINCT MARKETING CHALLENGES
• THE 7 PS OF SERVICES MARKETING
• THE TRADITIONAL MARKETING MIX APPLIED TO SERVICES
• THE EXTENDED SERVICES MARKETING MIX FOR MANAGING THE CUSTOMER INTERFACE
• MARKETING MUST BE INTEGRATED WITH OTHER MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS
• THE SERVICE-PROFIT CHAIN
• A FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE SERVICE MARKETING STRATEGIES
• CONCLUSION
• CHAPTER SUMMARY

The following sections are included:

• OPENING VIGNETTE
• THE THREE-STAGE MODEL OF SERVICE CONSUMPTION
• PREPURCHASE STAGE
• SERVICE ENCOUNTER STAGE
• POST-ENCOUNTER STAGE
• CONCLUSION
• CHAPTER SUMMARY

The following sections are included:

• OPENING VIGNETTE
• CUSTOMER-DRIVEN SERVICES MARKETING STRATEGY
• SEGMENTING SERVICE MARKETS
• TARGETING SERVICE MARKETS
• PRINCIPLES OF POSITIONING SERVICES
• USING POSITIONING MAPS TO PLOT COMPETITIVE STRATEGY
• POSITIONING DIGITAL SERVICES AND PLATFORMS
• DEVELOPING AN EFFECTIVE POSITIONING STRATEGY
• CONCLUSION
• CHAPTER SUMMARY

The following sections are included:

• OPENING VIGNETTE
• UNDERSTANDING SERVICE PRODUCTS
• THE FLOWER OF SERVICE
• BRANDING SERVICES
• NEW SERVICE DEVELOPMENT
• CONCLUSION
• CHAPTER SUMMARY

The following sections are included:

• OPENING VIGNETTE
• DISTRIBUTION IN A SERVICES CONTEXT
• WHAT IS BEING DISTRIBUTED?
• HOW SHOULD A SERVICE BE DISTRIBUTED?
• WHERE SHOULD A SERVICE FACILITY BE LOCATED?
• WHEN SHOULD SERVICE BE DELIVERED?
• THE ROLE OF INTERMEDIARIES
• THE CHALLENGE OF DISTRIBUTION IN LARGE DOMESTIC MARKETS
• DISTRIBUTING SERVICES INTERNATIONALLY
• CONCLUSION
• CHAPTER SUMMARY

The following sections are included:

• OPENING VIGNETTE
• EFFECTIVE PRICING IS CENTRAL TO FINANCIAL SUCCESS
• PRICING STRATEGY STANDS ON THREE FOUNDATIONS
• REVENUE MANAGEMENT: WHAT IT IS AND HOW IT WORKS
• FAIRNESS AND ETHICAL CONCERNS IN SERVICE PRICING
• PUTTING SERVICE PRICING INTO PRACTICE
• CONCLUSION
• CHAPTER SUMMARY

The following sections are included:

• OPENING VIGNETTE
• INTEGRATED SERVICE MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
• DEFINING THE TARGET AUDIENCE
• SPECIFYING SERVICE COMMUNICATION OBJECTIVES
• CRAFTING EFFECTIVE SERVICE COMMUNICATION MESSAGES
• THE SERVICE MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MIX
• TIMING DECISIONS OF SERVICE MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
• BUDGET DECISIONS AND PROGRAM EVALUATION
• ETHICAL AND CONSUMER PRIVACY ISSUES IN COMMUNICATIONS
• THE ROLE OF CORPORATE DESIGN
• INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
• CONCLUSION
• CHAPTER SUMMARY

The following sections are included:

• OPENING VIGNETTE
• WHAT IS A SERVICE PROCESS?
• DESIGNING AND DOCUMENTING SERVICE PROCESSES
• DEVELOPING A SERVICE BLUEPRINT
• SERVICE PROCESS REDESIGN
• CUSTOMER PARTICIPATION IN SERVICE PROCESSES
• SELF-SERVICE TECHNOLOGIES, SERVICE ROBOTS, AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
• SERVICE ROBOTS IN THE FRONTLINE
• CONCLUSION
• CHAPTER SUMMARY

The following sections are included:

• OPENING VIGNETTE
• FLUCTUATIONS IN DEMAND THREATEN PROFITABILITY
• DEFINING PRODUCTIVE SERVICE CAPACITY
• MANAGING CAPACITY
• UNDERSTAND PATTERNS OF DEMAND
• MANAGING DEMAND
• INVENTORY DEMAND THROUGH WAITING LINES AND QUEUING SYSTEMS
• CUSTOMER PERCEPTIONS OF WAITING TIME
• INVENTORY DEMAND THROUGH RESERVATION SYSTEMS
• CREATE ALTERNATIVE USE FOR OTHERWISE WASTED CAPACITY
• CONCLUSION
• CHAPTER SUMMARY

The following sections are included:

• OPENING VIGNETTE
• SERVICE ENVIRONMENTS — AN IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF THE SERVICES MARKETING MIX
• WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF SERVICE ENVIRONMENTS?
• THE THEORY BEHIND CONSUMER RESPONSES TO SERVICE ENVIRONMENTS
• DIMENSIONS OF THE SERVICE ENVIRONMENT
• PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
• CONCLUSION
• CHAPTER SUMMARY

The following sections are included:

• OPENING VIGNETTE
• SERVICE EMPLOYEES ARE EXTREMELY IMPORTANT
• FRONTLINE WORK IS DIFFICULT AND STRESSFUL
• CYCLES OF FAILURE, MEDIOCRITY, AND SUCCESS
• HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT — HOW TO GET IT RIGHT?
• SERVICE CULTURE, CLIMATE, AND LEADERSHIP
• CONCLUSION
• CHAPTER SUMMARY

The following sections are included:

• OPENING VIGNETTE
• THE SEARCH FOR CUSTOMER LOYALTY
• THE WHEEL OF LOYALTY
• BUILDING A FOUNDATION FOR LOYALTY
• STRATEGIES FOR DEVELOPING LOYALTY BONDS WITH CUSTOMERS
• STRATEGIES FOR REDUCING CUSTOMER SWITCHING
• ENABLERS OF CUSTOMER LOYALTY STRATEGIES
• CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT
• CONCLUSION
• CHAPTER SUMMARY

The following sections are included:

• OPENING VIGNETTE
• CUSTOMER COMPLAINING BEHAVIOR
• CUSTOMER RESPONSES TO EFFECTIVE SERVICE RECOVERY
• PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE SERVICE RECOVERY SYSTEMS
• SERVICE GUARANTEES
• DISCOURAGING ABUSE AND OPPORTUNISTIC CUSTOMER BEHAVIOR
• CONCLUSION
• CHAPTER SUMMARY

The following sections are included:

• OPENING VIGNETTE
• INTEGRATING SERVICE QUALITY AND PRODUCTIVITY STRATEGIES
• WHAT IS SERVICE QUALITY?
• IDENTIFYING AND CORRECTING SERVICE QUALITY PROBLEMS
• MEASURING SERVICE QUALITY
• LEARNING FROM CUSTOMER FEEDBACK
• HARD MEASURES OF SERVICE QUALITY
• TOOLS TO ANALYZE AND ADDRESS SERVICE QUALITY PROBLEMS
• RETURN ON QUALITY
• DEFINING AND MEASURING PRODUCTIVITY
• IMPROVING SERVICE PRODUCTIVITY
• INTEGRATION AND SYSTEMATIC APPROACHES TO IMPROVING SERVICE QUALITY AND PRODUCTIVITY
• CONCLUSION
• CHAPTER SUMMARY

The following sections are included:

• INTRODUCTION
• CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AND CORPORATE PERFORMANCE
• CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AND THE WALLET ALLOCATION RULE
• CREATING A WORLD-CLASS SERVICE ORGANIZATION
• COST-EFFECTIVE SERVICE EXCELLENCE
• CONCLUSION
• CHAPTER SUMMARY
• APPENDIX: FURTHER RESOURCES ON SERVICES MARKETING AND MANAGEMENT

The world of luxury is undergoing rapid changes as many classic luxury brands embark on markedly different strategies to deal with an increasingly digital economy. Some luxury brands such as Chanel and Bottega Veneta have deliberately chosen to minimize the impact of digitization and instead focus even more heavily on the traditional service encounter in their boutiques. Other luxury brands like Dior, Saint Laurent, and Hermès follow a different strategy as they push innovative new digital services, which led to rapidly growing online sales. At their core, all these brands continue to sell luxury fashion, yet their approach to digitization of the service encounter could not be more different while they all wish to remain exclusive. How can luxury fashion brands develop their digital service strategy and at the same time retain the exclusive and personalized service their customers expect?

On August 13, 2020, On August 13, 2020, Uber chief executive officer (CEO) Dara Khosrowshahi explained that Uber is backing Proposition 22 that would exempt it from Assembly Bill 5 (AB5), a California law that would require Uber to treat its drivers as employees with benefits effective January 1, 2020. To win over California voters, Uber and Lyft were considering to shut down their services “temporarily” in California as a means to appeal to voters who vote on Proposition 22 in the November ballot.

Given Uber lost over $8 billion in 2019 and was expected to lose $6 billion by October 2020, the AB5 law was expected to increase Uber’s operating cost dramatically. Also, it would be a major blow to Uber and other gig economy (e.g., Uber Eats, Grubhub, Deliveroo) if other states in the United States and other countries were to propose labor laws similar to AB5. In that case, Khosrowshahi’s premonition that Uber may never be profitable when it filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in 2019 would come true. Was this law to become the beginning of the end for Uber?

Shirley Tan, the manager of The View, a popular bar in Sydney, has been charged with figuring out how to apply revenue management principles to The View. She has done a bit of research on the topic but must now determine how to make sense of a variety of graphs that one of their interns had put together as part of her analysis. The key thing is to use the results of the graphs to devise a strategy to help The View increase its revenue.

The top management at Aarion Bank was pushing for a rapid digital transformation and intelligent automation. That included customer service with the aim of moving almost all routine transactions, services, and enquiries to cost-effective but high-quality, cutting-edge digital delivery channels. These included smart artificial intelligence (AI)-powered self-service technologies and service robots. Nikita Jones, the vice president of customer service, was worried about how some customer segments would respond to this strategic direction the bank was to embark upon and how she could prepare her team and its various customer segments for this digital transformation.

Two shadowy figures, enrobed and in slippers, walked slowly down the semi-darkened hall of the Shouldice Hospital. They did not notice Alan O’Dell, the hospital’s managing director, and his guest. Once they were out of earshot, O’Dell remarked good-naturedly, “By the way they act, you’d think our patients own this place. And while they’re here, in a way they do.” Following a visit to the five operating rooms, O’Dell and his visitor once again encountered the same pair of patients still engrossed in discussing their hernia operations, which had been performed the previous morning.

Singapore Airlines (SIA) has managed and organized its human resources to achieve sustainable competitive advantage and outperform other airlines in its peer group for decades. The case describes the role of human resources in SIA’s pursuit of the apparent conflicting objectives of service excellence and cost-effectiveness at the same time through its approach to recruitment, selection, training, motivation, and retention of its employees…

Starbucks, the dominant specialty-coffee brand in North America, must respond to recent market research indicating that the company is not meeting customer expectations in terms of service. To increase customer satisfaction, the company is debating a plan that would increase the amount of labor in its stores and theoretically increase speed of service. However, the impact of the plan (which would cost $40 million annually) on the company’s bottom line is unclear.

The general view is that platforms are somehow in a winner-takes-it-all market and therefore justify enormous valuations, especially when compared with their pipeline counterparts. However, to continue its fast growth, Airbnb diverted from its pure peer-to-peer (P2P) strategy and has been adding owned room capacity. At the same time, Marriott added P2P platform-sourced rooms to its marketing and distribution channels. The question the senior management of both companies needs to address is what it takes for them to be successful in each other’s turfs.

HBO Max launched its streaming service in May 2020. At the time of the launch, streaming services were already well established and dominated by a few large, well-established competitors (e.g., Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Hulu, etc.). In the face of intense competition, HBO Max’s initial launch was widely characterized as “underwhelming” despite its large content library and a rise in streaming due to the COVID-19 pandemic…

LUX* was a successful hospitality group operating in the Indian Ocean as well as other locations. In its previous incarnation, the company suffered from poor financial performance, poor service quality, and a weak brand. A change in the leadership of the company led the group through a transformation, which showed positive results within 12 months. This case study describes a service revolution that has led to rapid improvements in service culture and guest experience, which in turn has led to sustained financial improvements on a quarter-on-quarter and long-term growth.

The following sections are included:

• Name Index
• Subject Index