Services Marketing, 6/e, is written for students and businesspeople who recognize the vital role that services play in the economy and its future. The advanced economies of the world are now dominated by services, and virtually all companies view service as critical to retaining their customers today and in the future. This edition focuses on knowledge needed to implement service strategies for competitive advantage across industries.
In addition to standard marketing topics (such as pricing), this text introduces students to entirely new topics that include management and measurement of service quality, service recovery, the linking of customer measurement to performance measurement, service blueprinting, customer cocreation, and cross-functional treatment of issues through integration of marketing with disciplines such as operations and human resources. Each of these topics represents pivotal content for tomorrow's businesses as they attempt to build strong relationships with their customers.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Preface.
1 Introduction to Services 3
2 Key Competitive Trends and Conceptual Framework of the Book 30
3 Consumer Behavior in Services 55
4 Customer Expectations of Service 75
5 Customer Perceptions of Service 102
6 Understanding Customer Expectations Through Marketing Research 135
7 Building Customer Relationships Through Segmentation and Retention Strategies 169
8 Customer-Defined Service Standards 203
9 Leadership and Measurement Systems for Market-Driven Service Performance 238
10 Service Design and Positioning 263
11 Employees' Roles in Service Delivery 301
12 Delivering Service Through Intermediaries 334
13 Customers' Role in Service Delivery 363
14 Managing Demand and Capacity 387
15 International Services Marketing 414
16 The Role of Advertising, Personal Selling, and Other Communication 449
17 Pricing of Services 482
18 The Physical Evidence of Service 516
Index 691
