Principles of Services Marketing, 4th ed.

Citation

Narasimhan, K. (2005), "Principles of Services Marketing, 4th ed.", Managing Service Quality: An International Journal, Vol. 15 No. 3, pp. 323-324. https://doi.org/10.1108/09604520510597854

Adrain Palmer is a Professor of Services Marketing at University of Gloucester Business School. He has written two other books on marketing, a book on business environment, and contributed to a number of other books and written a number of journal articles.

This revised edition of the book comprises 14 chapters and a longish case study: Circular Distributors’ Ltd, a marketing services company. The chapters are well supported by over 150 figures (which helps to visualize various models and concepts) and boxed texts (contemporary examples of good practice), glossary of terms, copious references and a selection of further reading.

Chapter 1 sets the scene by tracing the importance of the service sector in developed economies and the uniqueness of services in terms of intangibility, inseparability, perishability and variability; and how they impact on the way they are marketed. In Chapter 2 conceptual frameworks are presented for classifying services based on service elements (core or secondary service), customer involvement, consumer behavior in service encounters, and extent of variability. The topic of service encounter is the focus of Chapter 3, and the implications of this interaction for marketing services are considered with the aid of a customer service blueprint. Strategies for recovering from service failures are briefly covered.

The focus of Chapters 4 and 5 are respectively services buying process and the related topic of relationship marketing and customer loyalty. The former chapter deals with the buying process, different models of personal buyer behavior, differences between personal and organizational buyer behavior, and related ethical issues. The latter chapter explains the reasons for the development of relationship marketing and the limitations to the concept of relational exchange.

Knowledge management is the theme of Chapter 6, in which a systems approach to marketing information is presented. Data collection, research methods, forecasting demand, and information and control systems are some of the topics that are very briefly covered. Service positioning strategies and how to develop a brand as a part of the process are explained in Chapter 7; and the key issues involved in deleting services are outlined. Chapter 8 focuses on service quality. The linkages among service quality concepts, satisfaction and value are first explained, followed by an explanation of the importance of service quality in the service‐profit chain. Paradigms for understanding and measuring quality (in particular, the SERVQUAL model) and researching service quality are briefly covered.

The locating of services to make them accessible to consumers is the theme of Chapter 9, in which the differences between product and services arising out of the inseparability and intangibility of services, and the role of intermediaries (including agents and franchisees) as co‐producers are explained. The focus of Chapter 10 is on the pricing of services. Both organizational (and external (for example competition and external regulation) influences on pricing decisions are explained. Pricing strategies for new services, public‐sector services, and internal pricing are briefly covered.

Chapter 11 explores the role of promotion through various types of communicating (advertisement, personal selling, direct marketing, public relations and online marketing) and Chapter 12 deals with links between marketing and human resource and operations management functions; and explains the importance of empowering employees to achieve customer satisfaction and organizational profitability. Key issues involved in recruitment, motivation, and control of staff, in particular those involved in front‐line encounters, are also explained.

Chapter 13 is a very brief consideration of the operational issues arising from the perishable nature of services, especially the management of capacity by customer demand management and flexible employees. The final chapter explains the nature of international trade in services, methods for assessing overseas opportunities and developing strategies and the need to balance risk and control.

The learning objectives of each of the chapters are listed first, followed by an introduction; and the chapters conclude with a summary (with links to other chapters), and review questions and activities to be undertaken to test the understanding and apply the knowledge gained. Each chapter also contains a relevant full‐length case study and case study review questions. The book is well supported by teaching resources (for example, PowerPoint slides and solutions to chapter review questions and case study questions.)