Essentials of Services Marketing

Citation

FitzGerald, M. (1998), "Essentials of Services Marketing", International Journal of Service Industry Management, Vol. 9 No. 3, pp. 313-314. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijsim.1998.9.3.313.4

There has been a substantial growth in interest in services over the last decade, but few good textbooks have been written which provide a comprehensive introduction to marketing services. This recent new publication helps to redress this gap.

Constructed of 15 chapters in four discrete sections, the text takes the reader on a journey of learning which will ensure that they become properly familiar with key areas or services management. The first part is entitled “An overview of services marketing” and explores differences between goods and services, introduces the service sector, considers process issues in consumer decision‐making, and ethical issues in services marketing. The second part “Service strategy” ‐ is dedicated to the service experience in all its components, including the delivery process, pricing, communications, the physical evidence and issues of customers and employees. The third section is devoted to customer satisfaction, quality, customer retention, and the oft‐forgotten area of services failure and recovery. Each chapter includes a summary at the end, and nine case studies are gathered together to form the fourth and last section. All cases are American in origin, although several are world‐reknowned, such as the notorious Ivan Boesky case, and that of Jim Bakker and PTL. All cases include relevant questions to aid study. Instructors’ resources are available for teaching purposes, although they are not reviewed here, and a manual with test bank, and transparencies, are also available.

The authors’ credentials are impeccable ‐ one is a well‐respected academic and the other an academic‐turned‐consultant of considerable repute, the latter with two previous books on services management in the subject to his credit.

The authors observe that they have set out to provide students with an introduction to services marketing and “specific customer services issues”, and the consequence is a commendable and informative text, well‐constructed and clearly written. This text is strongly recommended as a teaching aid and reference resource, and should be prominently featured as essential reading for all students and practitioners of marketing.