Services Marketing, Operations, and Management

The book begins with an introduction to the service industry, the service product, and the importance of market research in the service industry and goes on to discuss segmentation, targeting, and positioning in competitive markets. It also discusses important service concepts, such as customer perception of service, customer expectations, and physical evidence. The book goes on to discuss the management of service operations and processes, evaluation of customer feedback and service recovery, management of distribution channels in the service industry, employee management, pricing strategies, and promotion mix. Key contemporary issues such as the impact of technology, managing quality and excellence, ethics in service marketing, and strategies for business growth are explored in detail. An overview of the emerging service sectors is also provided.