In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, the service sector plays a pivotal role in driving economic growth and shaping customer experiences. Services marketing refers to the strategies used to market services, as opposed to physical products, focusing on customer relationships, service quality, and experience. Unlike products, services are characterized by intangibility, perishability, variability, and inseparability of production and consumption. These unique traits require different marketing strategies compared to traditional goods marketing.
In services marketing, the emphasis is on building strong relationships with customers, managing service quality, and ensuring consistent service delivery. The traditional marketing mix (4Ps: Product, Price, Place, Promotion) is extended to 7Ps in services marketing, adding People, Process, and Physical Evidence to better capture the complexities of service delivery.
Customer satisfaction and loyalty are central to success in service industries. Because customers often evaluate services based on experience and perception, creating positive, consistent, and memorable experiences becomes critical. Technology plays a growing role, enabling businesses to personalize services, enhance convenience, and streamline operations. Service providers continuously innovate to meet changing customer expectations and remain competitive.
We are delighted to present the book titled ‘Services Marketing’ for Marketing Specialisation students of Semester – III as per the MBA Revised Curriculum 2024 (Aligned with NEP) of Savitribai Phule Pune University. The syllabus of the course is thoroughly covered in this book. This book is designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of how marketing principles are uniquely applied in service-based industries. Throughout the book a methodical approach is used for explanation coupled with apt examples. From hospitality and healthcare to financial services and digital platforms, we delve into how leading organizations manage service design, delivery, branding, and customer satisfaction in an increasingly competitive and technology-driven environment. A simple language and clarity of concepts are the highlights of this book. A question bank as per Bloom’s taxonomy is given for practice after every unit.
Contents –
1. Introduction to Services Marketing
2. Role of Process, People and Physical Evidence in Services Marketing
3. Managing Consumer Behaviour and Service Quality
4. Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning of Services and CRM
5. Services Marketing Strategies and Emerging Trends