ABSTRACT Humorous advertising research suggests that characteristics of consumers might affect consumers' response to humorous advertising. This article reports the results of a study which suggest that two characteristics of consumers (i.e., sex and appreciation of humor) can affect appropriateness of humorous services advertising. Another finding of this study was that most consumers deemed it inappropriate to use humor when advertising professional services. However, males found it more appropriate to use humor when advertising professional services than do females. The results of the study suggest that when consumers deem a service highly appropriate for humorous services advertising, sex has no effect. However, within that condition appreciation of humor affects the appropriateness of humorous services advertising. Conversely, sex does have an effect on the appropriateness of humorous services advertising if consumers believe that the service is less appropriate for using humorous services advertising. The effects of sex on consumers' response to humorous advertising have been controversial. However, the results of this study appear to help clarify the effects of sex when using humorous services advertising.
This will be second of the last two volumes of the Journal of Professional Services Marketing for which I will act as Editor. I will also be ending my tenure as Senior Editor of the Marketing & Management Series which specifically includes the Marketing Resources Book Series, and the other four Journals I have edited part-time since 1982: Health Marketing Quarterly, Journal of Hospital Marketing, Journal of Customer Service in Marketing & Management, and formerly, the Journal of Marketing for Mental Health. It is a great time for a change as I allocate more time to my main strategic consulting activities and other professional and personal interests and endeavors. It is time for me to expand my horizons and for the Marketing Series at Haworth to have some new people become associated and involved with the journals and books. Since 1982, I have had the wonderful opportunity with The Haworth Press to have played a key role in developing and editing five journals, working with dozens of talented editors with the creation of new marketing journals, and publishing a very large number of books in health care, marketing, and management areas. It has been a great learning experience and I hope I have contributed in a number of ways to the success of some of these projects.
ABSTRACT As the U.S. economy continues to shift from a manufacturing to a service orientation, it is important for marketers to understand the importance of reactively adapting to customers through the marketing concept. This manuscript deals with one aspect of that adaptive process: customer service satisfaction. The purpose of this paper is to develop a model (see Figure 1) that suggests the possible effect of each individual element of the services marketing mix on the customer's perception of the service. The customer experiences the service through the marketing mix; the critical elements in the services marketing mix that influence customer expectations being place, physical evidence, participants, and process. The customer's experience of the service, the feelings and perceptions, have a pervasive influence on attracting new customers and retaining existing customers. The proposed model is formulated on the basis of propositions that relate marketing mix variables to the customer's perception of service. The model incorporates customer expectations derived from his or her own experience or others' experiences with the service, the service price relative to the price of other identical services, and the organization's promotional methods for communicating the features of the service offered.
ABSTRACT The article discusses a professional services marketing and quality project conducted for the Financial Services Group, a division of a 10,000-member retail cooperative. The project combined primary and secondary research to obtain comprehensive information about the perceptions and expectations of customers, as well as the company's and its competitors' performance levels. The result of the research was a set of recommendations that were able to be readily implemented and helpful in enhancing customer satisfaction, market share and profitability of the Financial Services Group. In addition to outlining the impact of the changes in this company, the paper also introduces a generic framework for similar professional service providers to institute quality and service improvements in their organizations.
ABSTRACT The quality of service customers receive is due, in part, to the commitment employees have towards their employer. A critical component of employee commitment to a firm is organizational communication. Organizational communication exists in many forms and has both internal and external audiences. This study focuses on internal communications from the perspective of public relations and internal marketing and their relationship to an employee's perception of the firm where they work. A positive relationship was found between effective internal communications and perception of the firm. Implications of these findings are discussed.
ABSTRACT For convenience store (c-store) management to be truly customer-focused, they must listen to their customers and provide the products that meet customers' needs. This study investigates one aspect of c-store customer satisfaction, the product mix. The purpose of this paper is to investigate c-store customers' perceptions of product offerings to expand the c-store's product mix and in turn increase customer satisfaction. Fourteen products were examined. Of the fourteen, three were rated very likely to be purchased: postal services, home style meals, and a salad bar. Differences in preference were found between gender and marital status. Men and single customers had higher purchase intentions for the home style meals than women and married customers. Suggestions for future research are provided.
ABSTRACT The purpose of this research was to investigate the impact of physical environments on customer satisfaction and their subsequent return intentions within a service industry. Drawing from data collected from spectators at three Midwestern Conference ice hockey arenas, the effects of physical environment on customer satisfaction, the effect of customer satisfaction on their return intentions, and the direct relationship between the perceptions of physical environments and customers' return intentions were investigated. Structural equation modeling (e.g., LISREL) was employed to test the causal relationships among the hypothesized relationships. Based on customer surveys, the findings are that physical environments had a significant effect on customer satisfaction, and customer satisfaction, in turn, plays a significant role in determining customer's return intentions. Physical environments, however, did not have a significant effect on customers' return intentions.
ABSTRACT A recent investigation into the convenience store (c-store) product mix called for further research into c-store customers' preferences for additional product offerings and non-c-store shoppers' reasons for not patronizing a c-store. This paper answers that call by investigating a cross-section of c-store customers to identify their perceptions of product offerings to expand the c-store's product mix and in turn increase customer satisfaction. In addition, this study explores c-store non-users' perceptions of the c-store image to understand why they do not patronize c-stores. Fourteen products were examined. Of the fourteen, only one was rated very likely to be purchased: postal services. The top three reasons provided for not patronizing a c-store were (1) inconvenient location, (2) high prices and (3) loyalty to other retailers. Suggestions for future research are provided.
ABSTRACT Service quality has received considerable attention from marketers. However, current measures of service quality do not adequately capture customers' perceptions of service quality for highly service oriented technical products retailing. This study explored the usefulness of SERVPERF, the perceptions component of SERVQUAL and a retail service quality scale (the DTR scale, proposed by Dabholkar et al. 1996) in measuring the service quality of electronic goods retailers, where service is an important component. Results indicate that SERVPERF is slightly better than the DTR scale. A modified scale comprising selected items from both scales was generated by factor analysis on the data collected. Five factors, namely ‘Service Personnel,’ ‘Physical Aspects,’ ‘Merchandise,’ ‘Confidence’ and ‘Parking’ consisting of a total of 21 items were derived. Results of the modified scale (termed herein SERVPERF TPR) measured the service quality of electronic retailers slightly more effectively than either the DTR or SERV-PERF scales.
ABSTRACT Because of the aging population, demand for retirement and medical care services will continue to escalate during the next century. One of the fastest growing areas in terms of elderly care are assisted-living facilities. However, there is a scarcity of empirical research related to assisted-living facilities (ALF). The objectives of this exploratory study were to determine the factors that impact the purchase decision of an assisted living facility and the relationships among those variables. The study indicated that individuals were more likely to utilize an assisted living facility if they had visited an ALF in the past, had developed a positive attitude toward ALFs and if the elderly person needing health care had experienced major medical problems within the last five years. Differences were found between respondents 55 and over and respondents under 55. The impacts of these findings are discussed with managerial implications of the research.
ABSTRACT The authors of this article develop a marketing strategy for increasing advocacy among business board members for a college of business. Advisory Boards are often comprised of leading business and community leaders who perform a variety of services which enhance the operations of colleges and universities. They assist their institutions in a variety of ways including: to network in the community, recruit students and faculty, place students, and fund raise. The authors propose a model to develop a marketing strategy to motivate members of the business advisory board to become strong advocates for a program. Research findings are presented along with implications for higher education administrators.
ABSTRACT The field of organizational development (OD) is a complex one composed of practitioners from a variety of disciplines. Furthermore, the field has been beset by numerous problems and changes over the years. This paper describes the history of OD and how OD practitioners have traditionally marketed their services and themselves by knowledge, skills, and personality characteristics. The paper concludes by recommending new marketing techniques concerning procurement decisions, service quality evaluation and use of tools for OD practitioners to better market themselves and their discipline.
ABSTRACT ABSTRACT While the service quality literature suggests the importance of courteous service agents, the emotional labor literature has shown that there are important negative personal consequences associated with emotional work requirements. In this study, a survey which evaluated employee responses to the emotional labor involved in serving difficult customers is detailed and significant consequences for the organization are considered. Some of these consequences have the potential to negatively impact several determinants of service quality.
