Services Marketing: People, Technology, Strategy (4th Edition) [Hardcover]

Christopher Lovelock (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 25, 2000 | ISBN-10: 0130173924 | ISBN-13: 978-0130173928 | Edition: 4th

For graduate-level/MBA courses in Services Marketing. Combining conceptual rigor with real-world examples and practical applications, this combination text/reader/casebook explores both concepts and techniques of marketing for an exceptionally broad range of service categories and industries. Strong managerial and strategic focus.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Combining conceptual rigor with real-world examples and practical applications, this combination text/reader/casebook explores both concepts and techniques of marketing for an exceptionally broad range of service categories and industries. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Back Cover

Services marketing, once a tiny academic field championed by just a handful of pioneering professors, has become a thriving area of activity. Paralleling growing research efforts in both academia and business is increased student interest in taking courses that focus on different aspects of managing service organizations, including marketing. This makes a lot of sense from a career standpoint, since most business school graduates will be going to work in service industries and managers report that manufacturing-based models of business practice are not always useful to them.

Distinguishing Features of Services Marketing, Fourth Edition

This highly readable book includes

• a strong managerial orientation and strategic focus
• use of conceptual frameworks that have been classroom tested for relevance to both MBA students and executive seminar participants
• incorporation of key academic research findings
• use of interesting examples to link theory to practice
• inclusion of carefully selected readings and cases to accompany the text chapters

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 720 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 4th edition (July 25, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0130173924
• ISBN-13: 978-0130173928
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #297,091 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Learn to think & execute a service business successfully., September 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Services Marketing (Hardcover)

"Services Marketing" is written as a series of articles, each of which covers a particular subject in depth. This is not the kind of book which you read from beginning to end, but the articles include interesting material, so you may find yourself dipping into chapters without following any definite plan. The book is strong on marketing theory, and it includes extracts from numerous case studies which illustrate the propositions being discussed. The examples cover a wide range of industries and usually refer to real-life organizations such as Fedex, United Airlines, Citibank, Domino's Pizza....

The reason I first looked at this book, was because I came from a product background and needed to learn new skills that could be directly applied to ACSL's business: which is marketing information services. So it helped me as a newbie in marketing services. However, my co-editor from whom I borrowed this book, was at that time the European marketing manager of a major computer services company, and she found different aspects of the book useful. So we have no hesitation recommending it whatever your job title or previous experience.

"Services Marketing" is helpful whether you're just looking for a sourcebook to give you new ideas to use in your latest promotion, or whether you're looking for a framework to help you reorganize your international business around a marketing services culture.

The chapter headings in this book include:-

UNDERSTANDING SERVICES

1 Distinctive Aspects of Services Marketing 2 The Customer Experience 3 Developing Frameworks for Understanding Services Marketing

STRATEGIC ISSUES

4 Positioning a Service in the Marketplace 5 Managing the Customer Portfolio 6 Managing Demand

TOOLS FOR SERVICE MARKETERS

7 Creating and Delivering Services 8 Understanding Costs and Developing Pricing Strategies 9 Communicating and Promoting Services 10 Developing and Managing the Customer-Service Function CHALLENGES FOR SENIOR MANAGEMENT

11 Improving Service Quality and Productivity 12 Organizing and Implementing the Marketing Effort

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book covering a critical topic, May 28, 2006

By 

K. Sansom (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Services Marketing (5th Edition) (Hardcover)

As Services industries continue to become a larger and larger share of our global economy, the importance of Services Marketing can only grow. Wirtz and Lovelock have written an excellent book for understanding Services Marketing and backing it up with numerous excellent real world case examples. I have been in the Services industry for 21 years, but still learned a tremendous amount from the book and cases. The book makes it easy to grasp the key concepts and has a logical, smooth flow. If after reading this book and exploring the accompanying cases, you still don't have a thorough knowledge of Services Marketing, it is YOUR fault! I highly recommend this book and think it should be part of every MBA program.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Synthesizes all the best practices and leading edge thinking, April 26, 2004

By 

Charlie Ang - See all my reviews

This review is from: Services Marketing (5th Edition) (Hardcover)

This is such a well-written and well-organized book that you can simply read from cover-to-cover or jump into your interested chapters right away.

Not only does the authors present you with their in-depth coverage of the various services related topics, supplementary materials (papers, cases) from other excellent sources/authors make this an absolute encyclopedia of services marketing and a coherent contemporary literature for both novices and seasoned practitioners.

This is THE book for this very under-written and immensely critical topic of services marketing and an essential reading for the 60-80% of the workforce who are involved in the ever growing services sector.