Definition of Service Marketing:

by Gaurav Srivastava Digital marketing , sales and marketingconsultant

Service marketing

Service marketing is marketing based on relationship and value. It may be used to market a service or a product. With the increasing prominence of services in the global economy, service marketing has become a subject that needs to be studied separately. Marketing services are different from marketing goods because of the unique characteristics of services namely, intangibility, heterogeneity, perishability, and inseparability. In most countries, services add more economic value than agriculture, raw materials and manufacturing combined. In developed economies, employment is dominated by service jobs and most new job growth comes from services.

Features of Services

Intangibility:

A physical product is visible and concrete. Services are intangible. The service cannot be touched or viewed, so it is difficult for clients to tell in advance what they will be getting. For example, banks promote the sale of credit cards by emphasizing the conveniences and advantages derived from possessing a credit card.

Inseparability:

Personal services cannot be separated from the individual. Services are created and consumed simultaneously. The service is being produced at the same time that the client is receiving it; for example, during an online search or a legal consultation. Dentist, musicians, dancers, etc. create and offer services at the same time

Heterogeneity (or variability):

Services involve people, and people are all different. There is a strong possibility that the same inquiry would be answered slightly differently by different
people (or even by the same person at different times). It is important to minimize the differences in performance (through training, standard setting and quality assurance). The quality of services offered by firms can never be standardized.

Perishability:

Services have a high degree of perishability. Unused capacity cannot be stored for future use. If services are not used today, it is lost forever. For example, spare seats in an airplane cannot be transferred to the next flight. Similarly, empty rooms in five-star hotels and credits not utilized are examples of services leading to economic losses. As services are activities performed for simultaneous consumption, they perish unless consumed.

Changing demand:

The demand for services has wide fluctuations and may be seasonal. Demand for tourism is seasonal, other services such as demand for public transport, cricket field, and golf courses have fluctuations in demand.