COURSE OUTLINE

SERVICES MARKETING
Dr. Prafulla AGNIHOTRI
1. DURATION: Twenty sessions of one hour thirty minutes each

2. OBJECTIVES:
1. To focus on emerging service environment in India.
2. To bring out the uniqueness of services marketing; and
3. To analyze deeply marketing principles and practices in various service markets.

3. THE PEDAGOGIC STREAMS:

Considering the importance of Services Marketing in the Indian environment, the course
will flow in many parallel streams.

While lectures and concept elaboration will constitute the mainstream, class seminars,
assignments (exercises) and projects specific to service segments, games and case
studies will form the other pedagogic streams. Lectures will be conducted in the form of
discussions to avoid monologue, and class-participation would be encouraged, whenever
necessary.

4. EVALUATION:
The evaluation criterion will be finalized only after discussing with the students who
are the beneficiaries of this seminar and after taking into consideration their strengths
and limitations. A proposed scheme of evaluation is as given below:
* Participation 10%
* Projects (Group) 20%
* Case study/ analysis 30%
* End-Semester Test 40%
100%
5. GROUP PROJECT:
Studying the customer service policy of any of the service organizations (such as an
airline, bank, authorized service centre of an automobile/ automobile dealership,
hospital, retail outlet, software/ consulting company, etc.) and auditing it critically for
the gaps, if any in service delivery and making suggestions for improvements.
The project report must appear as the tangible outcome of the course. A group may
choose to write a case instead of presenting it in the form of a report. The length of the
report /case should be between 10 to 15 typed pages, to be submitted at the time of
making the presentation. It will be evaluated on the basis of depth of research, originality
of the data and its analysis, and the credibility of the analysis.

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5.2 The end-sem test/ exam can be in any of the following forms:
a) A case study;
b) An open book test;
c) A multiple choice test with negative marking to avoid guesses and wrong
answers; or
6. FACULTY CONSULTATION:

It is intended that the students shall interact closely with the faculty throughout the
course, and the faculty shall be available for consultation and guidance, whenever
required.

7. READING MATERIAL:
The base book will be Lovelock Christopher, Jochen Wirts and J. Chatterjee:
Services Marketing -People, Technology and Strategy (2006), Pearson Education,
Fifth ed.. The students are advised to read the following books in addition to the base
book recommended which should be available in the library or in the market for the
additional reading.
 Nirgundkar Rajendra (2006): Services Marketing, McGraw Hill
 Palmer Adrian: Principles of Services Marketing, McGraw Hill
 Haksever C., B. Render, R. Russell and R. Murdick(2006): Service
Management and Operations; Second Ed., Pearson Education.
 Ravi Shankar: Services Marketing: The Indian Experience, Manas
Publications, Delhi.

8. SESSION-WISE PROGRAMME:

SESSION 1: Introduction to services marketing

 The meaning of service in business
 When marketing services, 4Ps are not enough
 Similarities and differences between goods and services marketing
Reading:1. Chapter 1, (Lovelock, and Wirtz)
2. The service-driven Service Company – Leonard A. Schlesinger and
James L Heskett.

SESSIONS 2 and 3: Role of service in creating a customer-centric organization

 Enhancing customer value
 Building the lens of consumer
 Customer measurement and management system

Reading: To be provided separately

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SESSIONS 4 and 5: Consumer behaviour in services, service segmentation,
targeting and positioning
 Understanding the customer expectations of service
 The process of service segmentation, targeting and positioning
Readings Chapters 2 and 3 (Lovelock and Wirtz)
Case 1: Starbucks Café

SESSIONS 6 and 7: Creating the service product, image, and branding with respect
to the competition
 Planning and creating services
 Identifying and classifying supplementary services
 Branding service products
Reading: Chapter 4 (Lovelock and Wirtz)
Case 2: Easyjet

SESSION 8: Promoting a service in competitive markets

 Challenges and opportunities in promoting services
 The marketing communication mix
Readings: 1. Chapter 5 (Lovelock and Wirtz)
2. Berry L. R. “Cultivating Service Brand Equity” (Lovelock and Wirtz,
p.207)

SESSION 9: Service pricing

 Issues in service pricing
 Price based segmentation
 Psychology of pricing
Reading: Chapter 6 (Lovelock and Wirtz)
Case 3: The Hertz Company

SESSION 10: Distribution of service

 Distribution in a services context
 Options for service delivery
 The role of intermediaries
Reading: Chapter 7 (Lovelock and Wirtz)
Case 4: Arvind Eye Hospital

SESSION 11: Balancing demand and capacity in services

 Fluctuations in demand and service productivity Factors associated with individual
performance and appraisal

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 Patterns and determinants of demand
 Managing demand levels
Reading: Chapter 9 (Lovelock and Wirtz)
Case 5: The Accra Beach Hotel (Lovelock and Wirtz)

SESSION 12: Planning the service environment

 The purpose of service environment
 Consumer response to service environments
 Dimensions of the service environments
Exercise: Studying the consumer response to different service environments
Reading: Chapter 10 (Lovelock and Wirtz)

SESSION 13: Managing people for service advantage

 Importance of people in services
 Human resource management: how to get it right?
Reading: 1. Chapter 11 (Lovelock and Wirtz)
2. Internal Marketing: Concepts, Measurement and Application – Susan K.
Foreman and Aurther H. Money

SESSIONS 14 and 15: Managing relationships, building loyalty and service

recovery
 Customer Service
 Approaches to improve customer relations and build loyalty
 Handling customer dissonance in services
 Customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction
Exercise: Customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction process
Reading: Chapters 12 and 13 (Lovelock and Wirtz)

SESSIONS 16 and 17: Service quality

 What is service quality?
 The Gap Model: A conceptual Tool to Identify and Correct Service Quality Problems
 Measuring and Improving Service Quality
Reading: Chapter 14 (Lovelock and Wirtz)
Case 6: Singapore Airlines: Using Technology for Service Excellence

SESSIONS 18 and 19: Global issues in services

 Culture and services
Reading: Chapter 4 (Hakesever, et. al)
Case 7: EURO DISNEY: An American in Paris

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SESSION 20: End –course review and project presentations