Marketing Service Products

Service businesses were an increasingly significant sector of most advanced economies throughout the 1980s and will continue to be a dynamic sector into the 1990s and beyond. As an illustration, in 1988, 70.2 per cent of civilian employment in the United States was accounted for by service businesses with the highest European equivalent (The Netherlands) standing at 68.8 per cent. Table 9.1 illustrates the potential range of service activities. At the same time, there has been an accelerating trend to differentiate what were once considered to be simply ‘goods’ by highlighting the service elements of the offer. Together with the deregulation experienced by many professional and government services, these factors have forced organisations to consider whether any differences will be required when marketing services.