GSB 737 Services Marketing
GSB 737 Services Marketing deals with the unique aspects of services marketing that separate it from goods marketing. There are a number of characteristics of services as products which are significantly different to goods and which have profound effects on how they should be marketed. Primary amongst these is that, for the most part, they have not been produced before the consumer enters the equation which makes them difficult for the consumer to evaluate thereby increasing perceived risk and introducing specific pricing and promotional considerations. The other major factor that separates good for service marketing is the role of people in the ultimate satisfaction of the consumer. As most services are produced in some way through an interaction between service provider and consumer issues to do with recruitment, layout of the service production space (the servicescape) and issues of customisation are significant. This interaction between customer and producer also brings into focus the nature of processes and how they can be developed to further the strategic goals of the organisation.
GSB 737 addresses the unique aspects of services marketing, identifying not only how it differs from goods marketing but also providing valuable analytical tools for the analysis and development of services marketing strategy and tactics. It has a practical focus and contains many concepts and tools that can be put straight into action. This course is particularly relevant to anyone employed or running services. It is quite different to standard marketing courses in content and application so is also of potential interest to any student of marketing. Assessment will consist of two written assignments, one theoretically based the other more applied and an end of trimester exam.