Replacing Place In Marketing-Mix Strategy For Hospitality Services

In the conventional marketing mix, a focus on physical distribution handicaps the use of "place" in planning marketing strategy for hospitality services. To replace it, the article introduces a new group of variables called "performance," which focus instead on availability and accessibility. The author does not intend to offer detailed descriptions of specific variables but rather to suggest associations and relationships among issues and options in marketing hospitality services that may not previously have been recognized, and to address the diverse segments of the hospitality services industry in general, including lodging, food, beverage, private club, cruise ship, and travel-destination services.

Service guarantees: A strategic mechanism to minimise customers' perceived risk in service organisations

Service offerings are largely intangible in nature. Customers are thus unable to assess the purchase outcome prior to experience, rendering the risk of possible customer dissatisfaction very high. It is argued that the concept of service guarantees proposed by services management theory can be effectively utilised to reduce the perceived risk of dissatisfaction for the customer in service organisations. Additionally, it is suggested that service guarantees force management to undertake activities which elevate the superiority of the organisation in the eyes of the customer and, thus, the opportunity to transform one-time customers into loyal ones. The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to illustrate how customers’ behavioural intentions can be influenced by the use of a service guarantee; and second, to outline a systematic process that can help service business managers to develop and implement an effective service guarantee. This research highlights the numerous benefits available to service organisations by utilising the service guarantee as a strategic tool. Some of the important management implications are also outlined.