Eileen Bridges

E-Services: A Synthesis and Research Agenda

Services marketing research increases in both intensity and relevance as services contribute an increasing share of the world’s economy and as firms and their customers increasingly interact through electronic networks. E-services present sharp new challenges to both researchers and practitioners because the processes from beginning to end of the e-service value chain are markedly different than those for offline services and because the electronic environment offers increased flexibility throughout the value chain. This flexibility creates the requirement to impose some sort of structure on all of the possible service and channel design choices. E-service flexibility creates an opportunity, and the need, to think about the consumer early in the design process. Finally, flexibility makes it difficult, but critically important, to consider various scenarios suggesting future developments in e-services. Our goal is to provide an over-view of the past and some projections for the future in the new field of e-services.

New technology adoption in an innovative marketplace: Micro- and macro-level decision making models

Abstract Innovative markets are those which are undergoing rapid development due to changing customer needs or improving technological capability. Because these markets are so dynamic, new products are introduced frequently, and there is a high degree of uncertainty regarding their potential for success. We review literature relevant to firm decision-making, including such topics as timing the adoption of a technological innovation, determining optimal spending on an innovative technology, and predicting the success of a class of products which are based on a particular innovative technology. We consider these problems both at the micro (individual firm) and macro (aggregate) levels.

The ‘nag factor’ and children’s product categories

When products are designed for the youth market, should marketers focus on parents? Or does it make more sense to target children directly? In the latter case, marketers in the USA often rely on the ‘nag factor’, reaching children so they will influence their parents’ purchase decisions. Such influence may be observed as an apparent increase in varietyseeking behaviour. For product categories aimed at children, this study observes no difference in response to promotional activities (temporary price cuts, in-store displays and feature advertisements) between households with children and those without. However, households with children show greater sensitivity to price and greater variety seeking in the carbonated beverage and children’s breakfast cereal categories. Further, the present results are consistent with recent public policy research findings, in that media advertising may be driving children’s requests for brands in these categories. Because advertising messages cannot be completely prevented from reaching children, if one goal of American public policy is to promote healthy eating and reduce child obesity, it may be more effective to improve education and/or implement taxes that activate a price response in children’s food categories.

Service environment, provider mood, and provider‐customer interaction

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to improve understanding of the relationships between the service environment, service provider mood, and provider‐customer interaction. Specifically, mood is evaluated as a potential moderator of the relationship between the service environment and provider‐customer interaction.Design/methodology/approach – A multi‐method data collection approach was utilized, including observation and provider and customer surveys. Hypotheses are tested using regression, ANOVA, and MANOVA.Findings – Findings indicate that service provider evaluations of the physical environment improve in the presence of an appropriate ambient scent. Behavioral responses are also enhanced: providers are viewed as more courteous and customers more friendly. Perhaps the most interesting observation is that provider mood moderates the relationship between the service environment and customer perceptions of service provider behavior.Research limitations/implications – The only environmental characteris...

Demographic Differences in New Service Site Adoption Behaviour

Segmenting a target population so as to focus marketing efforts has been demonstrated to be effective by marketers of innovative manufactured goods. We apply this principle in estimatingcustomer adoption of a new service site, so that marketingcommunications can be more appropriately targeted. Weexamine sources of motivation for service adoption, specificallyformal marketing communications and word of mouthinformation, among the total market and then within key marketsegments, by applying a diffusion model to data on client use ofa new health service clinic. The results suggest that marketingcommunication decisions, particularly regarding media andmessage, can be targeted to reach innovative potential adopterswithin key market segments. Improved forecasts of adoptionpatterns for a second new service site further validate ourresults.

Forecasting the number of competing products in high-technology markets

Abstract Firm decisions to enter a high-tech product category or to extend an existing product line depend in part on the intensity of competition anticipated in the marketplace at the planned introduction time. We develop and empirically test three models that may be used to forecast the number of products competing in a developing marketplace as a function of time. By helping managers to predict the degree of competition they will face at alternative introduction times, these models may be used, in conjunction with demand growth models, to assess efforts to commercialize new products.

An Experiential Exercise in Service Environment Design

A new experiential exercise affords marketing students the opportunity to learn to design service environments. The exercise is appropriate for a variety of marketing courses and is especially beneficial in teaching services marketing because the proposed activity complements two other exercises widely used in this course. Service journal and blueprinting exercises are commonly assigned to examine the impact of “people” and “process” decisions; the exercise proposed in this article offers an opportunity to examine the influence of “physical evidence” on the customer experience. Thus, these three exercises expose students to hands-on activities related to all three of the additional Ps related to services marketing. In addition to explaining how to carry out the exercise, this article provides evidence of how it actively engages students in all four steps of the experiential learning cycle (concrete experience, abstract conceptualization, reflective observation, and active testing). Finally, the ability of this exercise to close the loop in experiential learning is discussed.

The Impact of Need Frequency on Service Marketing Strategy

Strategic marketing decisions for services are complicated by factors that distinguish services from goods. Because services are intangible, variable, and the production and consumption experiences are inseparable, trial of the identical service to be purchased cannot be offered. Services cannot be inventoried, so potential customers are lost if they are unaware of a particular service or it is unavailable during their time of need. Partially due to the difficulty of matching service supply to demand, service marketers typically assume that it is best to work toward retaining current clients, rather than focusing too much on attracting new customers. If there is an ongoing or frequent periodic need for the service, it may indeed be less expensive to maintain an existing customer relationship than to build a new one; however, for services that customers require infrequently, the marketer must find ways to build awareness and attract new customers. Just as marketing strategies for manufactured goods depend on whether the items are frequently purchased or durable, more effective service marketing decisions may be obtained by considering whether customer needs are frequent or not. We discuss these differences in general terms, then provide an application, developing an optimal promotion strategy decision model for an infrequently purchased service. We conclude that customers in the market for infrequently purchased services have particularly high needs for product awareness and purchase risk reduction, influencing strategic marketing decisions.

Consumer choices among service brands offering ethical attributes

ABSTRACT This research improves understanding of how consumers integrate their evaluations of ethical attributes with other service features in making brand choices. Although consumers appreciate brands they perceive to be ethical, few studies have examined what consumers are willing to give up in order to select a brand that offers specific ethical attributes, and under what conditions they might be willing to do so. To better characterize consumer choice, both compensatory and non-compensatory models are tested; findings suggest that compensatory models, which allow for tradeoffs between attributes, offer better fit. Both healthcare services and banking services are examined, to better understand consumer valuation of ethical attributes under different conditions. The assumptions are made that healthcare services are more variable and require greater interaction with front line providers and service facilities/equipment than do banking services, and findings are discussed accordingly. The results suggest that consumers value ethical attributes significantly more in banking than in healthcare, supporting the idea that services which offer low contact and hence also low variability lead consumers to a greater focus on ethical service attributes. Managerial implications are provided.

Hedonic and utilitarian shopping goals: a decade later

Abstract I am pleased to be invited to share some thoughts about my article on the topic of hedonic and utilitarian shopping goals, which was co-authored by Renée Florsheim and published in the Journal of Business Research in 2008. Our article is among the most-cited ever to appear in the Journal of Business Research (JBR), which is quite an honor for us as authors as well as a strong statement about the importance of the topic. What I have done in this invited article is to begin by describing the process by which we developed our ideas, then briefly revisit our key findings, and discuss in some detail the directions that have been taken by later researchers citing our seminal work. Finally, I conclude with ideas on some of the factors that influence how a paper becomes widely cited and suggest areas of further research that could build upon this work.