Evert Gummesson

Whither Services Marketing? In Search of a New Paradigm and Fresh Perspectives

This article examines the received wisdom of services marketing and challenges the validity and continued usefulness of its core paradigm, namely, the assertion that four specific characteristics—intangibility, heterogeneity, inseparability, and perishability—make services uniquely different from goods. An alternative paradigm is proposed, based on the premise that marketing exchanges that do not result in a transfer of ownership from seller to buyer are fundamentally different from those that do. It posits that services offer benefits through access or temporary possession, instead of ownership, with payments taking the form of rentals or access fees. This rental/access perspective offers a different lens through which to view services. Important implications include opportunities to market goods in a service format; the need for more research into how time is perceived, valued, and consumed; and the notion of services as a means of sharing resources.

Making Relationship Marketing Operational

Based on a research project with the purpose of defining the essence and scope of relationship marketing (RM). The marketing mix theory, which constitutes the prevailing approach to marketing, is made operational through the definition of the 4Ps and extensions of these. The core is a presentation of 30 relationships, the 30Rs, as a way of making the RM philosophy more operational and generally applicable. The 30Rs provide a basis for companies to work out their own specific relationship portfolio as part of their marketing planning process.

Marketing‐orientation Revisited: The Crucial Role of the Part‐time Marketer

Most of a company′s marketing is not carried out by the professional full‐time marketer but by the amateur part‐time marketer (PTM), who is omnipotent both inside and outside a company. The PTM influences customer relations and revenue without belonging to the marketing or sales department. Unless the PTM is recognised, marketing can never be efficient. Although this is in essence a matter of marketing‐orientation, which of course is not new, it has been found to be a much more profound and difficult issue to implant in organisations than is suggested by marketing textbooks. The purpose here is to identify current approaches to marketing‐orientation and organise them around one central concept, the PTM. In order to do so theory from three areas will be used: services marketing, the network/interaction theory of industrial marketing, and total quality management.

Qualitative research in marketing: roadmap for a wilderness of complexity and unpredictability

Purpose – To discuss and analyse three themes in qualitative research in marketing which are objects of both frustration and confusion: analysis and interpretation; theory generation; and a quest for scientific pluralism and individual researcher lifestyles.Design/methodology/approach – Underpinning the discussion is that complexity, ambiguity, fuzziness, chaos, change, uncertainty and unpredictability are characteristics of a market economy; that qualitative and subjective interpretation is necessary to add the spark of life to marketing data; and that general marketing theory needs more attention from researchers.Practical implications – The proper use of methodology and the generation of better marketing theory will make it easier for practitioners to reach the right decisions.Findings – Quantitative and qualitative research processes are not by nature antagonistic, although their advocates may be; quantitative methodology carries qualitative “bugs”, necessary for its sustenance.Originality/value – The...

Relationship Marketing in the New Economy

Abstract This article aims to put relationship marketing in the context of the New Economy; it is a quest for valid and practical theory. It is preoccupied with the reigning marketing management paradigm and a shift to a relationship marketing paradigm. A systemic view, referred to as total relationship marketing, is presented together with the core values and beliefs of relationship marketing. The article concludes that relationship marketing is fundamentally different from traditional marketing management and that successful implementation requires new mindsets.

Return on relationships (ROR): the value of relationship marketing and CRM in business‐to‐business contexts

This article is about ongoing efforts to come to grips with the question: Does relationship marketing pay? The question is discussed under the umbrella concept return on relationships. Much of what is being done in relationship marketing and customer relationship management has a bearing on both business‐to‐business and business‐to‐consumer marketing, and on manufacturing as well as services. Although there is a shortage of empirical research and proven practice, the article aims to show current efforts to generate knowledge of return on relationships, with particular emphasis on business‐to‐business environments. The article ends with action strategies to improve return on relationships, and a summary of conclusions.

All research is interpretive

This article advocates recognition of interpretive elements in business research and the need for improvement of the researcher’s interpretive skills. The scientific tradition specifically concerned with interpretation is called hermeneutics. However, interpretation exists in all types of scientific studies, be they quantitative or qualitative. The article presents lessons from hermeneutics and spells out the interpretive content of research in general and with specific focus on business‐to‐business marketing. Interpretive methods, when applied to business, are characterized by efforts to understand the complexity of the business world and its products, services and markets, and to add meaning to strategies, actions and events. A set of methods designated interactive research is discussed. These are more inspired by the humanities, sociology, anthropology and modern natural sciences than by the social sciences research paradigm as it is currently applied in most mainstream research in marketing.

Qualitative research in marketing

Purpose – To discuss and analyse three themes in qualitative research in marketing which are objects of both frustration and confusion: analysis and interpretation; theory generation; and a quest for scientific pluralism and individual researcher lifestyles.Design/methodology/approach – Underpinning the discussion is that complexity, ambiguity, fuzziness, chaos, change, uncertainty and unpredictability are characteristics of a market economy; that qualitative and subjective interpretation is necessary to add the spark of life to marketing data; and that general marketing theory needs more attention from researchers.Practical implications – The proper use of methodology and the generation of better marketing theory will make it easier for practitioners to reach the right decisions.Findings – Quantitative and qualitative research processes are not by nature antagonistic, although their advocates may be; quantitative methodology carries qualitative “bugs”, necessary for its sustenance.Originality/value – The...

Relationship marketing as a paradigm shift: some conclusions from the 30R approach

Stresses issues brought up in the first World Wide Web conference on relationship marketing. Based on research on relationship marketing going back to the early 1970s which resulted in the definition of 30 relationships in marketing ‐ the 30R approach. Brings up inconsistencies in marketing, among them the mix‐up between relationship marketing as a phenomenon and a term; values and ethics; practice versus theory and education; differences between Europe and the USA; and the ghost‐hunt for an unambiguous definition. Concludes that relationship marketing requires a dramatic change in marketing thinking and behaviour; it is a paradigm shift, not an add‐on to traditional marketing management.

Service Management: An Evaluation and the Future

Deals with the future of service management in specific service management terms but also in broader, societal terms, from both a practitioner and a scholarly perspective. Claims that service management concerns not only what is traditionally known as service organizations, but also constitutes a future paradigm for organizations in general. The goods‐services division in its traditional sense is outdated; it represents a myopic production view, while the service economy is an expression for customer‐oriented and citizen‐oriented, value‐enhancing offering. Although service management has taken a giant step since the late 1970s, we are just beginning to see a new era of management that will fight the battle for economic survival in the future service society.