Services Marketing, 6/e, is written for students and businesspeople who recognise the vital role that services play in the economy and its future. The advanced economies of the world are now dominated by services, and virtually all companies view service as critical to retaining their customers today and in the future. This edition focuses on knowledge needed to implement service strategies for competitive advantage across industries. In addition to standard marketing topics (such as pricing), this text introduces students to entirely new topics that include management and measurement of service quality, service recovery, the linking of customer measurement to performance measurement, service blueprinting, customer cocreation, and cross-functional treatment of issues through integration of marketing with disciplines such as operations and human resources. Each of these topics represents pivotal content for tomorrow's businesses as they attempt to build strong relationships with their customers.

Author Biography

Valarie Zeithaml is the Roy and Alice H. Richards Bicentennial Professor of Marketing and Associate Dean for the MBA Program at the Kenan-Flagler Business School of the University of North Carolina. MARY JO BITNER serves as Academic Director for the Center for Services Leadership at Arizona State University. Dr. Bitner was a founding faculty member of the Center for Services Leadership created for the study of services marketing and management. Dr. Bitner has published more than 50 articles and has received a number of awards for her research in leading journals, including the Journal of Marketing, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Retailing, International Journal of Service Industry Management, and Academy of Management Executive. She has consulted with and presented seminars and workshops for numerous businesses. In 2003, Dr. Bitner was honored with the Career Contributions to the Services Discipline award by the American Marketing Association's Services Special Interest Group. DWAYNE D. GREMLER, Bowling Green State University, received his MBA and PhD degrees from Arizona State University. He is a passionate advocate for the research and instruction of services marketing issues. He has served as Chair of the American Marketing Association's Services Marketing Special Interest Group and has helped organize services marketing conferences in Australia, The Netherlands, France, and the United States. He has been the recipient of several research awards and while a professor at the University of Idaho, Dr. Gremler received the First Interstate Bank Student Excellence in Award for teaching, an award determined by students in the College of Business and Economics.