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The emergence of the new service marketing: Nordic School perspectives
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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer a reflective account of the emergence of new marketing theory as seen through the lens of the Nordic School of Service. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on documents and the authors' self-lived history and current involvement (“management action research”). Findings – Northern European scholars, especially from Finland and Sweden, have felt free to design their own theory, at the same time collaborating internationally. Contributions include an early alert to services and business-to-business (B2B) marketing being neglected; dissatisfaction with service quality; that the service economy is more than the service sector; and the insight that relationship marketing and many-to-many network marketing better represent service reality. A novel service logic abandoning the divisive goods/services, B2B/B2C (business-to-consumer), and supplier/customer categories, based on commonalities and interdependencies is arriving. Nordic School methodology is characterised by induction, case study research, and theory generation, to better address complexity and ambiguity in favour of validity and relevance. In the 2000s, the synthesis provided by service-dominant (S-D) logic, IBM's service science, and network and systems theory have inspired a lively international dialogue. Research limitations/implications – The hegemony of the marketing management of mass-manufactured consumer goods was challenged when services entered the marketing agenda in the 1970s. During the 1980s and 1990s the differences been goods marketing and service marketing were explored and the understanding for relationships, networks and interaction developed. It gradually laid the ground for the integrated goods/services approach that is now the major challenge for service researchers and practitioners alike. Originality/value – It is unfortunate if developments of marketing in the USA are perceived as a universal standard for marketing. By studying contributions from many cultures and nations in other countries the paper enhances the understanding of the diversity of marketing. This article presents such a case from Northern Europe.
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... The main emphasis is on determining employees' degree of hospitableness, using quantitative methods. These findings suggest that the discourse follows a more product-centered approach since most of the categorization is on EMPL (Fisk et al. 1993;Gummesson and Grönroos 2012). That is not to claim that employee characteristics and performance do not matter; they matter immensely. ...
... That is not to claim that employee characteristics and performance do not matter; they matter immensely. However, to grow people and nurture their positive behavior and attributes, there must be procedures in place (George 1990;Gummesson and Grönroos 2012) based on rigorous systems and strategy (Garg and Garg 2018) and grounded within the OC (Voon 2008). ...
This article offers a systematic review of research trends and methodology, with a focus on the state and order of knowledge regarding service orientation in hospitality and tourism research. A search algorithm was created through Web of Science and Scopus using search words related to service orientation and criteria regarding hospitality and tourism, yielding 154 articles. Duplicates and articles that did not focus on hospitality and tourism or did not have service orientation as their focus were removed, leaving 50 articles that were reviewed thoroughly and are the bases of the results. The review’s main findings are that discussion of service orientation seems to be selective in categorizations and bound mostly to employee hospitableness, therefore leaving out organizational culture, strategy, and process. There is, however, evidence in recent literature that scholars are taking a more holistic view of the phenomena. Most articles contribute to knowledge-building through the third order of knowledge, leaving little room to define concepts or gather mutual understandings through empirical data. Based on our findings, we recommend conscious and continuous building of tools and methods that will contribute to a more in-depth and holistic understanding and measurement of service orientation in hospitality and tourism.
... economics, psychol¬ogy, sociology, management, cultural studies) representing alternative worldviews. Through the lens of the Nordic School of Service, Gummesson & Grönroos (2012) offer their own theory and an alternative worldviewbuilt on their self-lived history and current involvement with management action researchgenerating a lively debate about diversity in marketing and the importance of including contributions from many cultures and different countries. "It is unfortunate if developments of marketing in the USA are perceived as a universal standard for marketing" (Gummesson & Grönroos, 2012, p. 479). ...
Traditionally, marketing innovation has represented the implementation
of a new marketing approach involving significant changes in product
design, packing, product placement, product promotion or prices. Today,
looking for what really matters in marketing innovation leads us to
question the entire process of marketing, its role and potential impact
on organizations and society as a whole. In this paper, we examine the
importance of marketing innovation in a turbulent and challenging world.
In this line we discuss a set of evolving requirements that embrace the
integration of theory and practice, theoretical diversity, dealing with
paradoxes, creativity and risk taking from all stakeholders, as well as
the reinvention of the role of the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and
new perspectives on marketing curricula and learning methodologies.
... In marketing literature, to achieve this goal, businesses need to give more attention to developing a solid organisational culture where employees represent the cornerstone in such a culture. According to the Nordic School of Services (Gummesson and Gronroos, 2012;Gronroos, 1997Gronroos, , 1985, internal marketing (IM) is the key to external marketing success. Thus, the firms that do not or will not embrace the issues of IM into their strategic marketing plan will see their market share and profit base erode (Greene et al., 1994). ...
The main aim of this study is to achieve an in-depth understanding of the mechanism by which internal marketing affects job satisfaction. A theoretical framework was developed basing on related marketing literature. The study model was intended to determine the influence of internal marketing dimensions (IMD) in tourism and hospitality industry, particularly in the Dead Sea Region in Jordan. 378 valid questionnaires were retrieved from respondents representing different departments in targeted hotels and resorts. SPSS statistical package and its related module Amos were used to test the relationship between the independent variables of (IMD) and dependent variables related to employees' satisfaction (ES). The findings of the study have indicated the existence of significant positive correlations between three main dimensions of internal marketing (service culture, human resources management, and marketing information) on employees' job satisfaction. However, results have shown a less motivation effect on employee's satisfaction (ES). Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Ashour, M.L. and Al-Debi, H.A. (2022) 'The effect of internal marketing on employee job satisfaction: evidence from a Jordanian tourism and hospitality setting', Int. successfully supervised several Master and PhD students. His research interest revolves around hospitality and tourism marketing. He has published in various international journals, books and conference proceedings.
... Two of the most accepted notions were the Nordic School and North American Perspective (Palmer, Lindgreen, & Vanhamme, 2005). Gummesson and Grönroos (2012) realized that service firms do not have products in the conventional consumer goods fashion; the equivalent of the product is an interactive process and its outcome. This led to a model of perceived service quality (Grönroos, 1984) with two fundamental dimensions, namely functional quality relating to the process aspect of service or how the service is delivered, and the technical quality relating to the outcome or what customers receive as a result of their interactions with the firm. ...
Purpose: The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated and triggered changes in online shopping especially in an emerging market. This paper develops a modification of SERVQUAL model to examine the relationship between individual dimensions of e-service quality, online trust and purchase intentions in singular online shopping platform. Research design, data and methodology: Data from an online survey of 385 Lazada's shoppers were used to test the research model. The structural equation modeling technique was performed to test the research model. Results: The analytical results revealed that five dimensions of e-service quality were positively correlated with one another whereas some dimensions were negatively correlated with purchase intentions. The results of this study provide new insight into the literature as well as practical implications for marketers especially in Thai online market. Conclusion: This study develops the instrument dimensions of e-service quality through modifying the SERVQUAL model to examine the e-commerce context and to testify how these individual dimensions are interlinked with one another. It also suggests that responsiveness has two-sided affects that in responses which are too prompt and insistent could make the customer feel uncomfortable and perhaps ending up with no interaction and transaction.
... As Lipkin and Heinonen (2015, p. 236) point out, "despite the notion that service exchange and value creation is dynamic in nature research has traditionally approached experiences as rather static." We agree with Lipkin and Heinonen and other scholars of the Nordic School of thought (e.g., Heinonen et al., 2010;Gummesson and Grönroos, 2012) that customer experiences are of a more dynamic nature. ...
Purpose
This study aims to address the need to empirically investigate the luxury customer service experiences of the ultra-high-net-worth individual (UHNWI) segment by conducting and analyzing interviews with 20 clients flying private jets. The results lead to a conceptualization of the UHNW private aviation customer experience.
Design/methodology/approach
This study applied a three-step method to explore the meaning and domain of the UHNWI luxury service experience. First, the perception and corresponding attributes of customers’ experiences using private aviation services were examined through 20 in-depth interviews and by using the soft laddering technique. Second, this study coded and, subsequently, purified the data by means of a systematic comparison approach and hierarchical coding. Third, a panel of judges, using the emerging consensus technique, scrutinized and validated the emerging dimensions.
Findings
The analysis reveals the customer experience (CX) and motivations differ significantly between business and leisure use, moving from a functional toward an experiential value focus. The findings emphasize the lack of social value for the UHNWI CX and introduce time as a new value dimension.
Research limitations/implications
This study provides multiple contributions to the customer experience, luxury and luxury services literature. This study enhances scholarly understandings of the holistic UHNWI CX in the context of an absolute luxury offering, thus providing a needed conceptualization of an underresearched customer segment, namely, the UHNWI. It delivers insights on the different motivations and experience UHNWI are seeking for according to the context. This study proposes a new luxury value dimension: time.
Practical implications
This study highlights multiple opportunities for UHNWI customer experience improvement. The findings reveal that different clients are looking for different experiences in terms of business versus leisure use. The key drivers and expectations shift from functional (price/availability/flexibility) to experiential factors (comfort/onboard experience/relationship with crew and pilot). Communication, marketing and CX management strategies and tactics need to emphasize this important distinction regarding what drives client behavior in the private aviation setting.
Originality/value
The contribution of this paper is threefold. First, it defines UHNWI characteristics and overall experiences using the unique über-service of private aviation, thus advancing scholarly understanding of both the luxury customer and the luxury customer service experience beyond the proposed traditional drivers of luxury consumption. Second, this study expands the conceptual foundation for the UHNWI “über-luxury” service experience, which, given the importance of the UHNWI segment, is important. Third, this study contributes to theoretical knowledge by extending customer value perception in the luxury context by introducing the luxury value dimension of time. This study concludes with a discussion of its findings’ implications for luxury research and practice, providing a future research agenda with regard to UHNW.
This research examines the role of dual types of customers’ self�construal (i.e., independent vs. interdependent) on value co�creation attitude and behaviour in retail service encounters. Using
a mall-intercept survey, 463 responses were collected. Structural
equal modeling was employed to analyse the results. Findings
suggest that customers’ independent self-construal does not affect
their value co-creation attitude, implying that such customers solely
create value on their own but do not participate in co-creation in
service encounters. On the other hand, the interdependent self�construal has a strong significant impact on their value co-creation
attitude; as a result, such customers create value independently as
well as co-create value with the service employees by collaborating
in service encounters. We argue that for service providers who want
to encourage co-creation in retail markets, understanding the sig�nificance of consumers’ self-construals is essential. This study has
a number of implications. For instance, it shows that businesses
might enhance the shopping experience by co-creating value with
interdependent self-construal customers. Customers that have
interdependent self-construals benefit from direct connection
with frontline staff during service interactions, and as a result,
they can play a crucial part in bringing creative ideas to the retail
market. This study adds to our understanding of who indepen�dently create value and who co-creates value with others by analys�ing the relative influence of two types of self-construal in retail
markets
Bu araştırmada, müşteri etkileşimi ve müşteri sadakati arasındaki ilişkide müşteri vatandaşlık davranışının aracı rolünün incelenmesi amaçlanmaktadır. Bu doğrultuda, araştırmanın verisi e-ticaret pazaryeri
sitelerinden alışveriş yapan 313 müşteriden çevrimiçi anket yöntemi
ile toplanmış ve analizlerde SPSS Process makro kullanılmıştır. Araştırmanın sonuçlarına göre, müşteri etkileşiminin, müşteri vatandaşlık
davranışı ve müşteri sadakati üzerinde olumlu etkisi bulunmaktadır.
Bunun yanı sıra, müşteri etkileşimi ile müşteri sadakati arasındaki ilişkide müşteri vatandaşlık davranışının tamamlayıcı aracı rolünün bulunduğu tespit edilmiştir. Bu araştırma, müşteri etkileşiminin sonuçlarını incelemesi yönüyle literatüre katkı sağlamaktadır. Aynı zamanda,
müşteri vatandaşlık davranışı ile sadakat arasındaki ilişkiyi ampirik
olarak ele alan çalışmalara katkıda bulunmaktadır.
This study aims to investigate the mediating role of customer
citizenship behavior in the relationship between customer
engagement and customer loyalty. In this vein, data from a sample
of 313 customers of e-commerce marketplaces were collected by
using online survey method and analyzed using SPSS Process macro.
The findings support that customer engagement affects customer
citizenship behavior and customer loyalty positively. The findings
also suggest that customer citizenship behavior has a complementary
mediating role in the relationship between customer engagement
and customer loyalty. This study contributes to literature in terms of
investigating the consequences of customer engagement. Besides,
this study contributes to research that empirically examine the
relationship between customer citizenship behavior and customer
loyalty.
Purpose
This article proposes a new theoretical background against which to measure customer experience for omnichannel service deliveries and communications based on the concept of proximity. This represents a first step in developing a new measurement approach for omnichannel customer experience.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodological approach is based on literature review and theory development. Various streams of literature are integrated on the basis of their interactionist nature (service logic, psychological distance theory, and omnichannel customer experience literature), and theory is developed based thereon.
Findings
Successful omnichannel service deliveries and communications should build proximity with the customer during interactions at the different touchpoints. Proximity represents the value-in-use for the customer, who is coproducer of value at each interaction. Proximity can be applied to all touchpoints, thus strengthening seamlessness for omnichannel service deliveries and communications.
Originality/value
This research advances knowledge by integrating the concepts of omnichannel and proximity under the lenses of service logic. The author proposes a new theoretical background for the measurement of omnichannel customer experience that contributes to the literature. In modern omnichannel service deliveries and communications, a measurement approach based on proximity fulfills the need to reconcile customer experiences at both remote and physical touchpoints for a holistic and coherent customer experience. Use of the four proximity dimensions (social, temporal, spatial, and hypothetical) gives flexibility to managers to build proximity across remote and physical touchpoints in different industries.
Many trends are shaping the future of marketing theory and the theory of the markets in the contemporary era. These trends are based on the general dominant shifts in value-generating phenomena within markets and the new spaces of convergence within the sociological structures of the markets. The major shifts can be described based on a general and fundamental emerging new reality of an evolution from the atomistic Weltanschauung of value perception of products based on the goods-dominant-logic (GDL) towards a bits and data dominated, ubiquitously interconnected and global market of the contemporary Anthropocene age. In essence, the conglomeration of these developments is found within foundational and structural societal shifts, such as; the developments of artificial intelligence (AI) and data science, a global consumer movement for sustainability, the changing global market requiring a quick response from the marketers and the limitations of traditional marketing science to cope with these new challenges. The chapter addresses these issues and develops a unified theoretical framework for marketing and the new markets in the contemporary era.KeywordsMarketsMarketing theoryDesignCyber-physical spacesService-dominant logicCo-evolution
The truth is that competitivity has gained a strong growth in business, and it is important that companies pay attention to the practice of their relational marketing strategies. Technology, innovation, and digital have been transforming the way society operates in the market. Organizations must look for current opportunities in order to add value of their business and negotiation process and of course in the way they act and interact with the target. This way, the current research demonstrates the importance of CRM in relational marketing practices, particularly in non-profit organizations. Regarding the methodology, a case study was developed using a qualitative methodology through semi-structured interviews in a convenience sample, with the aim of retaining the opinion fundraising and marketing responsible department between the different organizations under study. The main result of this exploratory study appears to prove the importance of using CRM for the good practice of relational marketing strategies in order to attract, retain, and build trust with their stakeholders.
The authors offer their personal interpretations as participant-observers together with a data-based analysis of the evolution of the services marketing literature. Bibliographic analysis of more than 1000 English-language, general services marketing publications spanning four decades provides the empirical base for the paper. Using an evolutionary metaphor as the framework, the authors trace the literature through three stages: Crawling Out (1953–79); Scurrying About (1980–85); and Walking Erect (1986-present). The discussion of the three stages shows how the literature has evolved from the early services-marketing-is-different debate to the maturation of specific topics (e.g., service quality, service encounters) and the legitimization of the services marketing literature by major marketing journals. A classification and summary of the publishing outlets where the literature has appeared is presented. The article closes with discussion and speculation on the future of the services marketing literature.
Marketing inherited a model of exchange from economics, which had a dominant logic based on the exchange of “goods,” which usually are manufactured output. The dominant logic focused on tangible resources, embedded value, and transactions. Over the past several decades, new perspectives have emerged that have a revised logic focused on intangible resources, the cocreation of value, and relationships. The authors believe that the new per- spectives are converging to form a new dominant logic for marketing, one in which service provision rather than goods is fundamental to economic exchange. The authors explore this evolving logic and the corresponding shift in perspective for marketing scholars, marketing practitioners, and marketing educators.
Since the introductory article for what has become known as the “service-dominant (S-D) logic of marketing,” “Evolving to
a New Dominant Logic for Marketing,” was published in the Journal of Marketing (Vargo, S. L., & Lusch, R. F. (2004a)), there
has been considerable discussion and elaboration of its specifics. This article highlights and clarifies the salient issues
associated with S-D logic and updates the original foundational premises (FPs) and adds an FP. Directions for future work
are also discussed.
KeywordsService-dominant logic-New-dominant logic-Service
The role of values in developing and managing service companies has been under researched in the existing literature - until now. This book analyzes a large organization (IKEA) as a basis for values based service for sustainable business. The authors provide an overview of the history of IKEA and the social and environmental perspectives that have acted as driving forces for creating economic value. They go on to develop values-based service thinking within the areas of service experience, service brand, and service leadership. The book concludes by comparing IKEA to other values-based service companies (such as Starbucks, H&M, and Body Shop); from these reflections, the book presents the key principles for a sustainable, values-based service business.
Discusses the nature and sometimes negative consequences of the dominating marketing paradigm of today, marketing mix management, and furthermore discusses how modern research into, for example, industrial marketing and services marketing as well as customer relationship economics shows that another approach to marketing is required. This development is supported by evolving trends in business, such as strategic partnerships, alliances and networks. Suggests relationship marketing, based on relationship building and management, as one emerging new marketing paradigm of the future. Concludes that the simplicity of the marketing mix paradigm, with its Four P model, has become a straitjacket, fostering toolbox thinking rather than an awareness that marketing is a multi‐faceted social process, and notes that marketing theory and customers are the victims of today′s mainstream marketing thinking. By using the notion of a marketing strategy continuum, discusses a number of consequences of a relationship‐type marketing strategy for the focus of marketing, pricing, quality management, internal marketing and intraorganizational development. Briefly comments on the possibility of developing a general marketing theory based on the relationship building and management approach.
