The objective of this course focuses on problems and strategies specific to the marketing of services. It supplements essential marketing and marketing strategy courses. As the world of business transforms into a global knowledge-based economy, value creation for customers is primarily going to shape through the provision of services, rather than goods. In most economies, services account for more than 50% of the economy. Against this background, this SMU-X course is designed for undergraduates students seeking to develop a deeper understanding of services. Strategies used by successful services marketers to overcome problems unique to service industries like banking, healthcare, financial services, insurance, hospitality, consulting, telecom, media, and IT services will be discussed. Manufacturing and high tech industries which depend on services to provide added value will also be addressed.
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
• To develop an understanding and appreciation of the key theoretical concepts and tools in the domain of
services
• To enhance decision-making skills related to multiple facets of marketing services
• Analyze how consumers form service expectations
• Enumerate the issues in creating the service product
• Create appropriate communication strategies for marketing services
• Analyze various pricing strategies
• Explain the different distribution methods
• Examine the design of service processes
• Devise strategies to balance demand and capacity
• Create an appropriate strategy for managing service providers
