The distinguishing features of our text and the new features in this edition include the following:

• Greater emphasis on the topic of service quality than existing marketing and service marketing texts.
• Increased focus on customer expectations and perceptions and what they imply for marketers.
• A new feature called “Strategy Insight” in each chapter—a feature that focuses on emerging or existing strategic initiatives involving services.
• Increased coverage of business-to-business applications.
• Increased technology and Internet coverage, including updated “Technology Spotlight” boxes in each chapter.
• A chapter on service recovery that includes a conceptual framework for understanding the topic.
• A chapter on the financial and economic impact of service quality.
• A chapter on customer-defined service standards.
• Cross-functional treatment of issues through integration of marketing with other disciplines such as operations and human resources management.
• Consumer-based pricing and value pricing strategies.
• A chapter on integrated services marketing communications.
• Description of a set of tools that must be added to basic marketing techniques when dealing with services rather than goods.
• Introduction of three service Ps to the traditional marketing mix and increased focus on customer relationships and relationship marketing strategies.
• An entire chapter that recognizes human resource challenges and human resource strategies for delivering customer-focused services.
• Coverage of new service development processes and a detailed and complete introduction to service blueprinting—a tool for describing, designing, and positioning services.
• Coverage of the customer’s role in service delivery and strategies for making customers productive partners in service creation.
• A chapter on the role of physical evidence, particularly the physical environment or “servicescape.”
• Global features in each chapter and expanded examples of global services marketing.
• Exercises in each chapter.
• Updated or new examples throughout the text.