International Marketing of Services and Developing Countries

ABSTRACT

The internationalization of services has gained great momentum in recent years. This article analyzes prospects of developing countries in the international marketing of services by examining past trends of service exports by developing countries, and relating these to demand for services in developed countries through a series of autoregression analyses. Results show that developing countries were marginalized in the international market for services over the 20-year study period. However, there are bright future prospects. The greatest prospects would be in travel services, followed by transport services. Implications of the findings for government policy in the service sector are discussed.     

Comparative analysis of experience-oriented customer needs based on the Kano model: an empirical study

Based on the concept of experience economy, this study starts off by proposing that goods, services, and experiences are dimensions of experience-oriented service functions, illustrating an integrated approach which adopts the basic Kano model and customer satisfaction coefficients matrix to categorize and prioritize experience-oriented service functions. An empirical study was then conducted to explore customer need attributes for digital television (DTV) applications. As a result, 445 samples in Taiwan are collected and analyzed, showing different segments have different need attributes. In addition, a comparative analysis of experience-oriented customer needs for experienced and inexperienced users was applied in order to provide differentiated and continuous competitiveness during different stages of the product life cycle; then the result was used as a reference for future development of experience-oriented service functions.     

Spatial spillovers and employment growth in the service sector

This article examines the impact of local knowledge spillovers on employment growth in the service sector at both the theoretical and empirical level. It is argued that, in addition to life cycle and tradability effects, spillovers in services are likely to be strongly influenced by distinctive service characteristics and labour-related factors, which impact on the channels through which spillovers are transmitted. Empirical models of employment growth suggest significant differences in spillover effects between industry and services and across public, private, business and personal services. In particular, many services appear to benefit from spillovers arising from a diverse local economy.     

基于分行业面板数据的服务业全要素生产率分析——以浙江省为例

文章利用面板单位根与协整分析技术构建面板数据模型,以浙江为例,对服务业分行业的全要素生产率进行估算,在此基础上分析了各行业全要素生产率的增长率及对产出的贡献率。研究结果表明,相比资本密集型行业,劳动密集型和知识密集型行业资本弹性系数小于劳动力弹性系数;相比生活型服务业,生产型服务业的全要素生产率的增长率较快,对产出的贡献率较高;服务业分行业的全要素生产率的增长率及对产出的贡献率呈现不断提高态势。     

Understanding Promotional Service Interactions through Social Exchange Theory of Affect

Dyadic commercial relations during service interactions are not possible without exchange of emotions between the interactional partners. The study theorizes social exchange theory of affect and explores triggers of emotions from customers and service agents that enable rapport during promotion of products. The study conceptualizes that service agents deliver overall authentic service delivery, which is a composite of authentic emotions and affective service delivery. These delivered emotions are reciprocated by the customers who are high on agreeableness. The study also validates the link between rapport, customer satisfaction, and future buying intentions of the customers. Data were collected through between subjects experimental design on 120 participants. The results were analyzed and structural model was developed using partial least-square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique. Results indicate that customer employee rapport is best predicted when overall authentic service delivery and customer agreeableness mutually interacts. The study is limited to outbound promotional services and its validity for other kinds of services and inbound calls awaits exploration.     

对我国老年人社区服务供给的思考

讨论老年服务机构的供给现状、发展趋势以及职能定位等问题。老年社区服务机构的民营化应成为发展的重点 ,国家兴办的服务机构应把具有较大吸引力的项目做得更好 ,同时逐步退出 ,转为民营 ,在老年服务市场中引入竞争机制。社区老年服务机构的重要职能之一在于提供老年人参与文娱活动的机会以及基于老龄保健的各种形式的护理服务及咨询。建议建立健全老年人电子档案以密切社区与其他社会资源的相互配合 ,加强服务跟踪 ,提高服务效率 ,共同提高老年人的生活质量。     

Legacy Writing and the Consumption of Biographic Services

This study focuses on legacy writing and the development of the life‐history business (e.g., family ghostwriters and writing workshops). A theoretical model is proposed to study the underlying mental processes that lead the elderly to consume such services. This model was empirically tested on a sample of 392 individuals aged from 60 to 92 years. Results highlighted the following: the role of generativity and death preparation reminiscence on identity preservation issues in later life, the strong desire to contribute to collective memories (i.e., to reach people outside of the family circle), and the social nature of the consumption of services that could be considered as a means of sharing emotions. The results of this study will lead to a more in‐depth understanding of consumer behavior regarding the transmission and preservation of the self at end of life, and may also help service providers to improve their products and services.     

A measurement model for service capability from the customer perspective

This study develops a model to construct three quantitative indices for service capabilities from the customer perspective. The concept is derived from process capability indices which have been widely used to measure process capability and performance in manufacturing. This model expands their use in services by incorporating Taguchi’s quadratic loss function, zone of tolerance, and three-factor theory. To demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed indices, a case study of a telecom business was performed to assist the case firm in realizing the service capability of key factors for improving future service quality.     

Distributed product knowledge service: model and system framework

Conventional business models focus on providing end products and services regardless of product- or service-related knowledge. Such models are unable to meet customer requirements in a knowledge economy. Therefore, to effectively capture, accumulate, store, and apply knowledge to provide product knowledge service to customers is central to enterprise success. This study has the following three objectives: (i) to propose a novel product knowledge service model based on the product lifecycle and its supply chain, (ii) to design a system framework for product knowledge service, and (iii) to implement the proposed system. The product knowledge service model can be seen as a product knowledge supplier chain based on the integration of the product lifecycle and its supply chain. Based on the knowledge management cycle, software agent technology, and service-oriented architecture, the agent-based knowledge service-oriented system framework is designed to reflect the distributed, flexible, and hierarchical characteristics of the product knowledge service model. Finally, the proposed agent-based knowledge service-oriented system framework is developed and implemented using Unified Modelling Language and Java programming language with the Java Agent Development Framework.     

FDI in post-production services and product market competition

Post-production services, such as sales, distribution, and maintenance, comprise a crucial element of business activity. We explore an international duopoly model in which a foreign firm has the option of outsourcing post-production services to its domestic rival or providing those services by establishing its own facilities through FDI. We demonstrate that trade liberalization in goods may hurt domestic consumers and lower world welfare, and that the negative welfare impacts are turned into positive ones if service FDI is also liberalized. This finding yields important policy implications, given the reality that the progress of liberalization in service sectors is still limited.     

Development of a service continance model with IT service antecedents

This study make provides service marketers, particularly those delivering information technology (IT) related service, with insight to the factors that consumers use when evaluating IT services. We develop a service continuance model that includes the antecedents of the consumer׳s decision to continue using information technology (IT) related services in a B2C service environment. Using data from the smart phone service consumers, a covariance-based structural equation modeling analysis is used to test the research model. Results from our empirical study suggest that the association between service usefulness and service continuation intention is fully mediated by service satisfaction. Though both system-service quality and customer-service quality are positively associated with service satisfaction, consumers of IT related services attach greater importance to system-service quality than to custom service quality. Likewise, the indirect path to service continuation intention is stronger in system-service quality than in customer-service quality. Our findings have practical implication for growing market share in IT related services by recognizing the importance of system-service quality in technology service delivery.     

Grounds of Visitors' Post-Trade Fair Behavior: An Exploratory Study

ABSTRACT

This paper attempts to gain a deeper understanding of trade fairs as services, analyzing determinants of visitors' post-trade fair behavior (i.e., global satisfaction and future intention) according to their main objectives for trade fair participation. We discuss the fact that trade fairs represent a peculiar type of service, since the evaluation of satisfaction with the trade fair depends not only on the service provider (the organizer) but also on another stakeholder (the exhibitor). The nature of the study is exploratory and uses a survey applied to visitors at a business-to-business (B2B) international trade fair held in Portugal. The main conclusion is that, in the particular case of trade fairs as services, the role of the exhibitor is more important than the role of the organizer in determining the visitor's global satisfaction and intention to participate in future editions of the trade fair. The study contributes to trade fairs and services marketing literature and allows drawing of managerial implications, particularly relevant to trade fair organizers.     

Measurement of Service Quality in Internet Banking: The Development of an Instrument

Service quality measurement in Internet banking services is an area of growing interest to researchers and managers. Building on a synthesis of the extant literature on service quality in traditional services and that of Internet delivered services, this study develops a battery of measures that can be used to measure customer service quality in e-banking services. The study shows that service quality in e-banking can be measured using twenty-one parsimonious measures spread across five dimensions, namely, access, Website interface, trust, attention and credibility. The article discusses the importance of these findings for practitioners and for future research on service quality in Internet delivered services.     

Impact of services trade on economic growth and current account balance: Evidence from India

This paper aims to study the impact of services trade on India’s economic growth and current account balance during the post-reform period. Earlier studies on this subject have mostly looked at the goods sector. Indian studies which analysed services-led growth from a balance of payments perspective suffered from a bias of having focused only on call-centre exports. In such a context, this study brings in a novel approach by using the Balance of Payments Constrained Growth model and autoregressive distributed lag cointegration to estimate the balance of payments equilibrium growth rate for India’s service sector. The key service sub-sectors are also identified using input–output tables and the TIVA database. This study finds that India’s service sector is growing at a rate almost equal to its balance of payments equilibrium growth rate under the assumption of constant relative prices in international trade, and at a rate lower than the equilibrium growth rate when this assumption is relaxed. Among the major services in India’s export basket, construction, transport and business services are found to exhibit strong backward linkages. Foreign value-added content in India’s services exports is found to be highest in the case of business services, transport services and telecommunications.     

企业生命周期阶段、销售操控与未来业绩

基于公司层面的生命周期阶段变量,结合Roychowdhury (2006)提出的销售操控估计方法,本文检验生命周期不同阶段下公司销售操控程度及其经济后果是否存在差异。结果表明：(1)销售操控程度存在显著的生命周期效应,在生命周期各阶段呈现出U型分布：导入期和衰退期的销售操控程度最高,淘汰期和增长期次之,成熟期最低。(2)销售操控的经济后果也存在显著的生命周期效应,同样呈现出U型分布：导入期和衰退期销售操控对未来业绩的负面影响最小,淘汰期和增长期次之,成熟期的负面影响最大。本文的研究结论不仅提供了销售操控影响因素和经济后果方面的经验证据,而且对于透析企业生命周期的作用机理具有重要的实践意义。     

Happiness as a predictor of service quality and commitment for utilitarian and hedonic services

In services research, little attention has been devoted to long‐term intrinsic personality traits. Long‐term personality traits predict short‐term affective states and thus understanding them is important from a service standpoint. Further, identifying long‐term personality traits facilitates the targeting of customers who are predisposed to evaluate services in a positive manner. This study focuses on one long‐term affective trait, happiness, and examines its impact on service evaluation and commitment, as it has been shown that the level of happiness affects whether people perceive life events, both great and small, in a positive or negative manner. Three studies were conducted to research the issue. The first study shows that customers who are happier evaluate service quality in utilitarian services in a more positive manner than do customers who are less happy. The second study shows that for hedonic services, involvement serves as an antecedent to perceived service quality; happier customers are also more involved in hedonic services, and thus perceive service quality in a more positive manner. Study 3 examines the link between happiness and commitment and shows that customers who are happier are also more prone to be committed to hedonic services. These results contribute to the marketing literature by showing that customers are predisposed to evaluate service quality in line with their level of happiness in the case of both utilitarian and hedonic services. Thus, marketing scholars and practitioners ought to recognize that service quality and commitment are partially predetermined by the personality of the customer and that some customers are more difficult to please than others. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Strengthening the voice of mental health service users and carers in Wales: a focus group study to inform future policy

Improving the mental health of the people in Wales lies at the heart of the Welsh Assembly Government's public health agenda and the current reforms of the National Health Service in Wales. However, relative to its importance as a health problem, spending on mental health is disproportionately low. Statutory authorities in Wales highlight the importance of listening to, and learning from, service users and carers. This is seen as a way of improving services within the limited funding that is available. The aims of this study were to describe the ways in which mental health service users and carers are currently involved in mental health services across Wales; and to consider the need for an all‐Wales mental health service user and carer ‘national mechanism’ to promote genuine partnership. Eight focus groups were held across Wales attended by mental health service users and carers. There is a clear picture of the level and nature of participation, evidence of good practice and user and carer based aspirations for future participation. There is an untapped source of energy and experience that could help transform mental health services for the good of all. To ignore this would be to miss an opportunity to improve the quality of care for all those dependent upon these services, both patients and carers.     

图书馆服务信息化发展分析

网络环境给图书馆的信息服务带来了巨大的改变,也提出了更高、更新的要求,因此,图书馆应及时的分析用户信息需求的特点,调整服务方式,为用户提供优质的信息服务.文章分析了网络环境下图书馆信息服务的特点以及拓展图书馆信息服务的对策及对其未来的展望.     

Zone of tolerance for banks: a diagnostic model of service quality

Service quality has become an increasingly important factor for success and survival in the banking sector. Provision of high-quality service aids in meeting several requirements such as customer satisfaction and its consequent loyalty and market share, soliciting new customers, financial performance, and profitability (Cui, C.C., Lewis, B.R., & Park, W. (2003). Service quality measurement in the banking sector in South Korea. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 21(4), 191–201.). This paper presents the bank service quality measurement in its extended form. It deals with the concept of ‘zone of tolerance’ in judgments of service quality proposed by Zeithaml, Berry, and Parasuraman (1993, The nature and determinants of customer expectations of service. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 21(1), 1–12.). The ‘zone of tolerance’ is recognized in the service quality literature as representing a range of expectations and an area of acceptable outcomes in service interactions. The present study describes the zone of tolerance for young customers’ service expectations and determines the customer satisfaction level for banks. The study focusses only on the youth market to formulate long-term strategies because young customers tend to keep themselves up to date with latest technological developments. A conceptual model BANKZOT is presented in this study, and the results demonstrate that evaluation of services can be scaled according to different types of expectations – ‘desired' and ‘adequate’ – and that customers use these two types of expectations as a comparison standard in evaluating bank services. The findings reveal that young customers have a narrow zone of tolerance with regard to the services provided by the banks. The results with respect to gap analysis reveal that there was a shortfall in the service quality provided by the banks in the sample, with the largest gap being found in tangibles and empathy of service quality dimensions. The results of exploratory factor analysis reveal that the SERVQUAL model is found to be uni-dimensional in this study. The results, managerial implications, and future research implications are discussed in detail.     

Use of quality tools and techniques in services

The purpose of this article is essentially twofold: to evaluate the use of quality control (QC) tools and statistical process control (SPC) in certain services and to underline the key management prerequisites that help ensure their effective use. It involves a study of a sample of case service organisations, namely banks, hospitals, courier services and utilities, to assess the (in)effective use of QC tools and SPC and what this could signify for the future. A theoretical model is proposed and conclusions are drawn on the basis of it. For the use of QC tools and SPC to be more readily accepted and valuable in service organisations, certain critical success factors are identified here. The question is also raised as to which tools and techniques might be more appropriate in services and why.