Why “service”?

“Service-dominant logic” appears to have found resonance in the marketing community since its introduction as the evolving, “new dominant logic” in the Journal of Marketing (Vargo and Lusch 2004a, Journal of Marketing, 68, 1–17 (January)). But, on occasion, so has the question of whether the concept “service” captures the essence of the new logic. This article addresses the role of “service” as the heart of value-creation, exchange, markets, and marketing, as well as its considerable implications for research, practice, societal well-being, and public policy. The purposes are both to clarify the issues and to foster the continuing dialog around the service-dominant logic for marketing, as well as for other disciplines.     

Who are your successful salespeople?

Utilizing a systematic sample of 200 sales managers selected from manufacturing and wholesaling firms listed in the Dun and BradstreetMillion-Dollar Directory, a survey was conducted to determine whether or not a general profile of “successful” salespersons and another profile of “unsuccessful” salespersons could be constructed. A seven-point semantic differential scale was used to obtain ratings by sales managers of salespeople on each of twenty-four personal attributes. Profiles of “successful” and “unsuccessful” salespersons were found which showed large differences in ratings on the twenty-four personal attributes. Using factor analysis, a reduced set of personal characteristics was determined to predict “successful” and “unsuccessful” salespersons.     

Path dependence: a foundational concept for historical social science

This introduction to the concept of path dependence, its pertinence for the development of historical social science, and its application in economic analysis and economic history, proceeds from intuitive general ideas about history and historicity in narratives. It provides precise definitions of what is meant by describing a dynamical process as being “historical.” Deterministic and stochastic formalizations of such dynamical systems are distinguished. The characterization of stochastic path dependent processes as “non-ergodic” is explained in non-mathematical language by reference to concepts in probability theory, and a variety of representations of such processes in formal models is surveyed (including the Polya urn-process, certain kinds of Markov chain models, branching processes, and reversible spin systems) to show that while all display path dependence, their properties in other respects are quite different. The diverse set of structural, micro-level conditions that can give rise to path dependence is examined, and a further distinction is drawn between the property of path dependence and the existence of so-called “QWERTY-effects”—characterized by decentralized competitive market failures and consequent “lock-in” to Pareto-inefficient equilibria. Concluding sections consider the implications of the existence of non-ergodic dynamics for the methods of economic policy analysis, and the nature of the guidance that can be obtained in regard to public policy affecting endogenous technological change and institutional evolution.     

A reexamination of the concept of privilege groups

The research reported here examines the degree to which Coleman's now famous concept of social class “privilege group” can be generalized outside the historical confines of the automobile market. An examination of the concept over twenty-seven goods and service categories produced mixed results, and raised several questions concerning the usefulness of the concept in segmenting markets.     

Identifying critical problems for mutual cooperation between the private and public sectors: A marketing perspective

The study presented in this article is an application of “futures research.” One objective is to identify some of the more pressing future world-wide problems that require the combined effort of both the government and the private sector to reach a solution. A second objective is to suggest ways in which marketers can become more involved in the solution of them. Prominent problem clusters of particular importance to marketers, including “Social Values,” “Social Institutions,” and “Resources” were uncovered by this research. The authors hope that this article will stimulate marketing research in each of these areas.     

Performance congruence and value congruence impact on sales force annual sales

The separate and joint impact of performance congruence (similarity between salespeople and their sales managers) and value congruence on annual sales are investigated in a field study. Two hundred thirty-nine salespeople and their sales managers from several industries participated in the study. A significant association was found for separate and joint associations between performance congruence and value congruence and annual sales. More specifically, the more similar salespeople and their sales managers are regarding performance congruence measures, “identifying new prospects” and “setting up an initial appointment” and personal values, “warm relationships with others,” and “sense of belonging,” the higher annual sales.     

An examination of the effects of perceived difficulty of manufacturing the extension product on brand extension attitudes

This paper examines the relationship between extension difficulty, defined as the perceived difficulty of manufacturing the extension product, and attitudes toward brand extensions. Although extant literature has hitherto modeled this relationship as a simple monotonic relationship, a study by Bottomley and Holden (Journal of Marketing Research, 38(4):494–500, 2001) has questioned its empirical generalizability. We suggest that the relationship between extension difficulty and extension attitudes may be far more complex than a simple linear relationship. Based on theoretical evidence drawn from the concept of evaluation difficulty, we suggest that the relationship between extension difficulty and extension attitudes is best modeled as a curvilinear (inverted U-shaped) relationship. Further, we explore the specific role of perceived transferability as a moderator of this curvilinear relationship. Empirical tests conducted using two studies provide support for both the theoretical mechanism and the proposed hypotheses. Entry into “easy” or “extremely difficult” extension categories carries its own penalties while entry into “moderately difficult” categories appears to garner high consumer attitudes for brand extensions.     

Expanding our understanding of marketing in society

The Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science was started 40 years ago, at a time when “marketing in society” issues were capturing much attention from marketing scholars. Since that time both the field and this journal have grown and matured, but the marketing in society area has become somewhat removed from the dominant perspectives of marketing scholarship. This paper provides an historical perspective on these developments and offers an examination of the fundamental role of societal interests in our field. Six basic topics are explored: (1) the hundred years of history of marketing thought development, as reflected in the “4 Eras” of marketing thought; (2) the ebbs and flows of attention to marketing in society topics during these 4 Eras; (3) two illustrations of difficulties brought about by this area’s move to sideline status in the field; (4) our concept of the “aggregate marketing system” as a basis for appreciating the centrality of this research area for the field of marketing; (5) the nature of marketing in society research today; and (6) a discussion of several research challenges and opportunities for the future.     

Leisure and consumer behavior

The topic of consumer's leisure-time behavior is receiving increasing attention by marketers as Americans' leisure-related spending rapidly approaches the $200 billion level. This paper first examines the concept of “leisure” and then reviews various measurement issues. It concludes with several marketing implications and suggested issues needing further research.     

Unidimensional (global) vs. multidimensional composite performance appraisals of store managers

This study attempts to demonstrate: 1) that weighting performance dimensions produces evaluations very similar to the unweighted approach; 2) that “unidimensional” or “global” assessment based on employees' overall value to the firm produces results similar to the multidimensional approach. Both propositions were supported by the data employed in this study, providing encouragement to organizations using the simpler and less expensive “global” evaluations.     

Marketing and the multinational: extending internalisation theory

Introducing marketing explicitly into the internalisation theory of the multinational enterprise considerably extends the power of the theory. In particular, it enables a comparison of marketing-led and technology-led multinationals and highlights the benefits of collaboration between them. It facilitates the analysis of outsourcing, and in particular of R&D. It highlights the importance to marketing-led firms of owning product rather than facilities. The analysis addresses key issues relating to “hollow firms”, “flagship firms” and the “global factory”.     

Marketing as production: The development of a concept

The conventional view of marketing as somehow adding to the work of manufacturing is rooted in the concept of production as the creation of material attributes. A view of marketing as an integral part of a productive process generating “bundles of utilities” has a long history in economic analysis. This approach offers several advantages for marketing thought.     

The influence of the amount and type of information on individuals’ perception of legal services

The study examines the impact of different amounts and types of infomation on individuals’ perception of attorneys. Utilizing the concept of perceived risk, an experiment was conducted to test various communication strategies. The results, in part, confirm the “word-of-mouth is best” strategy adhered to by many attorneys. The study also sheds light on the impact of legal service advertising on indivduals.     

Including the effects of prior and recent contact effort in a customer scoring model for database marketing

Database marketers often use a scoring model to predict the likely value of contacting customers based on their purchase histories and demographics. However, when purchase history has been a partial result of the firm’s own contacting efforts, these contacts should also be accounted for in the scoring model. The current work extends the existing literature to account for the firm’s contacts by focusing on each customer’s most recent purchase. Contacts prior to that purchase are designated “prior contacts” and those after that purchase “recent contacts.” A new latent variables formulation of the customer’s propensity to respond is used to predict the likelihood and time of response as well as the relationship to the independent variables. The methodology also addresses the statistical problems of “selection bias” and “endogeneity,” which have been largely ignored in most customer scoring models. An application to the database of a charitable organization confirms that, in this case: (1) the effect of the firm’s customer contact efforts is associated with a stronger propensity to respond than is the case for the included demographics; (2) the firm’s “recent contact” efforts are associated with larger returns in customers’ propensity to respond than the “prior contact” efforts; and (3) the “recent contact” efforts are associated with an at-first increasing but then diminishing propensity to respond up to a point beyond which actual decreasing returns are observed with further contacts. Clearly, too much contacting can alienate would-be donors. The proposed model is general enough to calibrate such impacts in other database marketing applications where the relative effects might be different.

Industrial market segmentation on buying center purchase responsibilities

This exploratory study focuses on the use of buying center purchase responsibilities as a basis for industrial market segmentation. Analysis of buying centers revealed differences between organizations with “overlapping” versus “position-dominant” patterns of purchase responsibility. Hypotheses supporting overlapping versus position-dominant buying centers are discussed, and implications for industrial marketing management are proposed.     

Marketing information systems—The problem of system usage

Much literature has been devoted to singing the praises of present and potential computer utilization in marketing. Highly touted are “total information systems,” “on-line, real-time systems,” and “simulation-based systems.” One would be led to believe that each company has devoted or should be devoting its moneys and energies to the design and implementation of such sophisticated computer-based marketing information systems. Yet recent evidence has indicated a lack of enthusiasm-indeed, in some cases antagonism exists toward information systems in marketing. One reason for this disillusionment has been low usage of existing marketing information systems by marketing management. System utilization holds the key to a favorable return on investment in marketing information systems. This article explores many of the causes of infrequent to non-existent system usage and offers a plea and a plan for active elimination of this problem.     

Literary criticism and the history of marketing thought: A new perspective on “reading” marketing theory

This paper proposes the addition of concepts drawn from literary criticism to philosophical and historical ones in order to provide insights into “reading” marketing theory. The paper sets forth three modes of literary criticism applicable to the analysis of marketing theory—psychobiographical, editorial, and structural. It offers as an illustrative example a reading of the history of Ernest Dichter's motivation research movement using these methods. The addition of literary analysis demonstrates how textual clues can enrich the historian's study of the rise and fall of marketing phenomena over time.     

Reconfiguration of the conceptual landscape: a tribute to the service logic of Richard Normann

This article is a tribute to the late Richard Normann, whose call for a “service logic” (Normann, Reframing Business: When the Map Changes the Landscape, Wiley, Chichester, p. 99, 2001) both parallels and enriches service-dominant (S-D) logic (Vargo and Lusch, J. Mark, 68:1–17, 2004a). Like Vargo and Lusch, Normann shifted the focus of the offering from an output to a process of value creation and perceived the firm as an organizer of this process, with the customer as a co-producer, rather than a receiver of value. He also argued that offerings are “frozen knowledge,” similar to Vargo and Lusch’s contention that the basis of exchange is applied operant resources (service) and suggested that the ‘dematerialization’ of resources increases their ‘liquidity’, which allows increased “density” for value creation. Thus, he suggested that firms need to “reframe business”—rethink the logic of value creation—to reveal opportunities in reconfiguring the value constellations of which they are part. This tribute explores these and other similarities and differences between Normann’s work and the evolving S-D logic.     

Factors affecting the acceptability of advertisements among professionals

Since restrictions were eliminated by the Supreme Court in 1977, it was to be expected that advertising would increase among professionals in all fields. Both within and across various professions, however, practitioners have been found to advertise their services in markedly varying ways and degrees. The present study attempts to analyze those factors which relate to differentials in the acceptability of various advertisements by three groups of professional practitioners: accountants; dentists; and, lawyers. Utilizing Guttman scaling techniques and multiple regressions analysis, three of five components of professionalism, “collegial maintenance of standards.” adherence to a “code of ethics” and “professional identification,” all emerged as significant differentiators of practitioners’ use of advertisements. In addition, several background factors, years in practice, specific occupation, and location of practice, also were found to be significantly related to professionals’ use of advertisements.     

Theory and external validity

Winer (1999 [this issue]) proposes that external validity concerns require more attention in theoretical research. The author argues that one cannot “enhance” external validity by choosing one method over another. External validity can only be “assessed” by better understanding how the focal variables in one’s theory interact with moderator variables that are seen as irrelevant early in a research stream. Findings from single real-world settings and specific sets of “real” people are no more likely to generalize than are findings from single laboratory settings with student subjects. Both the laboratory and real world vary in background facets of subject characteristics, setting, context, relevant “history,” and time. It is only when these facets vary and we see how they interact that understanding of external validity is enhanced. For this to happen, the observable “background” factors have to be conceptualized in terms of more general constructs and incorporated as moderators into the researcher’s theory. Enriched theory—not method—confers confidence in our understanding of whether effects will be robust or highly contingent. To map this knowledge to some specific substantive system requires an added step of understanding the mapping from observables in that system onto theoretical constructs. The author proposes “friendly amendments” to Winer’s three proposals to pursue a better understanding of external validity through theory. John G. Lynch, Jr. is the Hanes Corporation Foundation Professor of Business Administration at Duke University. His research and teaching interests are in consumer behavior, electronic commerce, and validity issues in research methodology. He a past president of the Association for Consumer Research, past associate editor for theJournal of Consumer Research, and past associate editor and coeditor of theJournal of Consumer Psychology. He has been the recipient of the MSI/Paul Root Award atJournal of Marketing, the William O’Dell Award atJournal of Marketing Research, and has twice been the recipient of theJournal of Consumer Research best article award.