An Empirical Investigation of the Pricing of Professional Services (As Applied to Public Accounting)

Recently there has been escalating interest and attention focused on services marketing in marketing literature. Professionals, in particular, face additional marketing challenges because they have both an increased need and an increased ability to market their services. Yet, the pricing of professional services as an area of investigation in marketing has not been adequately researched. This paper examines the pricing issue in the context of public accounting services. The empirical investigation utilizes a multivariate approach to describe and quantify the fee structure of public accounting services. Empirical findings and then managerial implications are discussed.