James Cook University Subject Handbook - 2002

MG3761:04

Services Marketing

Townsville, Cairns

HECS Band 2

26 hours lectures, 12 hours tutorials. Semester 1.

This subject is designed to provide a comprehensive introduction to services marketing. Using a ‘customer’centric’ approach, it draws on contemporary business issues affecting the region in order to illustrate underlying concepts and principles. Specific topics include differences between goods and services; marketing implications; consumer decision processes for services; effective delivery of services; managing the servicescape; measuring customer satisfaction and service quality; service failures, customer complaints and recovery policies; the pricing of services; the role of promotions in service industries; consumer retention programs; managing demand, capacity and total yield.

Learning Objectives:

  1. enable students to develop the skills necessary to develop and implement marketing initiatives and solve marketing-related problems in a variety of service industries;
  2. encourage students to view service quality from the customer’s perspective;
  3. allow students to identify growth opportunities in the service sector in Townsville and Cairns;
  4. develop student’s general interpersonal communication skills as related to the effective delivery of services;
  5. familiarise students with technological innovations shaping various service industries.

Assessment to be advised.