Services Marketing

Chapter 9 : The Marketing Mix Elements

Marketing Mix in Traditional Marketing
Inadequacy of Four Ps

Expanded Marketing Mix

Product
Pricing
Promotion
Place
People
Process
Physical Evidence

Chapter Summary

As we have learnt in earlier chapters, services are characterized by their intangibility, inseparability, variability, and perishability. Due to these characters, goods and services show considerable differences. Therefore, the approaches for marketing each should also be different.

The four Ps of the traditional marketing mix, viz., product, price, promotion, and place, largely determine how well a company can use each element to satisfy its customers and thus gain profits. A company should design products that meet customers'needs, and develop a pricing structure that customers find affordable and attractive.

Further, the benefits of using these products should be communicated to the customers through suitable promotional strategies and should be delivered in a cost-effective manner through profitable distribution channels. Service providers have found that the four traditional Ps of the marketing mix are not adequate for services due to the distinct characteristics of services.

These four Ps namely, product, price, promotion, and place, do not cover all the areas of service production and delivery. Therefore, service providers have added another three Ps to the traditional marketing mix. They are people, process, and physical evidence. This chapter discusses all the seven Ps of the services marketing mix in detail.

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