Abstract

There is a large and rapidly growing body of literature on the marketing of services. Much of this literature has focused on the four unique characteristics that distinguish services from products, namely intangibility, inseparability, heterogeneity and perishability. This article siummarises this discussion, examines each of these traits in turn and identifies a number of factors which suggest that traditional marketing strategies and organisation need to be adapted for the effective marketing of services. It suggests a series of topics for managers and research.