Handbook of services marketing & management /

This book is intended to be a guide for marketing researchers and practitioners in the services field. Noting that "in the United States 75 percent of the GDP is attributed to services" businesses, editors Swartz (California Polytechnic State Univ.) and Iacobucci (Northwestern Univ.) draw on leading educators in the services field, assembling their contributions into 29 chapters. Topics covered include the service environment, e.g., services as "theater"; demand for services, e.g., seasonal demand levels; customer satisfaction, e.g., the "wait experience" (how long are customers willing to wait without feeling resentment or dissatisfaction?); complaints (most customers do not complain--they just take the business elsewhere); building service relationships, e.g., trust and loyalty, frequency-rewards programs (are they effective?); and much more. Chapters are organized into six major sections that focus on key components of services marketing and management, and each includes a list of references. Recommended for marketing faculty, graduate students, and practitioners. P. G. Kishel; Cypress College