Service Marketing Competitiveness In The New Economy

In the new economy the basic characteristics of services determine service consumption, just as customer relationship management impacts on the approach to services marketing. Contemporary service customers perceive service quality in service encounters and in ongoing relationships as well. The perception of service quality may be presented as a basic model of perception, known in service marketing reference sources as The Perceived Service Quality Model. Service marketers and marketing managers in the new economy have a real need for instruments for measuring service quality, in order to identify the characteristics and determinants of service quality. The SERVQUAL model is based on attribute approach to service quality, and describes five basic determinants of service quality: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. Competition in the contemporary service business is intensifying, and it is now increasingly important for service companies to understand service quality as a factor of marketing competitiveness. Therefore, service quality should be viewed as a distinctive approach to service competition in the new economy. Competitive service strategies may be different, but they should be based on service quality, considering variance in servicing customers' needs, purchasing behaviour and consumption patterns. Service companies in the new economy need to focus their efforts on developing and improving service quality in order to satisfy the customers they can serve best. This means that service companies should conduct internal, market and competitor analyses. The results of suggested analyses show that service quality is an ongoing factor of marketing competitiveness in the new economy.