Services are attracting increasing attention from academicians and practitioners as the economy is becoming increasingly service-oriented. The proliferation of services not only offers business opportunities but also poses competitive threats for many...
Services are attracting increasing attention from academicians and practitioners as the economy is becoming increasingly service-oriented. The proliferation of services not only offers business opportunities but also poses competitive threats for many service marketers. For survival and growth, it is important for service firms to develop and deliver quality services. It is also important to locate themselves in a favorable position in consumers mind. In fact, a great amount of research has been conducted under the rubric of product positioning. However, few studies to date have dealt with measuring and managing competitive positions of services. This article provides a methodological framework for service firms that seek to find their relative positions in the market and design competitive strategies. The article also describes the procedure and the results of an empirical study which examined various positions of the retail services. It discusses implications of the procedure for building service marketing strategies.