Bateson and Hoffman's SERVICES MARKETING, 4e, International Edition examines the use of services marketing as a competitive tool from a uniquely broad perspective. The book explores services marketing not only as an essential focus for service firms, but also as a source of competitive advantage for companies that market tangible products. As a result, real-world examples throughout the book feature a wide array of businesses representing a variety of industries both within and beyond the nine service economy supersectors: education and health services, financial activities, government, information, leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, transportation and utilities, wholesale and retail trade, and other services. The Fourth Edition of this proven book draws on cutting-edge data to cover important current issues such as business-to-business services, technology, and the global market, giving you valuable insights and skills to help you understand-and succeed in-today's business environment.

PART I: AN OVERVIEW OF SERVICES MARKETING (THE ESSENTIALS OF SERVICES MARKETING: INSIDE THE BOX) 1: Understanding the Service Experience 2: Traditional Service Supersectors and Ethical Considerations 3: Unique Discrepancies between Goods and Services 4: Consumer Decision Making in Services Marketing PART II: THE TACTICAL SERVICES MARKETING MIX (DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE SERVICES MARKETING STRATEGIES) 5: Focus on Service Processes 6: Considerations for Services Pricing 7: Effective Service Promotions 8: Managing the Servicescape and Other Physical Evidence 9: People as Strategy: Managing Service Personnel 10: People as Strategy: Managing Service Consumers PART III: IMPLEMENTING SUCCESSFUL SERVICE STRATEGIES (ASSESSING AND IMPROVING THE SERVICE EXPERIENCE) 11: The Essentials of Customer Satisfaction Measurement 12: Service Quality: Identifying and Rectifying the Gaps 13: Managing Service Failures and Implementing Effective Recovery Strategies 14: Strategies for Facilitating Customer Loyalty & Retention 15: Pulling the Pieces Together: Creating a World Class Service Culture.

K. Douglas Hoffman is a Professor of Marketing and a University Distinguished Teaching Scholar at Colorado State University. He received his B.S. from The Ohio State University, and his M.B.A. and D.B.A. from the University of Kentucky. Professor Hoffman's teaching experience at the undergraduate and graduate levels spans nearly 30 years while holding tenure track positions at Colorado State University, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and Mississippi State University. In addition, he has taught as a visiting professor at the Helsinki School of Business and Economics (Helsinki, Finland), the Institute of Industrial Policy Studies (Seoul, South Korea), Thammasat University (Bangkok, Thailand), and Cornell-Nanyang Technological University (Singapore). Professor Hoffman is an accomplished scholar in the services marketing area. He has written numerous journal and conference proceedings articles on teaching scholarship that have appeared in a variety of publication outlets. His teaching scholarship has also expanded into the co-authorship of three textbooks including SERVICES MARKETING: CONCEPTS, STRATEGIES & CASES, 5E, published by Cengage. Professor Hoffman has received numerous teaching awards at the college, university and national discipline levels, including the prestigious Board of Governors Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award. He was also named University Distinguished Teaching Scholar -- a lifetime appointment in 2007. Professor Hoffman is a former editor of Marketing Education Review. His current research and consulting activities are primarily in the areas of sales/service interface, customer service/satisfaction, service failure and recovery, and services marketing education. John E. G Bateson is a Visiting Professor of Management at the Cass Business School and is an independent consultant and company chairman. Previously, he served as Group Chief Executive of the SHL Group, the global leader in psychometric testing for jobs. SHL was listed on the London Stock Exchange and taken private by Dr. Bateson in 2006. Dr. Bateson was also a senior vice president with Gemini Consulting and a Member of the Group Executive Committee of the Cap Gemini Group. He was Associate Professor of Marketing at the London Business School, England, and taught as a visiting associate professor at the Stanford Business School. Prior to teaching, he worked as a brand manager with Lever Brothers and marketing manager with Philips. Dr. Bateson holds an undergraduate degree from Imperial College, London; a master's degree from London Business School; and a Doctorate in marketing from the Harvard Business School. He has published extensively in the services marketing literature, including the Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Retailing, Marketing Science, and Journal of Consumer Research. He is also the author of SERVICES MARKETING: CONCEPTS, STRATEGIES & CASES (Cengage) and MARKETING PUBLIC TRANSIT: A STRATEGIC APPROACH (Praeger). Dr. Bateson was actively involved with the formation of the services division of the American Marketing Association. He served on the Services Council for four years and has chaired sessions of the AMA Services Marketing Conference.