Factors that influence the marketing of professional services

Meg Enerson,Roger B. Mason,Karen M. Corbishley

doi:10.21511/imfi.13(3).2016.11

Abstract

This study explores the marketing in a multinational professional services organization and attempts to identify marketing factors relevant to the organization. The main objective is to identify critical factors that influence the successful marketing of professional services. To accomplish this objective, research is undertaken as a case study with a quantitative survey of employees from the professional services organization. The main finding was that the 7P framework (product/service, price, place, promotion, physical evidence, people, process) was applicable and that place, physical evidence and product components were seen as most critical, with promotion and price appearing to be least critical, maybe because conservative attitudes to marketing still exist within professional service organizations. The study added to the literature on professional services marketing, giving insight into the marketing of professional services in today’s dynamic and changing economic environment. Our findings will, therefore, assist professional service organizations to utilize their marketing resources more effectively and efficiently

Highlights

The study added to the literature on professional services marketing, giving insight into the marketing of professional services in today’s dynamic and changing economic environment
Considering that the ‘Specific Professional Services Organization (SPSO)’s’ Johannesburg office has the largest proportion of the population (376 staff members) while the Cape Town office has only 77, the sample was felt to be a fair representation of the SPSO population in South Africa
♦ explore current marketing milieu in multinational professional services business, this objective was partially achieved through the review of the literature to identify factors relevant to marketing, and from the survey to confirm the factors

Summary

Introduction

The study added to the literature on professional services marketing, giving insight into the marketing of professional services in today’s dynamic and changing economic environment. In particular professional service organizations (PSO), have historically considered marketing a luxury, rather than a critical part of the business mix (Nagdeman, 2009). For these reasons, service organizations have been slow to adopt marketing concepts and techniques. This study investigates the relevance of a structured marketing approach in this sector and the factors influencing this process. The aim is to investigate the factors that influence the marketing of PS and explore the current marketing milieu in a multinational PSO. The professional services (PS) industry is diverse, characterized by specialized services (e.g., legal and accounting) and strategic sectoral service offerings, such as banking, investment and insurance. PS corporate culture has tended to dismiss the need for formal marketing, resulting in a lack of empirical evidence on how various professions interpret and implement marketing

Methods

Results

Conclusion