Invited Commentary—Why Does Poor Service Prevail?

Abstract

In their article “Marketing Models of Service and Relationships,” Rust and Chung (2006) provide a detailed and useful review of service and relationship marketing models and outline interesting new directions for future research. One would hope that the recent attention to service marketing will help services improve financial performance while improving customer satisfaction and loyalty. Recent reports in the popular media, however, suggest that service quality and customer satisfaction are declining. “It’s a Service Economy, But Where’s the Service?” wondered the author of a New York Times article a few years ago (Miller 1997), and “Why Service Stinks?” asked a Business Week cover story (Brady 2000). According to the latter, “studies by groups ranging from the Council of Better Business Bureaus Inc. to the University of Michigan vividly detail what consumers already know: Good service is increasingly rare. From passengers languishing in airport queues to bank clients caught in voicemail hell, most consumers feel they’re getting squeezed by Corporate America’s push for profits and productivity.” More recently, a Wall Street Journal article titled “Cases of ‘Customer Rage’ Mount as Bad Service Prompts Venting” suggests that “U.S. companies are driving their customers crazy” (Spencer 2003). The purpose of this comment is to briefly discuss why, in light of all the research Rust and Chung (2006) point to, poor service may still prevail. We review some of the existing marketing models aimed at addressing this issue and suggest directions for future