Abstract
Service industries are the largest sector of developed economies. Professional staff competes in markets to sell their firms' customized services, but little research has been reported on successful personal selling. This paper reviews literature on service-mindedness, services, market structures and features. It illustrates theoretical concepts by describing the background, characteristics, motivations and positioning of sellers and buyers in a customized inter-cultural services market in Thailand, where bar ‘girls’, who may engage in ‘open-ended’ heterosexual prostitution, personally sell their services to men – ‘farang’. The paper identifies six dimensions related to the ‘substance’ of a customized service, and, drawing on published interview data, illustrates how customization shapes positioning, power deployment and management of service delivery. It identifies human resource development needs of market participants. It argues that research into customization and related issues in competitive, global inter-cultural service markets may assist human resource developers to develop personal selling skills for professional and business success.
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