Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses: Applications of Expectations/Performance Gaps
Abstract
Service businesses have been especially attractive as small businesses. Researchers and practitioners agree that service quality involves a comparison of perceptions of performance and expectations prior to consuming the service. A simple technique is illustrated that may be used to capture the essence of the "expected" versus "actual" quality gap that frequently exists in services and appears to be overlooked in establishing small service business strategies. Establishment of a particular marketing strategy that was developed in an SBI case as a consequence of this approach is discussed.
References
Berkowitz, Eric N., "Health Care Marketing: Issues for Future Development," in Marketing of
Services, Eds. James H. Donnelly and William R. George (Chicago IL: American Marketing Association, 1981), 151-154.
Bowen, john, "Development of a Taxonomy of Services to Gain Marketing Insights,"
Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 18-1 (1990), 43-50.
Bradley, Don B. and Homer Saunders, "Retail and Service Business Vulnerabili ties tha t Could
Lead to Bankruptcy," Journal of Business and Ent repreneurshi p 1-1(March,1989), 83-95.
Felham, Alfred M., "Small Business Consulting Needs and Opinions of Consultants," Proceedings: Small Business Institute Directors' Association, Ed. jack E. Brothers (1985), 88-98.
Fisk, Raymond P. and Patriya S. Tansuha j, Services Marketing-An Annotated Bibliogra phy
(Chicago, IL: American Marketing Association, 1985).
Garland, Barbara C. and Robert A. Westbrook, "An Exploration of Client Satisfaction in a
Nonprofit Context," Jou rnal of the Academy of Marketing Science 17-4 (Fall, 1989), 297-304.
Gronroos, Christian, "Innovative Marketing Strategies and Organization Structures for Service Firms,"in Emerging Perspectives on Services M arketing Eds. Leonard L.Berry,
G. Lynn Shostack and Gregory D. Upah (Chicago IL: American Marketing Associa
tion, 1983), 9-21.
Gronroos, Christian, "Internal Marketing-Theory and Practices," in Services M ar keting in a
Changing Environment, Thomas M. Bloch, Gregory D. Upah and Valarie A. Zeithaml (Chicago IL:
American Marketing Association, 1985), 41-49.
Gronroos, Christian, "Internal Marketing -An Internal Part of Marketing Theory," in
Marketing of Services, Eds. James H. Donnelly and William R. George (Chicago IL: American
Marketing Association, 1981),236-238.
Hartman,SandraJ.,Olof Lundberg and Michael White, "Planning inSmall versus Large Business: Do
Managers Prefer Different Tools?" Journal of Small Business St rategy 1-1 (March, 1990), 13-24.
Kotler, Phillip, Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning, Implementation and Cont rol,
th ed. (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1985), 592-594.
Lewis, Robert C. and Bernard H. Booms, "The Marketing Aspects of Service Quality," in Emerging
Perspectives on Service Marketing Eds. Leonard L. Berry, G. Lynn Shostack and Gregory D. Upah
(Chicago IL: American Marketing Association, 1983),99-107.
Moore, James P., "Highlights of the 1989 U.S. Industrial Outlook," in U.S. Industrial Outlook
(Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Commerce, 1989), 16-23.
Parasuraman, A., Valarie A. Zeithaml and Leonard L. Berry, "A Conceptual Model of Service
Quality and Its Implications for Future Research,"Journal of Marketing49-4 (Fall, 1985), 41-50.
Plock, Ernest D., "Services: Their Importance in the Domestic Economy Grows as Foreign
Competition Stiffens," in U.S. Ind ustrial Outlook (Washington, DC: U.S. De partment of Commerce,
, 12-15.
Sonfield, Matthew and Russel M. Moore, '1nnovative Turning Points in the Path to
Entrepreneurial Success," Journal of Small Business Strategy 1-1(March,1990), 60-64.
Susbauer, Jeff rey C. and Robert J. Baker, Jr., "Strategies for Successful Entrepreneurial
Ventures," Journal of Business and Entrepreneurshi p 1-2 (October, 1989), 56-66.
Tinsley, Dillard B. and Alicia Briney Gresham, "SB!Consulting Needs in Small Towns and Rural Areas," Journal of Business and Entrepreneurship 1-2 (October, 1989), 75-80.
Tinsley, Dillard B. and Danny R. Arnold, "Small Retailers in Small Towns: Is Mar keting the
Key?" Journal of S mall Business M anagement (January, 1978), 7-12.
Urban, Glen L.and John R. Hauser, Design and Marketing of New Products (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1980), 297-300.