iBet uBet web content aggregator. Adding the entire web to your favor.
iBet uBet web content aggregator. Adding the entire web to your favor.



Link to original content: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-007-0068-7
Why “service”? | Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science Skip to main content
Log in

Why “service”?

  • Conceptual/Theoretical Paper
  • Published:
Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

“Service-dominant logic” appears to have found resonance in the marketing community since its introduction as the evolving, “new dominant logic” in the Journal of Marketing (Vargo and Lusch 2004a, Journal of Marketing, 68, 1–17 (January)). But, on occasion, so has the question of whether the concept “service” captures the essence of the new logic. This article addresses the role of “service” as the heart of value-creation, exchange, markets, and marketing, as well as its considerable implications for research, practice, societal well-being, and public policy. The purposes are both to clarify the issues and to foster the continuing dialog around the service-dominant logic for marketing, as well as for other disciplines.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abela, A. V., & Murphy, P. E. (2008). Marketing with integrity: Ethics and the service dominant logic for marketing (in press).

  • Achrol, R., & Kotler, P. (2006). The service-dominant logic for marketing: A critique. In R. F. Lusch & S. L. Vargo (Eds.), The service-dominant logic of marketing: Dialog, debate, and directions (pp. 320–337). Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alderson, W. (1957). Marketing behavior and executive action: A functionalist approach to marketing theory. Homewood, IL: Richard D. Irwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnould, E. J., Price, L. L., & Malshe, A. (2006). Toward a cultural resource-based theory of the customer. In R. F. Lusch & S. L. Vargo (Eds.), The service-dominant logic of marketing: Dialog, debate, and directions (pp. 91–104). Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnould, E. J., & Thompson, C. J. (2005) Consumer culture theory (CCT): Twenty years of research. Journal of Consumer Research, 31, 868–883 (March).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barbon, N. (1690/1903). A discourse on trade (reprint). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barney, J. (1991). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17(1), 99–120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bastiat, F. (1848/1964). S. Cain, trans., G. B. de Huszar (Ed.), Selected essays on political economy. Princeton, NJ: D. Van Nordstrand.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berry, L. L. (1983). Relationship marketing. In L. L. Berry, G. L. Shostack, & G. D. Upah (Eds.), Emerging perspectives on service marketing (pp. 25–38). Chicago: American Marketing Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bitner, M. J. (1992). Servicescapes: The impact of physical surroundings on customers and employees. Journal of Marketing, 56, 57–71 (April).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bitner, M. J., Booms, B. H., & Tetreault, M. S. (1990). The service encounter: Diagnosing favorable and unfavorable incidents. Journal of Marketing, 54, 71–84 (January).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brodie, R., Pels, J., & Saren, M. (2006). From good- toward service-centered marketing: Dangerous dichotomy or an emerging logic? In R. F. Lusch & S. L. Vargo (Eds.), The service-dominant logic of marketing: Dialog, debate, and directions (pp. 307–319). Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cox, R. (1965). Distribution in a high-level economy. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Delaunay, J.-C., & Gadrey, J. (1992). Services in economic thought. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dixon, D. F. (1990). Marketing as production: The development of a concept. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 18(4), 337–343.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gronroos, C. (1982). Strategic management and marketing in the service sector. Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration, Helsinki.

  • Gronroos, C. (1994). From marketing mix to relationship marketing: Towards a paradigm shift in marketing. Asia–Australia Marketing Journal, 2, 9–29 (Aug).

    Google Scholar 

  • Gronroos, C. (2000). Service management and marketing: A customer relationship management approach. West Sussex, UK: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gronroos, C. (2006). What can service logic offer marketing theory. In R. F. Lusch & S. L. Vargo (Eds.), The service-dominant logic of marketing: Dialog, debate, and directions (pp. 354–364). Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gummesson, E. (1994). Broadening and specifying relationship marketing. Asia–Australia Marketing Journal, 2, 31–43 (Aug).

    Google Scholar 

  • Gummesson, E. (1995). Relationship marketing: Its role in the service economy. In W. J. Glynn & J. G. Barnes (Eds.), Understanding services management (pp. 244–268). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gummesson, E. (2000). Remarks in Fisk, Raymond P., Stephen F. Grove, & Joby John. Services marketing self-portraits: Introspections, reflections, and glimpses from the experts. Chicago: American Marketing Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gummesson, E. (2006). Many-to-many marketing as grand theory: A Nordic school contribution. In R. F. Lusch, & S. L. Vargo (Eds), The service-dominant logic of marketing: Dialog, debate, and directions (pp. 339–353). Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hakansson, K., & Prenkert, F. (2004). Exploring the exchange concept in marketing. In H. Hakansson, D. Harrison, & A. Waluszewski (Eds.), Rethinking marketing: Developing a new understanding of markets. Chichester, England: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hakansson, H., & Snehota, I. (1995). Developing relationships in business newtworks. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holbrook, M. B. (1999). Consumer value. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holbrook, M. B. (2006). ROSEPEKICIVECI versus CCV: The resource-operant, skills-exchanging, performance-experiencing, knowledge-informed, competence-enacting, C-producer-involved, value-emerging, customer-interactive view of marketing versus the concept of customer value: “I can get it for you wholesale”. In R. F. Lusch, & S. L. Vargo (Eds.), The service-dominant logic of marketing: Dialog, debate, and directions (pp. 196–207). Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hunt, S. D. (2000). A general theory of competition: Resources, competences, productivity, and economic growth. Armonk, NY: ME Sharpe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hunt, S. D., & Madhavaram, S. (2006). The service-dominant logic of marketing: Theoretical foundations, pedagogy, and resource-advantage theory. In R. F. Lusch, & S. L. Vargo (Eds.), The service-dominant logic of marketing: Dialog, debate, and directions. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fisk, R., Brown, S. W., & Bitner, M. J. (1993). Tracking the evolution of the services marketing literature. Journal of Retailing, 69(1), 61–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keith, R. J. (1960). The marketing revolution. Journal of Marketing, 24, 35–38 (Jan).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kotler, P. (1977). Marketing management: Analysis, planning, implementation, and control (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levitt, T. (1960). Marketing myopia. Harvard Business Review, 38, 26–44, 173–181 (July/August).

    Google Scholar 

  • Levy, S. (2006). How new, how dominant? In R. F. Lusch, & S. L. Vargo (Eds.), The service-dominant logic of marketing: Dialog, debate, and directions. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lovelock, C., & Gummesson, E. (2004). Wither service marketing? In search of new paradigm and fresh perspectives. Journal of Service Research, 47, 9–20 (Summer).

    Google Scholar 

  • Lusch, R. (2006). The small and long view. Journal of Macromarketing, 26, 1–5 (December).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lusch, R., & Vargo, S. L. (2006). The service-dominant logic of marketing: Dialog, debate, and directions. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.

    Google Scholar 

  • McKitterick, J. B. (1957). What is the marketing concept? In F. M. Bass (Ed.), The frontiers of marketing thought and science (pp. 71–81). Chicago: American Marketing Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Normann, R. (2001), Reframing business: When the map changes the landscape. Chichester, New Sussex: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pararuraman, A., Zeithaml, V. A., & Berry, L. L. (1985). A conceptual model of service quality and its implications for future research. Journal of Marketing, 49(4), 41–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Penrose, E. T. (1959). The growth of the firm. White Plains, NY: Sharpe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pine, B. J., & Gilmore, J. H. (1999). The experience economy: Work as theater and every business a stage. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rathmell (1966). What is meant by services? Journal of Marketing, 30, 32–36 (Oct).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rust, R., Zeithaml, V. A., & Lemon, K. N. (2000). Driving customer equity: How customer lifetime value is reshaping corporate strategy. New York: The Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sawhney, M. (2006). Going beyond the product: Defining, designing, and delivering customer solutions. In R. F. Lusch, & S. L. Vargo (Eds.), The service-dominant logic of marketing: Dialog, debate, and direction (pp. 365–380). Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Say, J.-B. (1821). A treatise on the political economy. Boston: Wells and Lilly.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheth, J., & Pravatiyar, A. (2000). Relationship marketing in consumer markets: Antecedents and consequences. In J. Sheth, & A. Parvatiyar (Eds.), Handbook of relationship marketing (pp. 171–208). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shostack, G. L. (1977). Breaking free from product marketing. Journal of Marketing, 41, 73–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, A. (1776/1904). An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations. London: W. Strahan and T. Cadell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Snehota, I. (1990). Notes on a theory of business enterprise, Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.

  • Stewart, P. W., & Dewhurst, J. F. (1939). Does distribution cost too much? New York: The Twentieth Century Fund.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vargo, S. L. (2007). On a theory of markets and marketing: From positively normative to normatively positive. Australasian Marketing Journal (in press).

  • Vargo, S. L., & Lusch, R. F. (2004a). Evolving to a new dominant logic for marketing. Journal of Marketing, 68, 1–17 (January).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vargo, S. L., & Lusch, R. F. (2004b). The four services marketing myths: Remnants from a manufacturing model. Journal of Service Research, 6, 324–335 (May).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vargo, S. L., & Lusch, R. F. (2006). Service-dominant logic: What it is, what it is not, what it might be. In R. F. Lusch, & S. L. Vargo (Eds.), The service-dominant logic of marketing: Dialog, debate and directions (pp. 43–56). Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vargo, S. L., & Lusch, R. F. (2007). From goods to service(s): Divergences and convergences of logics. Industrial Marketing Management (in press).

  • Vargo, S. L., & Lusch, R. F. (2008). Service-dominant logic: Continuing the evolution. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science (in press).

  • Vargo, S. L., Lusch, R. F., & Morgan, F. W. (2006). Historical perspectives on service-dominant logic. In R. F. Lusch, & S. L. Vargo (Eds.), The service-dominant logic of marketing: Dialog, debate, and directions (pp. 29–42). Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vargo, S. L., & Morgan, F. W. (2005) Services in society and academic thought: An historical analysis. Journal of Macromarketing, 68, 42–53 (June).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Venkatesh, A., Penaloza, L., & Firat, A. F. (2006). The market as a sign system and the logic of the market. In R. F. Lusch, & S. L. Vargo (Eds.), The service-dominant logic of marketing: Dialog, debate, and directions (pp. 279–285). Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walras, L. (1894/1954). Elements of the political economy (reprint). Homestead, NJ: Richard D. Irwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Webster Jr., F. E. (1992). The changing role of marketing in the corporation. Journal of Marketing, 56, 1–17 (October).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weld, L. D. H. (1916). The marketing of farm products. New York: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wernerfelt, B. (1984). A resource-based view of the firm. Strategic Management Journal, 5(2), 171–180.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zeithaml, V. A., Parasuraman A., & Berry, L. L. (1985). Problems and strategies in services marketing. Journal of Marketing, 49, 33–46 (Spring).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zuboff, S., & Maxmin, J. (2002), The support economy. New York: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgement

We would like to thank Stephen W. Brown of Arizona State University for his insightful suggestions on earlier drafts of this article.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stephen L. Vargo.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Vargo, S.L., Lusch, R.F. Why “service”?. J. of the Acad. Mark. Sci. 36, 25–38 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-007-0068-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-007-0068-7

Keywords

Navigation