The Evolution of Services Advertising

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136 JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH March 2011 Supplement DOI: 10.2501/JAR-51-1-136-152

Services

The Evolution of Services Advertising in

a Services-Driven National Economy

An Analysis of Progress and Missed Opportunities

With services continuing to dominate the gross domestic product, the marketing and

advertising of services remain a core issue in the discipline. Because of their generally

intangible nature, however, services often face unique challenges in developing

effective and appropriate advertising strategies. Given the importance of promotional

decisions to service practitioners, an assessment of the current literature guiding

services-advertising decisions is important. In 1997, Carolyn Tripp published an

overview of the services-advertising literature covering a 15-year period corresponding

to services-marketings emergence and early development. Her overall conclusion

was that the services-advertising literature lagged behind the services-marketing field

in general. As a result, she proposed several specific areas that needed attention

and suggestions for enhancing the quality of research on services advertising. In this

paper, we provide an update to this research by identifying, classifying, and analyzing

articles on services advertising that have been published since 1997. Although a

number of services-advertising ar ticles seem to have heeded Tripps various concerns,

there is still much to be done on the topic. Hence, we provide additional direction for

needed areas of research in the area of services advertising.

MARLA B. ROYNE

STAFFORD

Fogelman College of

Business and Economics,University of Memphis

TIM REILLY

College of Business

Administration,

University ofNebraska-Lincoln

STEPHEN J. GROVE

College of Business

and Behavioral

Science, ClemsonUniversity

LES CARLSON

College of Business

Administration,

University ofNebraska-Lincoln

INSIGHTS FROM

RISHI BHANDARI

McKinsey & Company

JOHN COPELAND

McKinsey & Company

All authors contributed equally to

this article


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March 2011 Supplement JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH 137

SERVICES

INTRODUCTION

With services continuing to dominate the

gross domestic product, the marketing

and advertising of services remain a core

topic in the discipline, although the mostrecent efforts are grounded in the multi-

disciplinary topic of service science

(Fisk and Grove, 2010; Maglio and Spo-

her, 2008; Stauss, Englemann, Kremer, and

Luhn, 2008). Even within this emerging

topicor, perhaps, because of itthere is

a critical need to remain focused on sev-

eral areas related to services and, in par-

ticular, effective and efficient promotional

strategies for service providers.

Because of their generally intangiblenature, services often face unique chal-

lenges in developing effective advertis-

ing strategies. Hence, a body of literature

related to the advertising of services has

developed over the years. Yet, it is not

clear whether the development of this

knowledge has kept pace with the contin-

ued growth of services in our economy.

Given the importance of promo-

tional decisions to service practition-

ers, an assessment of the currentliterature guiding services-advertising

decisions is critical. In 1997, in aJournal of

Advertising paper entitled Services

Advertising: An Overview and Summary

of Research, 19801995, Carolyn Tripp

recognized a gap in our understanding

and appreciation of services advertising

(Abernathy and Butler, 1992; Parasura-

man, 1995; Stafford and Day, 1995; Tauber,

1986) and published detailed findings that

provided an extensive overview of thesubject.

Specifically, Tripps effort documented

the amount and type of research that had

been conducted about services advertis-

ing over a 15-year period in the evolution

of the services-marketing field extending

from the end of its crawling-out phase

(i.e., 1980), through its walking-erect

period (i.e., 1995; Fisk, Brown, and Bitner,

1993). In addition to identifying key con-

tributors to the study of services advertis-

ing, the article also brought attention to

the shortages and surpluses that existed

with respect to the topic.Despite the progression of the serv-

ices-marketing literature, Tripps overall

assessment in 1997 was that the develop-

ment of the services-advertising litera-

ture lagged behind the services field in

general and had yet to progress beyond

the scurrying-about (i.e., thriving, but

lacking respect and sophistication) phase.

Hence, Tripp argued that services-adver-

tising research needed to expand its focus

beyond its typically limited context (i.e.,pursue other than industry specific inquir-

ies), improve the methodological rigor of

the research findings (i.e., utilize better

sampling frames and enhanced reliability

and validity assessments), examine critical

message factors (i.e., focus on compara-

tive advertising, celebrity endorsers, inte-

grated marketing communications) more

thoroughly, and strive to become more

theoretically driven (i.e., develop pro-

grammatic efforts anchored in establishedcommunication theory).

Much has occurred in the years since

Tripps 1997 examination of services

advertising. In addition to its continued

dominance as a key element of the U.S.

economy, services have become major

components of the economies of devel-

oped nations around the globe (Lovelock

and Wirtz, 2011). Meanwhile, the field

of services marketing has continued to

evolve and mature and is now consid-ered one of many areas that underpin the

emerging multidisciplinary focus of ser-

vice science that is broad in its scope and

application (Fisk and Grove, 2010; Maglio

and Spohrer, 2008; Stauss et al., 2007).

The early struggles to establish services

as a legitimate area of concern within the

marketing discipline are long gone and,

remarkably, there is growing acceptance

Classic Excerpt: Services

Advertising

in a Service

EconomyEdward Tauber

Authors Note: This focuses on a key

issue: advertising for services is often

different than advertising for goods.

Those of you in advertising, mar-

ket research, and consulting are

service marketers. If we are rapidly

becoming a service economy, why

do we not place more emphasis on

the advertising and promotion of

services?

It seems to me that advertising

research on services would be dif-

ferent. We have published articles

on advertising in the various profes-

sionsmedical, dental, accounting,

law, and so on. Still, the bias seems

to be toward products.

There have been some interest-

ing debates about whether market-

ing services is any different than

marketing products. Certainly there

are some issues such as inven-

tory, distribution, packaging, and

so on that do not apply to serv-

ices. In advertising, selling services

definitely is big business and grow-

ing. Is there anything unique about

researching the intangible service?

Do we need new tools?

Edward Tauber, Advertising in a

Service Economy. Journal of Adver-

tising Research26, 2 (1986): 9.


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138 JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH March 2011 Supplement

SERVICES

of a service orientation as the major force

in marketing (Vargo and Lusch, 2004). Yet,

even as the field of services inquiry has

gained acceptance and grown, issues per-

taining to the marketing of services per-sist across each of the 7Ps (product, price,

promotion, place, packaging, positioning,

and people; Booms and Bitner, 1981) of

the services marketing mix (Furrer and

Sollberger, 2007; Grove, Fisk, and John,

2003; Lovelock and Wirtz, 2011). Included

among these, of course, is a continuing

need to improve our understanding and

execution of effective promotional activi-

ties, including services advertising.

Against this backdrop, the questionarises: has the area of services advertising

evolved in measure with the field of serv-

ices marketing at large or has it remained

in a state of arrested development?

This article represents an attempt to

answer this query by providing an over-

view of recent efforts involving the current

status of services-advertising research. It

further provides direction for needed areas

of research in services advertising and

implications for service providers. Finally,it provides an update and extension of the

original review of services advertising by

Tripp (1997).

It bears noting that review articles such

as this one perform various important

functions. When completed, a thorough

review of the relevant literature pertain-

ing to a topic can generate substantive

findings about the methodological and

theoretical contributions found among

the scholarly articles published on thetopic over a period of time (Cooper, 1998).

This is accomplished through identifica-

tion, synthesis, analysis, and summary

of the derived set of articles, which ulti-

mately allows one to classify, compare,

and critically evaluate the prior research

efforts to gain new perspectives (Hart,

1999)an essential part of theory building

(Huberman and Miles, 2002). The review

presented here reflects these characteris-

tics. Ultimately, this examination should

allow us to discern whether services-

advertising inquiry reflects the broad-

ening, deepening, and sharpening of theresearch into service topics that was

expected as the services field moved for-

ward (Fisk et al., 1993).

This paper continues by explicating

the methods used to review the services-

advertising literature since Tripps assess-

ment in 1997 and describing our results.

The findings, taken together with Tripps

(1997) work that spanned 1980 to 1995,

provide an overview of services advertis-

ing over the years and offer insights intocurrent practices and where services-

advertising research should go in the

future. Because the services-marketing

discipline first emerged in the late 1970s,

these two articles together provide an

overview of the services-advertising lit-

erature since the beginning of study.

A SUMMARY OF SERVICES

ADVERTISING RESEARCH

Method

Articles for this review were selected

using search criteria similar to Tripps

original method. In her research, Tripp

used the search term Services Advertis-

ing to scour the ABI/INFORM data base

and used theJournal of Advertising20-Year

Index to identify the initial set of articles.

For this paper, articles were selected by

using the Boolean search terms Services

Advertising, Service AND Advertis-

ing, and Services AND Advertising.These search terms were applied to both

the title and the text of all articles in the

Business Source Premier database and to

the Google Scholar search engine. In addi-

tion to the electronic search, the tables of

contents of 15 marketing and advertising

journals were inspected in an effort to

locate additional articles. As a final way of

discovering relevant services-advertising

entries, all articles citing the 1997 Tripp

piece were identified and analyzed for

potential inclusion.

To be included in this review, an article

had to contribute specifically to the serv-ices-advertising literature. This criterion

led to the exclusion of articles that sim

ply used a services-advertising context as

part of a broader advertising question. For

example, an article investigating Yellow

Pages advertising effectiveness by meas-

uring attitudes toward service providers

who advertise in the Yellow Pages would

not have been included. Based on this cri-

terion, a total of 70 articles were deemed

acceptable.The literature review that the authors

conducted followed a systematic process

that involved several stages. First, related

sources of relevant articles were assem

bled and examined over the specified

time frame to identify articles pertaining

to services advertising. Next, the resultan

set of articles was reviewed and classified

with respect to key descriptors, including

author and year of publication, journa

title, empirical versus conceptual char-acter, and key findings. Empirical entries

were detailed further in terms of their

sample size and method, and the concep-

tual entries were described with respect

to the conceptual method they displayed

Based on these various criteria, tables

were created that allowed the authors to

discern patterns over time and across key

descriptors to provide significant insights

and interpretations we offer as the out

come of our review.

Sources

Overall, the 58 empirical articles that the

authors uncovered spanned 11 differ-

ent journals, whereas the conceptual ones

spanned just 5 journals. The majority of the

articles appeared in services-based jour-

nals; Services Marketing Quarterly (formerly

Journal of Professional Services Marketing


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SERVICES

[JPSM]) led all journals with 24 articles

published, followed by the Journal of Serv-

ices Marketing with 17. Within the search

time period, theJournal of Advertisingpub-

lished 11 services-advertising pieces, and

theJournal of Advertising Research published

only three. Services Marketing Quarterly/

JPSMled the way as a source of empiricalservices-advertising articles (22/58; 38 per-

cent) followed byJournal of Services Market-

ing (13/58; 22 percent), whereas Journal of

AdvertisingandJournal of Services Marketing

featured the most conceptual pieces (4/12

each; 33 percent each).

Tables 1 and 2 present the sources of

the articles included in the research set

and the time frame when the articles were

published. The articles have also been cat-

egorized according to whether they wereempirical or conceptual in nature.

Empirical versus Conceptual Articles

The majority of the articles in the set

reported empirical research results (58 of

70 articles or about 83 percent), whereas

only 12 qualified as conceptual pieces (17

percent). Although these findings are simi-

lar to Tripps (1997), our results indicate a

slight increase in the percentage of concep

tual pieces reported in her review when

about 13 percent of the articles were con

ceptual. Interestingly, the preponderance

of the empirical pieces occurred duringthe short time period from 1998 to 2000

when 26 of those 58 articles were pub-

lished. Half (13) of the empirical articles

were published in 1998 alone. The concep

tual research follows a similar trend with

more than half (seven) of the articles pub-

lished between 1997 and 1999, and four o

them printed in 1997. Conceptual work

experienced another noticeable bump in

2002, when three articles found their way

to print. However, owing to the relativelysmall amount of conceptual work done, it

is difficult to offer any particular reason

behind this later small spike.

Tables 3 and 4 present a summarization

of the empirical and conceptual articles

included in our review, respectively.

DISCUSSION AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS

FOR SERVICES ADVERTISING RESEARCH

Nearly 15 years have elapsed since Tripp

original review of the services-advertisingliterature (1997), it seemed both prudent

and timely to provide an updated assess-

ment of the current state of this body of

research. This allows the authors to assess

the services-advertising literature from its

inception as a critical need. To that end

the authors searched for articles on some

aspect of services advertising from the end

of Tripps data-gathering period through

the date of this research (September, 2010)

The endeavor began by citing the needfor services advertising to advance beyond

the characterization noted by Tripp (1997

regarding the then-current state of this

focus of services research (i.e., prosper-

ing but perhaps falling short as a more

respected and sophisticated form of serv-

ices research). Based on their review, the

authors believe that although progress has

been made toward the goals envisioned

TABLE 2

Empirical versus Conceptual

Classification by Year

Year Empirical Conceptual

1995 1 0

1996 4 0

1997 4 4

1998 13 2

1999 7 1

2000 6 0

2001 4 0

2002 6 3

2003 2 0

2004 1 0

2005 4 1

2006 3 1

2007 1 0

2008 1 0

2009 0 0

2010 1 (none as of data

collection)

TABLE 1

Empirical versus Conceptual Classification by Source

Empirical Conceptual

Journal of Advertising 7 4

International Journal of Advertising 1 0

Journal of Advertising Research 3 0

Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising 4 1

Marketing Health Services 2 0

Journal of Retailing 1 0

Journal of Service Research 3 1

Journal of Services Marketing 13 4

Services Marketing Quarterly (formerly Journal of Professional

Services Marketing)

22 2

International Journal of Bank Marketing 1 0

International Journal of Service Industry Management 1 0


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SERVICES

TABLE 3

Empirical Articles Summarization

Author(s) Journal Sample Method Key Findings

Staf ford (1996) JA N= 80 (Study 1)

N= 89 (Study 2)

2 2

Experiments

Services advertisers may use verbal, tangible, cues in print

advertisements to increase advertising effectiveness.

Stafford & Day

(1995)

JA N= 137 2 2 2

Experiment

The advertising of services is different in that the contingency

approach appears not to hold for services.

Grove, Carlson &

Dorsch (2007)

JA 1,473 ads Content

Analysis

The probability of IMC for an ad depicting a service was higher

than for an ad for a good in ads appearing during the same time

periods and in the same magazines.

Stafford, Stafford

& Day (2002)

JA N= 67 4 2

Experiment

A created character fits well with hedonic services, but not with

utilitarian services. Celebrity spokespersons perform well for both

service types.

Stafford &

Stafford (2000)

JA N= 135 3 2

Experiment

Certain tensile pricing claims are more effective than others, but

the effects are not consistent.

Staf ford (1998) JA N= 156 (Students)

N= 120 (Adults)

2 2 2

Experiments

Congruent and progressive approaches create equivalent

attitudes. Gender dominance plays little role in whether a man or

a woman should be shown in an advertisement.

Turley & Kelley

(1997)

JA 91 B2B ads

95 consumer ads

Content

analysis

Results show differences in message appeal types between B2B

and consumer services advertisements.

Roth & Romeo

(1999/2000)

MHS N= 349 Employee

survey/

experiment

Making the right partner choice in co-promoted health plans can

work as good or better than traditional advertising.

Gelb & Jones

(1997)

MHS N= 1,793 Telephone

Interviews

Consumers familiar with health care services are most likely to

remember the concept of a PRS.

Spears, Paswan,

& Kahla (2006)

JCIRA 449 ads Content

Analysis

Services-advertising contexts deemed maximal-self tend to

be more verbal and use pronouns related to the self. Ads in

minimal-self contexts tend to use visual presentations and

fewer pronouns related to the self.

Carlson, Grove, &

Dorsch (2003)

JCIRA 136 ads Content

Analysis

Integrating services advertisements could increase tangibility in

service of ferings.

Stafford &

Stafford (2001)

JCIRA N= 132 2 2 2

Experiment

A documentation strategy works better than a visualization

strategy for both types of services tested.

Becker &

Kaldenberg

(1998)

JCIRA N= 221 dentists Survey Find a relationship between a dentists personal values and

likelihood to use advertising. Those who have positive beliefs

about advertising also report increases in new patients.

Yavas & Riecken

(2001)

IJA N= 58 dentists

N= 177 doctors

Mail Survey Both doctors and dentists feel that advertising may damage

the image of a particular advertiser and the profession, though

dentists tend to be more positive about advertising than doctors.

Abernethy &

LaBand (1999)

JAR Yellow Page Ads for

49 cities

Content

Analysis

In larger cities, the proportion of service providers who purchase

display ads fails; this may be due to a clutter effect.

(continued


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SERVICES


Tscheulin &

Helmig (1998)

JAR N= 117 Partial

Factorial

Experimental

Design

Use of pictures tends to exert the most influence over the

perceived attractiveness of a hospital in advertisements.

Herrington &

Lollar (1996)

JAR Compustat data on

570 firms

Advertising

Carryover

Model

Services communications are as effective at generating sales as

non-services communications.

Chan, Leung, &

Wang (2006)

JSM N= 1,200 (Shanghai) 2 3

Experimental

Design

Claims about the environment help communication effectiveness

for high and low involvement services. High involvement services

receive a more positive attitudinal response from substantive

claims than they do from associative claims.

Torres & Briggs(2005)

JSM 176 Hispanic adults 2 2 QuasiExperimental

Design

For low involvement services, appealing to strong Hispanicidentifiers helps create positive attitudes towards service

brands.

Albers-Miller &

Stafford (1999)

JSM 950 ads in 11

countries: 498

financial service

ads and 452 travel

service ads

Content

Analysis

Across countries, ads for utilitarian services tend to be dominated

by rational appeals while advertisements for experiential services

tended to be dominated by emotional appeals.

Clow, Tripp, &

Kenny (1996)

JSM N= 735 Field

Experiment

The SERVQUAL model helps create more effective advertising for

professional services.

Abernethy & Gray

(1997)

JSM 445 radio

commercials

Content

Analysis

Service marketers who include more information in radio spots

can concretize offerings in consumers minds and lower

purchase risk.

Ha (1998) JSM 212 ads

107 Hong Kong

105 USA

Content

Analysis

U.S. services ads score highly in quality cues, but lower in both

price and availability cues than services ads in Hong Kong. U.S.

ads emphasize traditional values; are more likely to make health

appeals.

Cobb-Walgren &

Mohr (1998)

JSM 48 4 categories Content

Analysis

Suggest a correlation between power and commitment in a

service relationship and use of services advertising. Services

high in consumer power or low in consumer commitment used

magazine ads more than services low in power or high in

commitment.

Green (1998) JSM 355 Consumer ads

291 B2B ads

Content

Analysis

B2B services advertisements tend to have more quality-related

cues than advertisements targeted towards general consumers.

Mathur & Mathur

(1998)

JSM 80 event

announcements

Event Study Service firms that advertise on the internet may experience a

negative stock market reaction, while service firms which provide

services on the internet may experience a positive stock market

reaction.

(continued


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SERVICES


Tai & Chan (2001) JSM N= 323 (split

between HK and US)

Survey Services advertising in the U.S. contains fewer information

cues than services advertising in Hong Kong. Also, associations

between cultural values and the types of information presented in

the advertisements.

Grove, Carlson, &

Dorsch (2002)

JSM 25 ads 4

categories

Content

Analysis

IMC can be used to increase tangibility in services advertising

Bang & Moon

(2002)

JSM US: N= 202

Korean: N= 201

Content

Analysis

Services advertisements in U.S. magazines follow suggested

service-advertising strategies to a greater extent than Korean

counterparts. Advertisers in both countries tend to under-utilize

certain guidelines.

Mor timer (2001) JSM 9 creative directors Qualitative

Interviews

Creative directors are more influenced by advertising objectives

than whether they are advertising a good or a service. Some havedifficulty distinguishing between the two.

Day & Stafford

(1997)

JR 126 students 2 2 2

Experimental

Design

Young adults appear to tolerate senior citizen discounts, other age

related cues in advertisements may lower young adult patronage.

Hill, Blodgett,

Baer, & Wakefield

(2004)

JSR N= 160 2 2 2

Experimental

Design

Service marketers use visualization strategies effectively in their

communications with consumers.

Boshof f (2002) JSR N= 540 3 3 2

Experimental

Design

All three independent variables in any combination (the two-way

interactions) show a significant effect on risk perceptions.

Mattila (2000) JSR N= 222 2 2 2

Experimental

Design

Narrative formats may be highly effective when advertising

services to non-expert consumers.

Moser & Freeman

(2010)

SMQ N= 387 (2010)

N= 324 (1991)

Survey Marketing and advertising still have a place in managing and

operating a professional service based on a comparative cross-

sectional study of consumer attitudes towards chiropractic

services advertising.

Moser (2008) SMQ N= 411 Sur vey Respondents have a positive image of physicians, but hold mixed

views on the propriety of physician advertising. Quality of service

and reputation are more important than price in both 1986 and

2006 studies.

Sanchez &

Sanchez (2006)

SMQ N= 336 Exploratory

Survey

Multiple factors can be important to consumers when creating a

physicians website including contact info, areas of specialization,

credentials and insurance plans accepted.

Stafford, Kilburn

& Allen (2005)

SMQ 232 Service ads Content

Analysis

Professional service providers give less pricing information in

their advertisements than retail service providers.

(continued

TABLE 3

Empirical Articles Summarization (continued)


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SERVICES


Tran & Moser

(2005)

SMQ N= 382 Survey/Scale

Development

Study refines/validates the Attitudes Toward Advertising by

Veterinarians Scales (ATAVS); high ATAVS scores are associated

with more positive image of vets, higher likelihood of vet use,

and more approving of vets using various media than those with

median/low ATAVS scores.

Moser (2005) SMQ N= 324 (1988)

N= 429 (2003)

Survey Investigated changes in attitudes toward attorney advertising

over a 15-year period. The image of lawyers is negative, most

respondents see attorney advertising as acceptable. Also,

reputation and quality of service are more important than price.

Parkinson &

Neeley (2003)

SMQ N= 1554 Sur vey Attorney adver tising is both ef fective and meets cer tain objectives

identified by a judge.

Heischmidt,Elfrink, & Mays

(2002)

SMQ N

= 190 ExploratorySurvey

Accountants tend to use broadcast methods less than print. Also,the internet is a major advertising medium.

Tang, Moser, &

Austin (2002)

SMQ N= 541 Survey/Scale

Development

Developed the Attitudes Toward Advertising by Accountants Scale

(ATABAS); people with high ATABAS scores were more likely to

use accountants who advertised and were more likely to consider

mass media as more appropriate than those with median and low

ATABAS scores.

Hite, McIntyre, &

Burke (2000)


Survey

Users of industrial accountant services view accountant

advertising as positive and are less likely to associate negative

attributes with accountants who advertise than other accountants

Fugate, Gotlieb, &

Bolton (2000)

SMQ N= 241 Survey When consumers deem a service appropriate for humorous

advertising, sex has no effect. Sex does have an effect when

humor is deemed inappropriate.

Moser, Colvard, &

Austin (2000)


survey

Advertising by accountants is not viewed as suspicious by

consumers; however, they tend not to utilize such advertisements

when seeking a service provider.

Cutler, Moberg, &

Schimmel (1999)

SMQ 139 TV commercials Content

Analysis

Advertisements for attorneys appear to use the appropriate cues

and purchase criteria in their commercials.

Trebbi, Hayes, &

Walker (1999)

SMQ N= 144 Survey Assertiveness/aggression and cost were found to be less

important than an attorneys perceived level of professionalism.

Abernethy &Butler (1999)

SMQ 16,708 ads ContentAnalysis

Attorney yellow-page advertising may be improved by providingmore information about experience, provider availability, and

payment information in their advertisements.

Siu & Fung

(1998)

SMQ 232 ads Content

Analysis

Chinese hotel advertisers should consider varying the information

cues in their ads and including people (rather than simple

exteriors) in their ad images.

(continued


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SERVICES


Smith & Smith

(1998)

SMQ 222 ads Content

Analysis

Professional accounting firms most commonly advertise computer

software when advertising in professional journals. Advertising

among the big six firms is widely varied.

Turley (1998) SMQ 153 ads Content

Analysis

Professional and nonprofessional service firms often employ

different combinations of content variables to communicate

information and develop personalities for their services.

Clow, Baak, &

Fogliasso (1998)


Survey

Assurance, reliability, responsiveness and tangible cues have an

impact on reducing perceived risk.

Butcher &

McPhail (1998)


Survey

Introduces role conflict for older professionals as an explanatory

factor for why certain professionals advertise.

Abernethy &

Butler (1998)

SMQ N= 2,934 Content

Analysis

Accountants generally do a good job of indicating service

offerings; however, they could benefit by including experience,

provider availability and cost information.

Moser & Johns

(1996)

JPSM N= 324 Survey Age, education and income play a role in attitudes. Higher

income consumers are more favorable toward advertising as

an information tool. Most respondents were positive toward

advertising by lawyers, but also feel that advertising by lawyers

would be more deceptive than other forms of advertising.

Mattila (1999) IJSIM N= 158 students Quasi

Experiment

Emotional appeals may help create favorable attitudes toward

service brands in novice consumers. For consumers with little

personal experience with a given service, post exposure attitudes

and service quality expectations are affected by advertisement-

invoked emotions.

Albers-Miller and

Straughan (2000)

IJBM 398 ads Content

Analysis

Financial services-advertising strategy research from English-

speaking countries should be viewed with caution by financial

service marketers in non-English speaking countries. Expectations

by business consumers may be very different among these

countries.

IJA = International Journal of Advertising

IJBM = International Journal of Bank Marketing

IJSIM = International Journal of Service Industry Management

JA = Journal of Advertising

JAR = Journal of Advertising Research

JCIRA = Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising

JPSM = Journal of Professional Services MarketingJR = Journal of Retailing

JSR = Journal of Services Research

MHS = Marketing Health Services

SMQ = Services Marketing Quarterly

TABLE 3

Empirical Articles Summarization (continued)


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SERVICES

by Tripp, it is not clear that services-adver-

tising research has evolved beyond the

scurrying-about phase (Fisk et al., 1993).

The current examination continues by cit-

ing findings that may be assessed with

respect to what Tripp described as evi-

dence confirming that services-advertising

research has, indeed, evolved past scur-

rying about to higher forms of services-

marketing thought. The authors also note

areas where further research can be incor-

porated to assist service providers in their

strategic and tactical decisions with regard

to promotional issues.

Specific-Service versus General-Service

Categories

Several articles in the services-advertising

literature have noted that there is much

more research on specific-service providers

as compared to general categories of serv-

ices that can create generalizable theory

TABLE 4

Conceptual Articles Summarization

Author(s) Journal Method Key Findings

Stafford (2005) JA Literature Review Provides an assessment of the current state of research

on International Services Advertising from 19702002.

Grove, Pickett, & Stafford

(1997)

JA Call to action to address

services-advertising issues

Presents a broad overview of the circumstances leading

to the development of the special issue of Journal of

Advertising on the advertising of services.

Stern (1997) JA A Review of Intimacy Theor y Advocates intimacy theor y as more generalizable across

service situations than exchange or seduction theory.

Padgett and Allen (1997) JA Conceptual Propose that experiential aspects of services should

play a key role in how service brand images are

conceptualized.

Whitman & Singh (1997) JCIRA Historical review Review of past legislation and attempts at regulating

attorney advertising.

Fugate (1998) JSM Conceptual Newness of the service product, level of concreteness/

abstraction, type of service, familiarity with the service

product, and demographic scope of the market are very

relevant in humor and services-advertising decisions.

Mortimer (2002) JSM Conceptual Applies the FCB grid to services advertising.

Mittal (2002) JSM Conceptual Presents a scheme for identifying services advertising

tasks at various stages of the consumer decision process;

presents potentially matching communication strategies.

Smith & Bush (2002) JSM Conceptual Uses the incomplete information framework to develop

communication guidelines for service providers.

Mittal (1999) JSR Conceptual Argues that in services, intangibility can contribute to

value rather than detract from it & that advertising is

capable of communicating intangibility.

Reynolds (2006) SMQ Literature Review Reviews legal decisions related to legal services

advertising and anticipates future issues.

Becker (1998) SMQ Literature Review Reviews existing literature on professional services

advertising; criticizes the methodology of many studies;

offers propositions.

JA = Journal of Advertising

JCIRA = Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising

JSM = Journal of Services MarketingJSR = Journal of Service Research

SMQ = Services Marketing Quarterly


11/14


SERVICES

across service professions and industries

(e.g., Stafford and Day, 1995; Tripp, 1997).

Yet, generalizability is critical for service

providers if they are to develop appropri-

ate promotional strategies for their busi-ness. In fact, even in the early stages of

services-marketing research, Lovelock in

1983 noted that cross-fertilization of mar-

keting strategies can occur when services

have similar characteristics. Moreover,

this need for generalizability is consist-

ent with the newer, emerging concept of

service science, which is much broader in

scope (Fisk and Grove, 2010; Maglio and

Spohrer, 2008).

As evidenced by the fact that the major-ity of both empirical and conceptual arti-

cles in the current set investigated issues

that attempted to generate information

applicable across the overall services-

advertising literature, there is some

improvement in this area. Despite these

improvements, many articles still focus

only on a specific class of service provider

(i.e., health care or legal services) rather

than on a broader array of service pro-

viders; hence, the more current samplingframes still appear to be quite restricted.

In essence, the generalizability factor

that accompanies more broadly based

work still seems to be somewhat miss-

ing from the articles we reviewed. For

instance, there are still a number of

researchers assessing attitudes toward

advertising by particular service provid-

ers (Moser and various colleagues, 1996,

2000, 2005, 2010), a topic that has been

studied many times over. Although it doesappear that some of these attitudes have

changed (generally more positively) over

the years, the authors believe it is time to

move beyond attitude assessment of serv-

ice professionals and into more normative

guidelines that can help such profession-

als in their advertising approaches, and

our review provides some evidence of a

move in this direction.

For example, studies of services ads

have investigated the effectiveness of dif-

ferent message strategies (e.g., Stafford

and Day, 1995; Hill, Blodgett, Baer, and

Wakefield, 2004; Mattila, 1999); the useof different spokespeople (e.g., Stafford,

Stafford, and Day, 2002); the role of tangi-

bility (e.g., Stafford 1996; Carlson, Grove,

and Dorsch, 2003); the use of pictures

(e.g., Tscheulin and Helmig, 1998); and the

use of quality cues (e.g., Clow, Tripp, and

Kenny, 1996; Clow, Baak, and Fogliasso,

1998). Findings from such research are

useful for practitioners looking to develop

effective advertisements for their service

business.

Integrated Marketing Communications

On a different note, Tripp (1997) specified

the need to assess how integrated market-

ing communications (IMC) is manifested

in services-advertising research. Again,

this call seems to have received a positive

response, with at least four articles inves-

tigating IMC in the services-advertising

domain (e.g., Grove, Carlson, and Dorsch,

2002, 2007), though a limited number ofauthors appear to be pursuing this partic-

ular form of services-advertising research.

The question remains about how the

use of IMC in services advertising would

be advanced if more scholars were direct-

ing their research efforts to this distinct

and important topic. Greater participa-

tion in examining the potentially powerful

impact that advertising poses as part of a

well-designed integrated marketing com-

munication effort seems warranted, par-ticularly as service organizations struggle

to add tangibility to their offerings and

build databases pertaining to and relation-

ships with their customers. The notion

that an advertisement itself can be inte-

grated (Nowak and Phelps, 1994) poses

ample opportunity for specific research

efforts targeted at how the use or integra-

tion of various communication tools in

services ads may aid in achieving goals

such as these (e.g., Grove et al., 2002).

Methodological and Theoretical Rigor

Tripp (1997) also called for greater methodological rigor. To some extent, improve-

ments have occurred partly because

articles in journals such as the Journal of

Advertisingand theJournal of Current Issues

and Research in Advertising appear more

methodologically sound. A review o

papers indicates that a number of studies

were content analyses that often required

descriptive statistics and chi-square analy

sis based on reliable and validated coding

schemes (See Table 3). Moreover, muchof the empirical research utilized experi-

mental designs that generally demand

higher-order statistical applications such

as analysis of variance and multivariate

analysis of variance. A closer examina

tion of these studies revealed consider-

able measure validation via confirmatory

factor analysis through structural equa-

tion modeling programs (e.g., LISREL)

providing further evidence of rigorous

research methods.The use of such methods ensures the

reliability and validity of the research and

enhances the veracity of the findings. That

is, more rigorous research results in more

assurance that the findings are accurate

and useful. Hence, service practitioners

can utilize such findings in developing

their own advertisements with more confi

dence that the application will be effective

Tripp (1997) further cited a need for serv-

ices-advertising research to utilize existingtheoretical bases drawn from sources such

as communication theory for hypotheses

development and testing. This, too, seems

to have been answered, in part based

on (and reflected by) studies such as an

investigation of spokesperson types across

hedonic and utilitarian services (Stafford e

al., 2002) and a study of gender-dominant

services and consumer attitudes toward


12/14


SERVICES

gendered advertisements (Stafford, 1998).

Although this may appear to be an aca-

demic implication, it is, in reality, critical to

choices made by service providers; utiliz-

ing a finding from a particular study maynot be effective if an understanding of that

particular finding is not clear. That is, theo-

retical frameworks are important in provid-

ing insight into why something has (or has

not) occurred, which allows for the most

effective choices to be made.

It is notable, however, that a large por-

tion of the theoretical work in services-

advertising research is being conducted by

a relatively few number of scholars. Hence,

though these authors are addressing animportant gap in the services-advertising

literature, a broader set of investigators

than is currently in evidence might be able

to advance the field faster and on a wider

basis because of the increased number of

questions that could be answered. Nev-

ertheless, more theoretically grounded

research with higher-order statistical

analysis is a major step forward in services

advertising. And, in large part, it is due to

experimental work that allows for cause-and-effect findings that can provide criti-

cal implications for service advertisers.

Additional Implications and Conclusions

A perusal of Tables 1 and 2 provides other

conclusions pertinent to the current state

of services-advertising research. Although

prominent advertising-related journals

have published such research (e.g., the

Journal of Advertising Research, the Journal

of Advertising, the International Journal ofAdvertising, and theJournal of Current Issues

and Research in Advertising; see Table 1),

the dissemination of services-advertising

scholarship seems to remain restricted to

advertising journals along with more gen-

erally based services journals (See Table 1).

Though the authors in no way are

denigrating the quality of any of the jour-

nals included in Table 1, it is somewhat

disconcerting that services-advertising

articles still are not finding their way into

even more mainstream marketing-related

outlets, particularly in light of many mar-

keters adopting an overall service orienta-

tion (Vargo and Lusch, 2004). In fact, with

the exception of one article in the Journal

of Retailing(See Table 1), the authors were

unable to locate any services-advertisingresearch articles in the Journal of Market-

ing, the Journal of Marketing Research,

Marketing Science, or the Journal of Con-

sumer Research. Even theJournal of Service

Research is represented by only four article

inclusions.

This reality seems to reflect at least two

possibilities:

Researchers targeting these journals are

not investigating services-advertisingrelated questions.

Such research simply does not survive

the review process in mainstream mar-

keting journals.

The former supposition might be sup-

ported by the data portrayed in Table 2,

which indicates a spike in services-

advertising research relatively soon after

the publication of Tripps article but a

languishing trend since then. The lattersupposition may indicate that services

advertising is not perceived as a broad

enough topic for more general journals.

Given the many identified studies in this

review that are industry-specific and

hence, not generalizable, it is likely that

this is the case. Hence, we suggest that

services-advertising researchers frame

their research within the emerging trend

of service science to enhance the potentia

for publication in broader-based journals.

Based on both the nature of some of

the articles included in this review along

with the continued dominant nature o

services in our economy, it seems pruden

to continue to heed Tripps (1997) call for

more theoretically grounded and rigorous

research on services advertising.At the same time, it is important for

such research to generate both theoreti-

cal and practical implications. Theoreti

cal implications can help fuel the growth

for more services-advertising research

and practical implications can aid service

providers in developing appropriate and

effective advertising strategies.

That means that marketing-research

practice must move beyond simply assess-

ing attitudes and continue to emphasizeexperimental work that allows an under-

standing of how consumers respond to

different message and media strategies

Given the minimal attention to these

issues in recent years, the authors must

conclude that, indeed, services advertis-

ing is in a state of arrested development

despite the realities of an economy domi-

nated by services. Hence, though we have

seen some movement forward, there is still

much work to be done.One area wherein there remains a par-

ticular dearth of research is the use of the

Internet for services advertisers. Despite

the dominant role of the Internet in the

marketplace, there has been only one

study of the Webs role in services adver-

tising (Mathur, Mathur, and Gleason

1998). The Internet has become a major

force in business and society, and services

It is notable, however, that a large portion of the

theoretical work in services-advertising research is

being conducted by a relatively few number of scholars.


13/14


SERVICES

advertisers need to understand how to

best use it to their advantage. And, as an

offshoot of this consideration, the rapidly

emerging and constantly evolving social-

media platforms offer new foci that seemripe for close inspection by researchers of

services advertising. Close attention to the

ever-changing new media will help ser-

vice providers keep pace with societys

evolution and give service providers an

edge on how best to manage such media.

Although there are certain limitations

that should be considered with respect

to the results and findings of this paper,

the authors believe they have identified

the changes and growth in the field ofservices advertising. They also believe

that new perspectives have been gleaned

about services-advertising research. Con-

sequently, this review offers a synthesis

of the past and present state of services-

advertising research and an impetus for

future study.

Moreover, the Journal of Advertising

Research, with its focus on practitioner

implications, seems to be a natural outlet

for findings that can assist service provid-ers in developing successful marketing

communications strategies.

MARLAB. ROYNESTAFFORDis professor and chair of

the Department of Marketing and Supply Chain

Management at the Fogelman College of Business and

Economics at the University of Memphis. She is also

immediate past editor of the Journal of Advertising

and former associate editor of the Journal of

Consumer Affairs. Her research has appeared or is

scheduled to appear in a wide range of academic

journals including the Journal of Retailing; Journal of

Advertising; Journal of Advertising Research; Journal

of Business Research; Decision Sciences; Journal

of Public Policy & Marketing; International Journal of

Electronic Commerce;Journal of Consumer Affairs;

Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising;

International Journal of Production Economics;

Journal of Services Marketing; and several other

publications. She is co-editor of the book Advertising

and New Media(ME Sharpe, 2005).

Email: [email protected]

TIMREILLYis a doctoral student in the marketing

department at the College Of Business Administration

at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.


STEPHENJ. GROVEis a professor of marketing at

Clemson University. He has published in Journal of

Advertising; Journal of Current Issues and Research

in Advertising; Journal of Retailing;Journal of the

Academy of Marketing Science;Journal of Public Policy

and Marketing;Journal of Macromarketing;Journal

of Business Research;Journal of Services Research;

Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management;

The Service Industries Journal;European Journal of

Marketing;Journal of Services Marketing;Managing

Service Quality;Marketing Management; and several

others. He is co-author of the text Interactive Services

Marketing(Houghton-Mifflin), now in its third edition,

and the book Services Marketing Self-Portraits:

Introspections, Reflections and Glimpses from the

Experts(American Marketing Association).


LESCARLSONholds the Nathan J. Gold Distinguished

Professorship in Marketing at the College of Business

Administration at the University of Nebraska-

Lincoln. His research interests center on consumer

socialization and environmental marketing together

with the public policy implications of both of these

research streams. He has published in theJournal

of Advertising;Advances in International Marketing;

International Marketing Review;Journal of the

Academy of Marketing Science;Journal of Business

Research;Journal of Consumer Affairs;Journal

of Consumer Psychology;Journal of Consumer

Research;Journal of Current Issues and Research in

Advertising;Journal of Marketing Education;Journal of

Macromarketing;Journal of Personal Selling and Sales

Management; Journal of Public Policy and Marketing,

Journal of Services Marketing;and Marketing Theory.

He is a former editor of the Journal of Advertisingand

is an associate editor of the Journal of Public Policy &

Marketing. Email: [email protected]

RISHI BHANDARI and

JOHN COPELAND

Services in

Context

It probably wouldnt surprise anyone to

know that service providers are among

the countrys most active advertisers

Its difficult to turn on the televisionwithout coming across an ad for one

of the telecommunications companies

promoting a new service plan, a finan

cial institutions latest savings account

or an insurance company talking about

the money you can save with them

Indeed, service companies are among

the nations biggest advertising spend

ers and the competition in some serv

ice industries has created something o

a spending battle that has resulted in

advertising spending that rivals some of

the top product manufacturers. As an

example, in 2009, Verizon spent over $3

billion in advertisingmaking it the sec

ond highest advertising spender in the

US (behind Procter & Gamble). Competi

tors followed: AT&T was the third highest

spender at over $2.7 billion and Deut

sche Telecom (owner of T-Mobile) spent

over $800 million in that same yearSimilar spending dynamics can be seen

in other service industries such as finan

cial services where Bank of America and

JP Morgan Chase have spent well ove

$1 billion in advertising in 2009, and the

cable industry where Comcast, DirecTV

and Dish Network have collectively spen

over $1 billion in advertising in 2009

(Advertising Age,2010).


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The Evolution of Services Advertising