Overview
Most countries now have economies in which service products represent over 50% of GDP, and are experiencing digital revolutions in the marketing of service products. In this unit, you will focus on the challenges of marketing service products and the corresponding managerial implications in the modern digital world. You will gain a solid understanding of service marketing theories to guide your practical applications in this exciting area of marketing. The focus of this unit is on the 7Ps of service marketing as applied to businesses in the digital era. The unit also specifically covers the integration of marketing, management, and customer relations in competitive digital environments and markets.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Pre-requisite: MRKT20052 Marketing Management and Digital Communications.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 1 - 2024
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of 'pass' in order to pass the unit. If any 'pass/fail' tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully ('pass' grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the 'assessment task' section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback - Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Student feedback
Students appreciated the communication, adaptability in teaching, extra support, and the amiable nature of the teaching team.
Continue providing students with effective learning support including email communications, extra individual Zoom meetings (one-on-one), Moodle discussions/forums, weekly drop-in sessions, etc.
Feedback from Unit evaluation
Some students would like to see additional learning materials.
Various journal readings, case studies, and YouTube videos are to be added to the relevant weekly module on the Moodle site to further enhance learning.
Feedback from Self reflection
Convenient to reach out and discuss assignment tasks
Provide dedicated attention to each student's questions individually by using an online/ offline platform, where students can easily access their consultation time and schedule one-on-one meetings in a timely manner.
- Critically analyse the nature of service industries and be able to differentiate between goods and services and their marketing in the digital world
- Identify and apply the major factors presented in the literature that improve the digital marketing of services
- Critically analyse the marketing situations of services using a number of the main analytical tools for the digital age
- Analyse and critically discuss the role of customer service and each of the 7Ps in order to improve service industry marketing in the digital world.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Presentation - 20% | ||||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 40% | ||||
| 3 - Written Assessment - 40% | ||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Knowledge | ||||
| 2 - Communication | ||||
| 3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills | ||||
| 4 - Research | ||||
| 5 - Self-management | ||||
| 6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility | ||||
| 7 - Leadership | ||||
| 8 - First Nations Knowledges | ||||
| 9 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | ||||
Textbooks
Essentials of Services Marketing
- 3rd Global Edition (2018)
- Authors: Wirtz, J. & Lovelock, C.H.
- Pearson USA
- ISBN: 9781292089959; 9781292090061(ebook)
- Binding: Paperback
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 7th Edition (APA 7th edition)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
j.ban@cqu.edu.au
Week 1
Begin Date: 04 Mar 2024Module/Topic
Introduction to Service Marketing.
Chapter
Chapter 1
Events and Submissions/Topic
Overviews of the unit profile, assessments, and Moodle mapping
In-class activities: Discussion questions/exercise/case study.
Week 2
Begin Date: 11 Mar 2024Module/Topic
Consumer Behaviour in a services context & Positioning Services in competitive markets.
Chapter
Chapter 2 & 3
Events and Submissions/Topic
Interactive discussion, overview, and mapping of the resources for the assessment task 1.
In-class activities: Discussion questions/ exercise/ case study.
Week 3
Begin Date: 18 Mar 2024Module/Topic
Developing Service Products and Brands.
Chapter
Chapter 4
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 4
Begin Date: 25 Mar 2024Module/Topic
Distributing Services Though Physical and Electronic Channels.
Chapter
Chapter 5
Events and Submissions/Topic
Interactive discussion: assessment task 1.
In-class activities: Discussion questions/ exercise/ case study.
Individual presentation Due: Week 4 Friday (29 Mar 2024) 5:00 pm AEST
Week 5
Begin Date: 01 Apr 2024Module/Topic
Setting Prices and Implementing Revenue Management.
Chapter
Chapter 6
Events and Submissions/Topic
Interactive discussion, overview, and mapping the resources for the assessment task 2.
In-class activities: Discussion questions/ exercise case study.
Vacation Week
Begin Date: 08 Apr 2024Module/Topic
Vacation
Chapter
Vacation
Events and Submissions/Topic
Vacation
Week 6
Begin Date: 15 Apr 2024Module/Topic
Promoting Services and Educating Customers.
Chapter
Chapter 7
Events and Submissions/Topic
In-class activities: Discussion questions/ exercise/ case study.
Week 7
Begin Date: 22 Apr 2024Module/Topic
Designing Service Processes
Chapter
Chapter 8
Events and Submissions/Topic
Interactive discussion: assessment task 2
In-class activities: Discussion questions/ exercise/ case study.
Written Assessment Due: Week 7 Friday (26 Apr 2024) 5:00 pm AEST
Week 8
Begin Date: 29 Apr 2024Module/Topic
Crafting the service environment.
Chapter
Chapter 10
Events and Submissions/Topic
Interactive discussion, overview, and mapping the resources for the assessment task 3.
In-class activities: Discussion questions/ exercise/ case study.
Week 9
Begin Date: 06 May 2024Module/Topic
Managing people for service advantage.
Chapter
Chapter 11
Events and Submissions/Topic
Interactive discussion: assessment task 3.
In-class activities: Discussion questions/ exercise/ case study.
Week 10
Begin Date: 13 May 2024Module/Topic
Managing Relationships and Building Loyalty
Chapter
Chapter 12
Events and Submissions/Topic
Interactive discussion: assessment task 3.
In-class activities: Discussion questions/ exercise/ case study.
Week 11
Begin Date: 20 May 2024Module/Topic
Complaint Handling and Service Recovery.
Chapter
Chapter 13
Events and Submissions/Topic
Interactive discussion: assessment task 3.
In-class activities: Discussion questions/ exercise/ case study.
Written Assessment (a service brand equity framework) Due: Week 11 Friday (24 May 2024) 5:00 pm AEST
Week 12
Begin Date: 27 May 2024Module/Topic
Improving service quality and productivity.
Chapter
Chapter 14
Events and Submissions/Topic
Interactive discussion, closing the unit, and concluding remarks.
Review/Exam Week
Begin Date: 03 Jun 2024Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Exam Week
Begin Date: 10 Jun 2024Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Presentation
The ability to design and give service marketing presentations is critical to the success of any marketing career. In this assessment task, you as a "service marketing expert” will demonstrate your ability in this regard. Your task is to develop a 5-minute marketing pitch presentation for a new service product for a reputed service-providing company in the digital world. You will consider the marketing literature or resources in the real world (e.g. news releases, business press, and consumers' recent feedback/reviews) to understand and outline expected consumer values for the 'service product concept'. The presentation should demonstrate what value propositions you are offering to your target market and explain why the 'service product concept' has potential in the digital market.
Be creative! In your pitch, include the following key areas:
• Describe the new service offer – Identify the core and any supplementary elements for the new service.
• Briefly define and justify a target market for the new service.
• Develop an effective positioning strategy and identify your competitive advantage.
• Justify and explain why the new service product concept is innovative and attractive to the market with supporting evidence.
• Provide relevant theories/models/ frameworks to justify your arguments.
This presentation should be made within 5 minutes and through 5 PowerPoint slides. The slides should follow the subsequent structure:
1. Student information and presentation title
2. Description of the new service product offer
3. Target Market
4. Positioning Strategy & Value Propositions
5. Reference lists (more than 3 academic references).
In the "click to add notes" section of each slide, please provide the corresponding script of that slide.
Hence, in that section, you will need to write out or at least outline what you intend to say in your presentation for that slide.
On-campus students will deliver their presentations in class before, during, or after week 5 depending on their local lecturer/ tutor’s scheduling.
Distance education students are required to submit their PowerPoint presentations with voiceover on Moodle by the due date. For hints on how to convert a PowerPoint slide to a presentation with voiceover, please view the link.
https://www.emergingedtech.com/2012/12/add-voice-over-to-powerpoint-presentations-in-5-easy-steps/
Week 4 Friday (29 Mar 2024) 5:00 pm AEST
Week 6 Friday (19 Apr 2024)
Expected release time to students is 2 weeks after the submission, excluding public and University holidays time.
- Explanation (4 marks)
- Demonstration (4 marks)
- Identification (4 marks)
- Justification (4 marks)
- Presentation (4 marks)
- Critically analyse the nature of service industries and be able to differentiate between goods and services and their marketing in the digital world
- Critically analyse the marketing situations of services using a number of the main analytical tools for the digital age
2 Written Assessment
Length: The report must be 1600 words in length (excluding the title page, table of contents, reference list, and appendices).
Format: Text for your report should be word-processed, Times New Roman, 12 size font, and line spacing 1.5 in Word. There is a minimum of 10 academic journal articles in APA style.
Submission: Please submit a Word file (.doc or .docx) via the assessment link on Moodle.
Task Description: Choose a reputed 'service-providing company' of your preference. You can choose the same company you worked for assessment task 1. In this assessment task, you will develop a services marketing case on how culture shaped the service-providing company's marketing mix elements in the digital world.
Your case should include the following key features.
· Background: Provide some key facts about the company/industry and its current sales, market share, and/or growth potential.
· The impact of culture on service operation: Identify and discuss key cultural challenges that the company has previously faced. Explore how these challenges have affected the company's service offerings and any elements of the marketing mix (4Ps).
· Strategies for overcoming challenges: Identify and discuss the two (2) most suitable elements of the 4Ps strategies that the service-providing company implemented to address cultural challenges in the digital era. Support your analysis with relevant theories/models/frameworks studied in this unit.
· Lessons learned: Reflect and explain what you and/or other relevant companies in the same industry can learn from this case. Provide specific recommendations along with justifications.
· Professionally present the report, including expression, grammar, sentence, style, format, title page, table of contents, citations, references, etc.
Please find below some notes for this task.
- Consider relevant cases, textbook(s), published research papers, marketing theories, authentic web sources, reviews, etc.
- You can also find supplementary information in various secondary sources, including annual reports, trade journals, websites, press releases, advertisements, and news.
- Penalties will be applied for exceeding the word limit, with a 1% deduction for every 100 words over the allowed 1600-word limit.
- There will be a late penalty of 2 marks (5% of 40) for each day late.
Week 7 Friday (26 Apr 2024) 5:00 pm AEST
Week 9 Friday (10 May 2024)
- Background (8 marks)
- Culture's effect on service operation (9 marks)
- Strategies implemented to overcome the challenges (9 marks)
- Lessons learned (9 marks)
- Report presentation (5 marks)
- Critically analyse the nature of service industries and be able to differentiate between goods and services and their marketing in the digital world
- Identify and apply the major factors presented in the literature that improve the digital marketing of services
- Analyse and critically discuss the role of customer service and each of the 7Ps in order to improve service industry marketing in the digital world.
3 Written Assessment
Length: The total word limit for this assessment task is 1600 words (excluding the title page, table of contents, reference list, and appendices).
Format: Text for your report should be word-processed, Times New Roman, 12 size font, and line spacing 1.5 in Word. There is a minimum of 10 academic journal articles in APA style.
Submission: Please submit a Word file (.doc or .docx) via the assessment link on Moodle.
Task Description: As a brand equity manager for a reputable service company/brand, you have been requested to prepare a report suggesting how to enhance brand equity in the digital world.
Your report should include the following key features.
• Identification: Identify key factors that affect service brand equity in the digital age.
• Explanation: Provide reflections from literature and in the context of your company/brand and explain how the identified factors would help to achieve brand equity.
• Formulation: Formulate context-specific and realistic strategies for enhancing brand equity for the identified factors that are clustered under the 7Ps of services marketing mix elements: choose most relevant three (3) elements from the 7Ps of services marketing mix and discuss them in detail.
• Report presentation: Present the report in a professional manner, including expression, grammar, sentence, style, format, title page, table of contents, citation, references, etc.
Please find below some notes for this task.
- Consider relevant cases, textbook(s), published research papers, marketing theories, authentic web sources, reviews, etc.
- You can also find supplementary information in various secondary sources, including annual reports, trade journals, websites, press releases, advertisements, and news.
- Penalties will be applied for exceeding the word limit, with a 1% deduction for every 100 words over the allowed 1600-word limit.
- There will be a late penalty of 2 marks (5% of 40) for each day late.
Week 11 Friday (24 May 2024) 5:00 pm AEST
Assessment will be returned following Certification of Grades.
- Identification (8 marks)
- Explanation (12 marks)
- Formulation (12 marks)
- Research / Presentation (8 marks)
- Identify and apply the major factors presented in the literature that improve the digital marketing of services
- Critically analyse the marketing situations of services using a number of the main analytical tools for the digital age
- Analyse and critically discuss the role of customer service and each of the 7Ps in order to improve service industry marketing in the digital world.
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
