offer special benefits to customers in order to develop more formalized
relationships.
b. Relationship marketing can be practiced at four levels:
• Level 1: Financial – This level uses pricing incentives to encourage customers to
continue doing business with it. It is the least effective in the long term because
its price-based advantage is easily imitated by other firms. Examples include
frequent-flyer programs.
6. Internal Marketing in Services Firms (LO 12-6, PPT Slide 37, DISC: Customer)
a. In service industries, employees deliver the brand promise—their performance as a
brand representative—directly to customers. Employees who like their jobs and are
7. Nonprofit Organization Marketing (LO 12-7, PPT Slide 39, DISC: Marketing Plan)
a. A nonprofit organization exists to achieve some goal other than the usual
business goals of profit, market share, or return on investment. Nonprofit
organizations account for more than 20 percent of the economic activity in the
United States. In addition to government entities, nonprofit organizations include
c. Unique Aspects of Nonprofit Organization Marketing Strategies
• Objectives: Nonprofits’ focus is often on generating enough funds to cover
expenses. Most nonprofit organizations are expected to provide equitable,
• Target Markets: Three issues relating to target markets are unique to nonprofit
organizations:
o Nonprofit organizations must often target those who are apathetic about or
strongly opposed to receiving their services.
• Product Decisions: There are three product-related distinctions between business
and nonprofits:
o Nonprofit organizations often market complex behaviors or ideas that result
in complex, long-term, and intangible benefits (e.g., the need to exercise or
eat right).
• Place (Distribution) Decisions: A nonprofit organization’s capacity for distributing
its service offerings to potential customer groups when and where they want
Example: Many large universities have one or more satellite campus locations to
provide easier access for students in other areas.
• Promotion Decisions: Many nonprofit organizations are explicitly or implicitly
prohibited from advertising, thus limiting their promotion options. Instead, they
can:
o Seek professional volunteers to provide marketing services
• Pricing Decisions: Five key characteristics distinguish the pricing decisions of
nonprofit organizations from those of the for-profit sector:
o Nonprofit organizations seek to either partially or fully defray costs (rather
than to achieve a profit for distribution to stockholders) and to redistribute
income.
8. Global Issues in Services Marketing (LO 12-8, PPT Slide 51, DISC: International
Perspective)
a. The United States has become the world’s largest exporter of services. Competition
in international services is increasing rapidly, but many U.S. service industries have
Discussion Questions
You can assign these questions several ways: in a discussion forum in your LMS; as whole-
class discussions in person; or as a partner or group activity in class. A generic discussion
rubric is provided in the Appendix.
1. Discussion: (LO 12-1, PPT Slide 4) Duration: 5-10 minutes
a. Lead students on a discussion of the term “services”:
• What are some examples of services you’ve recently purchased?
• What are some examples of services you may have provided as part of your
job?
2. Discussion: (LO 12-5, PPT Slides 35–36) Duration: 5-10 minutes
a. Imagine that a major credit card provider wants to offer a new credit card for
high-value customers that includes additional services.
• What is a service the provider could offer that complements the credit card
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Additional Activities and Assignments
A generic discussion and writing rubric is provided in the Appendix.
1. Activator Exercise: How Would You Promote Your School? (LO 12-7)
Purpose: To get students to start thinking about some of the unique aspects of
promoting services and nonprofit organizations.
Classroom Format: Group work, then presentations (Estimated Time: 25-35 minutes)
1. Divide students into groups of three or four and ask them to imagine they’ve
2. Ask each group to share their promotional ideas in a group presentation to
the class.
Online Format: Video presentation submitted by each student (Estimated Time: 25-
35 minutes)
1. Create this assignment in the Bongo app in MindTap or your LMS. Click on
2. Imagine you’ve been tasked with coming up with a new promotions strategy
for your college or university.
3. Create a promotional plan that:
• Explains whether an education is a product or a service
4. Create and record a short presentation of your plan.
5. Have each student upload their video presentation to Bongo in MindTap.
6. Grade the video presentation using the Rubric provided with the Instructor’s
Manual on the Instructor Companion Site.
Additional questions for a classroom or discussion board: What tangible cues
2. Class activity (LO 12-2)
Format: This activity can be facilitated in both a classroom and an online
environment. Instructions for how to facilitate the activity in the classroom and
online are provided below. (Estimated time: 5-10 minutes)
Classroom Format: Divide students into small groups of three or four. Have them
think of a specific service and discuss how it exemplifies the four key characteristics
of services.
Online Format: If you’re delivering your course online, you can have students do
3. Class activity (LO 12-3)
Format: This activity can be facilitated in both a classroom and an online
environment. Instructions for how to facilitate the activity in the classroom and
online are provided below. (Estimated time: 5-10 minutes)
Classroom Format: Divide students into small groups of three or four. Have one
Online Format: If you’re delivering your course online, you can have students do
this on their own and have them post their answers in a discussion board. Use the
following prompt to facilitate this activity:
4. Class activity (LO 12-4)
Format: This activity can be facilitated in both a classroom and an online
environment. Instructions for how to facilitate the activity in the classroom and
online are provided below. (Estimated time: 15-25 minutes)
Classroom Format: Divide students into small groups of three or four. Instruct each
strategy into a specific plan of action. Invite groups to present their plans to the
class.
Online Format: If you’re delivering your course online, you can have students do
this on their own and have them post their answers in a discussion board. Use the
following prompt to facilitate this activity:
Choose a service-oriented business you would like to promote. Consider the four possible
5. Class activity (LO 12-7)
Format: This activity can be facilitated in both a classroom and an online
environment. Instructions for how to facilitate the activity in the classroom and
online are provided below. (Estimated time: 10-20 minutes)
Classroom Format: Divide students into pairs or groups of three. Have them use
the Internet to identify three nonprofit organizations of their choice, perhaps even
Online Format: If you’re delivering your course online, you can have students do
6. Additional activity: Marketing a Nonprofit (LO 12-7)
Purpose: To help students understand the unique challenges associated with
marketing nonprofit organizations.
Background: Nonprofits’ focus is often on generating enough funds to cover
expenses, but they are also expected to provide equitable, effective, and efficient
services that respond to the wants and preferences of multiple constituencies.
These unique circumstances make creating, implementing, and measuring a
nonprofit’s marketing mix more complex.
Relationship to Text: Nonprofit Organization Marketing
Estimated Class Time: About 35-45 minutes
Format: This activity can be facilitated in both a classroom and an online
online are provided below.
Classroom Format: Divide your class into groups of three to five students. Then
direct them to follow these steps:
1. Choose a nonprofit organization that appeals to everyone in the group.
Have groups present their marketing mixes and metrics to the class. Lead the class
in critiquing each group’s plan.
Online Format: Discussion board with posted response from each student
1. Use the following prompt to facilitate this activity in a discussion board:
Choose a nonprofit organization that appeals to you. Review the key differences
2. Have students respond to their classmates’ posts and offer constructive
feedback on their marketing ideas.
Additional Questions for Reflection:
• Does each marketing mix make it clear who is being targeted as potential
donors?
7. Online Research Activity (LO 12-1)
The service sector plays a crucial role in the U.S. economy. To keep track of how
service employment is affecting the U.S. economy, view the Business Employment
Marketing
Dynamics page on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) website. Look at the right
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Additional Resources
External Videos or Playlist
Appendix
Generic Rubrics
Providing students with rubrics helps them understand expectations and components of
assignments. Rubrics help students become more aware of their learning process and
progress, and they improve students’ work through timely and detailed feedback.
Customize these rubrics as you wish. The writing rubric indicates 40 points and the
discussion rubric indicates 30 points.
Standard Writing Rubric
Criteria
Meets Requirements
Needs Improvement
Incomplete
Content
The assignment clearly and
comprehensively
addresses all questions in
the assignment.
The assignment partially
addresses some or all
questions in the
assignment.
The assignment does not
address the questions in
the assignment.
0 points
Research
The assignment is based
upon appropriate and
adequate academic
literature, including peer
reviewed journals and
other scholarly work.
5 points
The assignment is based
upon adequate academic
literature but does not
include peer reviewed
journals and other
scholarly work.
3 points
The assignment is not
based upon appropriate
and adequate academic
literature and does not
include peer reviewed
journals and other
scholarly work.
Standard Discussion Rubric
Criteria
Meets Requirements
Needs Improvement
Incomplete
Participation
Submits or participates in
discussion by the posted
deadlines. Follows all
assignment. instructions
for initial post and
responses.
Does not participate or
submit discussion by the
posted deadlines. Does not
follow instructions for
initial post and responses.
3 points
Does not participate in
discussion.
0 points