Issues and challenges in the positioning of service brands: a review
| Pages | 106-118 |
| Published date | 01 April 1999 |
| Date | 01 April 1999 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/10610429910266968 |
| Author | Charles Blankson,Stavros P. Kalafatis |
| Subject Matter | Marketing |
Issues and challenges in the
positioning of service brands:
a review
Charles Blankson
Research Assistant, School of Marketing, Kingston Business School,
Kingston University, Kingston upon Thames, UK
Stavros P. Kalafatis
Reader in Marketing, School of Marketing, Kingston Business School,
Kingston University, Kingston-upon-Thames, UK
Keywords Brands, Marketing theory, Positioning, Services marketing
Abstract In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to positioning and, more
specifically, positioning of service brands. This is so because of the unique characteristics
of services. Although some authors argue that there are no marked differences between
positioning in services and that of physical goods, the vast majority of marketing scholars
believe that it is difficult to embark on positioning strategies in services. Sheds some light
on this issue within the context and aims to contribute to the debate.
Introduction and aim
In retrospect, it is surprising to realise that after many years of scrupulous
debate, the issue of a dichotomy between services and physical goods still
remains. The growing acceptance that there are several overlaps between
services and physical goods (Levitt, 1981) has over the years prompted
concern about the issue of varying positioning strategies for services
(Rathmell, 1974; Arnott, 1992; Arnott and Easingwood, 1994). It is
important to know that although the concept of positioning is equally
pertinent to both physical goods and services (Cowell, 1989), the latter
possess characteristics such as intangibility, inseparability, perishability,
heterogeneity (Bateson, 1995) and non-standardization (Berry, 1983) which
make positioning of services more difficult and challenging than positioning
of physical goods (Ennew et al., 1993). This assertion is evidenced in the
work of Assael (1985) who states that:
... positioning a service is more difficult than positioning a product because of the
need to communicate vague and intangible benefits.
The above is supported by de Chernatony and Dall'Olmo Riley (1997) who
claim that service brands are particularly different, in that they rely on
employees' actions and attitudes. Given that employees' actions and
attitudes are stochastic, and that services characteristics are different from
those of physical goods (Bitner, 1997), it can be inferred that it is more
challenging to embark on positioning strategies in services. The foregoing is
evidenced in an earlier work by Lamb and Cravens (1990), who claimed that:
... services marketing differs from goods marketing because services pose different
marketing problems and opportunities from those faced by goods marketers...
The authors are grateful to two anonymous reviewers of the Journal of Product &
Brand Management for their helpful comments. The first author thanks Marcos
Tsogas (Lecturer at Kingston Business School and PhD candidate at the University
of Athens, Greece) and Dr Ogenyi Omar (Research Reader in Marketing at the
London Institute) for the comments made on an earlier draft of this paper. He is also
indebted to the School of Marketing, Kingston Business School for the support, both
financial and moral, in the course of his doctoral studies.
Service brands are
particularly different
106 JOURNAL OF PRODUCT & BRAND MANAGEMENT, VOL. 8 NO. 2 1999, pp. 106-118, #MCB UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1061-0421
An executive summary for
managers and executive
readers can be found at the
end of this article
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