Diagnosing the supplementary services model: Empirical validation, advancement and implementation

AbstractSince the publication of Levitt’s (1980) ‘total product concept’, there has been an increasing recognition that additional supplementary elements, beyond the core product, can have a profound impact on customer value. Lovelock’s (1995) supplementary services model further develops this concept by providing more specific guidelines regarding where to seek value enhancement. However, there is little empirical validation of his theoretical model across the services sector. Our paper addresses this gap in three ways. First, we assess the soundness of Lovelock’s model across different service businesses by adopting a form of interaction research. Second, drawing upon findings from this process, we then develop a revised model of supplementary services. Finally, we propose an implementation framework for our revised model of supplementary services.Keywords: supplementary servicesproduct augmentationdifferentiationflower of service AcknowledgementsThe authors wish to thank the executives participating in this study.Additional informationNotes on contributorsPennie FrowPennie Frow is Associate Professor in Marketing in the Discipline of Marketing at the University of Sydney Business School, Australia. Previously she was Visiting Fellow at Cranfield School of Management, Cranfield University, UK, and a Senior Consultant at the Cranfield Marketing Planning Centre. Before joining academia, she was Chief Marketing Officer of a major British charity and Managing Director of a US distribution company. Her main research interests are managing customer relationships, employee commitment, customer retention, developing a customer-oriented culture and internal marketing. She serves on the review board of a number of international journals. Her publications have appeared in a range of academic publications, including the Journal of Marketing, Industrial Marketing Management, the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, the Journal of Business Research, the Journal of Marketing Management and the Journal of Services Marketing.E pennie.frow@sydney.edu.auLiem Viet NgoLiem Viet Ngo is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing at the School of Marketing, University of New South Wales, Australia, where he is also Director of the Master of Commerce in Marketing. His research has been published in the Journal of Product Innovation Management, the Journal of Marketing Management, the British Journal of Management, Industrial Marketing Management, the European Journal of Marketing, the Journal of Business Research, and the European Business Review, among others.E liem.ngo@unsw.edu.auAdrian PayneAdrian Payne is Professor of Marketing at the Australian School of Business, University of New South Wales, Australia and Visiting Professor at Cranfield School of Management, Cranfield University, UK. His main research interests are CRM, service marketing and relationship marketing. His publications have appeared in the Journal of Marketing, the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, the Journal of Business Research, Industrial Marketing Management, the Journal of International Business Studies, the European Marketing Journal, Long Range Planning, and Human Relations and Marketing Theory. His books include: The Handbook of CRM: Excellence in Customer Management; Relationship Marketing: Creating Stakeholder Value; and Creating a Company for Customers. He serves on the review board of a number of international journals.