A Typology of Service Firms in International Markets: An Empirical Investigation

Globalization of markets and competition has created unlimited opportunities for marketers of services internationally. Service providers, with a wide range of products ranging from professional services to services embedded with tangible goods, have responded to these opportunities. In view of the limited empirical knowledge of service marketers internationally, this article reports on a study of actual experience in serving international customers. In particular, it proposes a classification framework of services as a means of differentiating various marketing practices. The empirical results confirm, for the first time, the usefulness of this classification framework in generating new insights into both strategic and operational activities of international service marketers. Implications for future research and management are also offered.