Lip Service ‐ a Neglected Area in Services Marketing

It is estimated that 60 to 70 percent of the GNP in western developed countries is services. Some twenty‐five years after the discovery of this fact the academic world found the time ripe to recognize services as a research area. Says German service pioneer Professor Wolfgang von Dienstbode: “We consider it obvious, although a lot remains to be done to prove it scientifically, that the service sector has come to stay.” The theoretical advances in services marketing and the management of service businesses have also boomed during the past few years.