Marketing literature on consumer behavior has been generally oriented toward the “at‐need” purchase, goods that are purchased only when current consumption needs are felt. Marketing management strategies have been proposed under the assumption that buying occurs shortly before actual...

In business to business marketing, customer service offers firms the opportunity to differentiate themselves from competitors and thereby establish a competitive edge. However, competing on the basis of customer service presents its own problems in the area of effectively segmenting markets and...

Oligopolistic markets typically revert to some form of non‐price competition in order to differentiate their goods and services. Customer services that are associated with tangible product offerings present an opportunity for firms attempting to differentiate themselves. This article presents...

This article examines the use of customer service as a competitive weapon in industrial markets. The database consists of respondents from industrial firms throughout the United States. While the majority of respondents indicated a willingness to use the service option, only a few had an...

Customer service has long been recognised as the output of an organisation′s logistics effort. There is some evidence that suggests that the types and levels of customer service desired are contingent on a particular industry or position within the marketing channel. Most of these...