Successfully using Public Relations as an important tool in the Marketing Mix for Promoting the Service Industry in the Cyprus Market

Public Relations : An Important Tool in the Marketing Mix for Promoting

the Service Industry in Cyprus

Introduction Today , consumers are continually expressing their irritation frustration , and dissatisfaction on an individual case-to-case basis as we witness the growing needs for service industries (Christopher , Payne Ballantyne , 1991 . Most of the cases of these discrete encounters are the service based on the customer 's perception . The current and comprehensive emphasis on service encounter satisfaction and service quality exemplifies both the significance and the complexity of the issues . First and foremost , customer satisfaction is greatly

affected by the management and monitoring of individual service encounters (Gordon 1998 Gronroos , 1990 . Managing individual encounters is nested within broader managerial issues of organizational structure , philosophy , and culture that also can influence service delivery , and ultimately , the customer 's point of view of the quality of service (Guenzi Pelloni 2004 Gummesson , 1987 . Despite recognizing the complex organizational and strategic issues that needs to be solved and managed if service delivery is to be effective , public relations and marketing mix effects are focused on in this proposal . This focus draws interest to controllable elements at the point of interaction between the company and its customers that may affect customer evaluations , and ultimately influence perceptions of service quality and repeat purchase behavior

The current study intends to investigate the potential of public relations as an important tool in the marketing mix for promoting the service industry in Cyprus

Review of Related Literature

Traditional Marketing : Transactions and Exchange

Kotler (2000 ) defines marketing as : the process of planning , and executing the conception , pricing , promotion , and distribution of goods ideas , and services , to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational goals ' Through manipulation of the 4 Ps (Product Price , Place , Promotion or the marketing mix , marketers seek to meet and satisfy customer 's needs and wants through a process of exchange that may culminate in a transaction

What forms the bases of the 4Ps ' framework ? Christopher , Clark , Peck and Payne (1999 ) trace the framework 's origins to Borden 's work in 1960s . Borden identified 12 factors that comprised the marketing mix that influenced demand . These 12 factors would later be simplified in the popular 4Ps ' framework . The prevailing mass manufacturing - mass marketing conditions of the 1950s and 1960s , with its emphasis on customer acquisition rather than retention , provided ample evidence of transaction-based marketing 's efficacy

Beyond The Transaction : Establishing Long-Term Relationships

Government deregulation has resulted in increased competition in industries such as transportation , energy , and telecommunications Companies have broader geographic market scope and partnering with international suppliers . Efficient supply chains and the Internet have allowed for more sophisticated customer needs acquisition , fulfillment and tracking . Christopher et al (1999 ) relates the eventual inadequacy of the transaction-based model

Critics have long argued that these models and the assumptions on which they were based were inappropriate for industrial and services contexts , where relationships with customers were often on-going and of pivotal importance . They were also felt to be inadequate when applied to marketing in the international...