Through Web-based consumer opinion platforms (e.g., epinions.com), the Internet enables customers to share their opinions on, and experiences with, goods and services with a multitude of other consumers; that is, to engage in electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) communication. Drawing on findings from research on virtual communities and traditional word-of-mouth literature, a typology for motives of consumer online articulation is developed. Using an online sample of some 2,000 consumers, information on the structure and relevance of the motives of consumers’ online articulations is generated. The resulting analysis suggests that consumers’ desire for social interaction, desire for economic incentives, their concern for other consumers, and the potential to enhance their own self-worth are the primary factors leading to eWOM behavior. Further, eWOM providers can be grouped based on what motivates their behavior, suggesting that firms may need to develop different strategies for encouraging eWOM behavior among their users.

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Services marketing strategy focuses on delivering processes, experiences, and intangibles – rather than physical goods and discrete transactions – to customers. Delivering experiences successfully and building customer relationships are complicated undertakings involving many different strategies and tactics. Successful services marketing strategy also involves integrating a focus on the customer throughout the firm and across all functions. All company functions – marketing, selling, human resources, operations, and R&D – must work together to create effective services marketing strategy. Although companies have often found it difficult to attack service problems in an organized manner, a well‐established model called the gaps model provides a framework for focusing on the customer and describes the approaches necessary to close the gap between customer expectations and perceptions. This article discusses services marketing strategy in the context of the gaps model, demonstrating that closing the all‐important customer gap is a function of closing four gaps on the service provider side: the listening gap, the service design and standards gap, the performance gap, and the communication gap.

Relationships are an important aspect of doing business, and few businesses can survive without establishing solid relationships with their customers. Although the marketing literature suggests that personal relationships can be important to service firms, little specificity has been provided as to which relational aspects should receive attention. In this study, the authors examine one specific aspect of customer-employee relationships, rapport, that they believe may be particularly salient in service businesses characterized by a high amount of interpersonal interactions. Rapport has received relatively little attention in the marketing literature; the goal of this study is to fill this gap in the literature. In two different service contexts, the authors find support for two empirically distinct dimensions of rapport. They also find a positive relationship between these dimensions and satisfaction, loyalty intent, and word-of-mouth communication. They conclude by suggesting future research directions for further academic inquiry of rapport in service contexts.

The Critical Incident Technique (CIT) has been used in a variety of service contexts in recent years to explore service research issues and has been instrumental in advancing our understanding of these issues. Despite the popularity of this methodology, no published research synthesis systematically examines this research. The primary purpose of this study is to review the use of the CIT method in service research to (a) help current and future researchers employing the CIT method to examine their methodological decisions closely and (b) suggest guidelines for the proper application and reporting of the procedures involved when using this method. The study provides an overview of the CIT method, reports the results of a research synthesis conducted of 141 CIT studies appearing in service marketing and management publications, discusses implications for service research, and suggests guidelines for researchers employing this method.