Why services marketing needs an extended marketing mix: people, process and physical evidence

The statement

The traditional marketing mix of product, price, place and promotion was developed for physical goods. Services differ from goods in four ways that make these four Ps insufficient:

1. Intangibility: services cannot be seen or tried before purchase, so customers look for tangible clues.
2. Inseparability: services are produced and consumed at the same time, usually in the presence of the provider and often with the customer taking part.
3. Variability: quality depends on who provides the service, when and where.
4. Perishability: services cannot be stored; unused capacity is lost.

Because the customer experiences the service through the provider, the delivery system and the surroundings, services marketing adds three Ps, people, process and physical evidence, to form the extended (7P) marketing mix proposed by Booms and Bitner. The statement is therefore correct.

People

Meaning: everyone whose behaviour the customer meets while the service is delivered: front-line staff, the back-office staff who support them, and even other customers present at the time.

Relevance: in many services the employee is the service. A bank teller's courtesy, a doctor's manner or a teacher's skill decides the customer's satisfaction. Service firms therefore select staff carefully, train them in skills and behaviour, motivate and empower them (internal marketing), and manage customer-to-customer interaction (dress codes, queues).

Example: an airline's cabin crew shape passengers' perception of the airline as much as the seat or the fare.

Process

Meaning: the steps the customer goes through, and the systems behind them, from the first enquiry to the end of the service.

Relevance: customers judge services by their convenience, speed and reliability. Well-designed processes reduce waiting, errors and variability; they also determine the degree of customer participation and self-service. Firms standardise routine steps, use technology (online booking, self-check-in, apps) and design service blueprints to spot failure points.

Example: a food-delivery app's ordering, payment, tracking and refund process is central to the customer's experience.

Physical evidence

Meaning: the visible and touchable things around a service: the place where it is delivered and the items that come with it.

Relevance: because services are intangible, customers infer quality from tangible cues: the building, interior, cleanliness, equipment, signage, staff uniforms, brochures, websites, tickets, invoices and online reviews. Physical evidence makes the intangible tangible and supports positioning.

Example: a dental clinic's clean, modern interior and sterilised equipment reassure patients; a luxury hotel's lobby signals its class.

Conclusion

The statement is valid. Services marketing requires an extended mix because the quality of a service is created and judged through people, process and physical evidence as much as through the core offering, its price, location and promotion.