Signaling of quality on services

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to expand the knowledge that has been developed on signaling of quality for the services sector. In order to do that, past studies about signaling of quality through the marketing mix are analyzed considering the specificities of the services sector, identifying differences and similarities with the reasoning of the quality signals emission and outlining propositions for future research. The analysis has showed that the logic underlying signaling may be valid for the services, if the marketing mix has been revised and adapted to the specificities of this sector. Thus, in this study, signaling mechanisms related to advertising, price, brand management and warranties has been analyzed under the services perspective. Besides this, a new signaling tool, exclusive for this context, is proposed: the servicescape, which comprehends investments in the physical and social environments. It is concluded that this research field is useful and encompasses the development of new and important research, which would bring advantages for both consumers and high quality companies.