Service providers and sustainable service marketing in higher institutions of learning

Abstract

A service is understood as any act or performance which one party offers to another that is intangible and does not result in the ownership of something (Michael, 2003). Soares (2014) defined service as separately identifiable, intangible activities that provide want satisfaction when marketed to consumers and/ or industrial users; and which are noticed to the sale of a product or another service. These definitions are referring to the nature of education services, which are purely intangible and do not result in ownership of any physical product. In this modern business environment, in order to create awareness of the available goods and services, and to create a competitive advantage, effective marketing strategies are becoming essential for most of the tangible and intangible product companies (Sharma, Kant & Syan, 2021). Since education is a service, which is intangible in nature, it requires the use of effective marketing plans rather than just promotional activities as observed in many Ugandan Higher Institutions of Learning (HIL), engaging in media advertising, special event sponsorship, public noticeboards, and public speaking, among others. The emerging question here is what are the sustainable service marketing tactics higher education institutions can employ?