Services marketing in a cross‐cultural environment: the case of Egypt

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to analyze how adaptation/standardization, trust and network development are achieved when marketing services in a culturally distant country through handling the problems of intangibility and heterogeneity.

Design/methodology/approach

Qualitative data are collected in the form of unstructured interviews and direct observation to conduct a single case study on Gamma Knife.

Findings

Adaptation/standardization plays the central role in internationalization of services marketing. For service development and quality maintenance, values and ideas of the foreign company dominate the adaptation (i.e. standardization), while market‐related adaptation is carried out in response to local culture and practices.

Research limitations/implications

The research is based on a single case. Future research can involve similar in‐depth study examining how internationalization of services works in culturally distant countries, the results of which can be compared with the current study.

Practical implications

In international services marketing, in addition to meeting formal and official requirements, managers must concentrate on building trust and informal contacts.

Originality/value

The research uses an empirical illustration to provide a model on internationalization of services marketing based on adaptation/standardization, trust and network, to overcome intangibility‐ and heterogeneity‐related difficulties.

Citation

Hyder, A.S. and Fregidou‐Malama, M. (2009), "Services marketing in a cross‐cultural environment: the case of Egypt", Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 23 No. 4, pp. 261-271. https://doi.org/10.1108/08876040910965593