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Alpert et al.′s (1993) study on the relationship between objective product quality and price is both interesting and important. It continues the tradition of “borrowing” relevant theories from other disciplines to explicate problems faced in marketing. However, some issues raised regarding price signaling and quality need to be discussed further. In addition to information asymmetry, other conditions are necessary to ensure signaling equilibrium. A signal must be both information revealing and such that it cannot be mimicked. These conditions are, however, absent in the Alpert et al. (1993) study, leading to the conclusion price, as cited in the study, was not a signal of quality, rather it was an important strategic tool. Hence, the important lessons from the study are: we must exercise caution when “borrowing” theories from other disciplines to explicate marketing problems; and we are reminded that for a marketing strategy to be effective and successful, it is essential that the strategic elements be consistent and cohesive.

This paper aims to examine the key factors that facilitate the service to service (S2S) marketing relationships. Specifically, it aims to focus on the relationship between external counsels (law firms) and hospitals.

The study uses exploratory research that comprised a series of interviews with the relevant parties.

Reputation and word‐of‐word play roles in soliciting a firm to submit a proposal; advertisements seem to play no role. Furthermore, S2S marketing relationships occur over distinct and different phases and require a different set of facilitating factors.

As this was exploratory research conducted in the US, the results are not generalizable, nevertheless, they offer a unique insight into a kind of S2S marketing relationship, specifically between hospitals and law firms.

Service providers who seek S2S marketing relationships should invest more in building and shoring‐up their reputation instead of advertising, because service purchasers use reputation and word‐of‐mouth instead of advertisements in selecting firms to ask for proposals.

The study provides an insight into an important, but neglected area in marketing.

“Zongos” are a part of the urban phenomena in Ghana that have escaped critical social inquiry. The purpose of this paper is three fold. It seeks insight into the reasons zongos continue to attract new dwellers despite their “unattractive” reputation; the role of religion in the choice of residential locations; and the role of Islamic marketing vis‐à‐vis zongos.

As an exploratory study whose objective is to generate insight, the study uses interview technique as an investigative tool. The researcher interviewed eight zongo dwellers from four different zongos (different parts of the country) and from different educational and socio‐economic backgrounds. The interviews were conducted individually with an unstructured format that provides for unlimited follow‐up questions.

The findings suggest that: religion and identity are the common threads that bind zongo dwellers together; zongo dwellers seem to be more religious than the average city dweller; religion informs the behavior of most zongo dwellers; though income plays a role, religion seems to be the overriding reason for the dwellers' choice of zongo as a place to live; and zongo dwellers are aware of the negative image that zongos have, but see their choice of living in a zongo as a step to better practice their religion.

As an exploratory study, the results of this study are not generalizable. Furthermore, the small sample size makes the findings tenuous. Nonetheless, the results are important in the sense that they uncover an aspect of zongos that has not received much attention from academic researchers.

By virtue of not only sharing a common religion, but practicing the tenets of their religion in their daily lives, zongos constitute “natural” market segments that can be profitably addressed by Islamic marketing. The four “Ps” are used to illustrate a strategy that could be used by marketers who wish to serve zongo dwellers.

Besides “guiding” the religious sensibility of non‐Muslem entrepreneurs who wish to serve zongo dwellers, Islamic marketing can play a role in educating zongo dwellers on health care, sanitation and environmental preservation issues that seem to be problematic with zongos. Furthermore, Islamic marketing can play a role in educating non‐zongo dwellers about the “positives” of zongos and Islam.

This paper takes an academic approach to studying zongos both as a social and a business phenomenon, and develops a sampler marketing strategy for zongo entrepreneurs based on the insight gained from interviews.

This study focuses on the strategic nature of information on new products or innovations, and examines how it is managed (detailed versus non‐detailed) and when it is released (pre‐announcements versus announcements) in the food and food‐related industries. We found that, compared with the pharmaceutical and the computer industries, firms in the food industry more often use pre‐announcements instead of announcements to release information on innovative activities. The calculated χ² of the hypothesis that there is no difference between the mode of releasing information and the industry group is 7.471 with 2 degrees of freedom and p of 0.0239, while the χ² with 5 per cent level of significance and 2 df is 5.99. We also found that information released on innovative activities in the food industry is less detailed than that in the other two industries. Furthermore, the press coverage of innovations and new product information in the food industry is significantly smaller compared with the other two industries. Finally, we found that the financial markets (stock prices) do not react significantly to new information on innovations in the food industry.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between the marketing and legal departments within the corporation and how this relationship allows corporate attorneys to protect the firm against third‐party lawsuits.

A literature review is followed by a discussion of the relevant sections of the American Bar Association's Model Rules of Professional Conduct which govern the professional conduct of all attorneys in the USA relative to how they treat the client, third parties, and relate to the court. Then, the concept of the client/customer from the viewpoint of marketers and “legal people” (corporate counsels) is examined.

After a thorough examination of the roles of corporate attorneys and the marketing department within the firm, the study concludes that the occasional turf wars between the two departments stem from the differences in the cultures and norms of the two departments.

To the extent that the study focused on the laws protecting consumers in the USA, and the Model Rules of Professional Responsibility as they relate to attorneys in the USA, its findings may be true only in the USA. However, the insights generated may have universal application.

Because the Model Rules of Professional Conduct dictate how lawyers in the USA conduct themselves vis‐à‐vis their clients, efforts on the part of corporate counsels to educate marketers on how these rules affect their conduct could elicit the support and cooperation of marketers within the firm. In addition, organizations must reorganize so that corporate counsels not only maintain an active presence in the marketing department, but also work together with marketers to craft language in warranties, ads, and other communications with third parties in order to fulfill the applicable legal requirements, and yet not perceived by consumers as too “legalease”.

The study sheds light on the causes of turf wars between the two important departments (legal and marketing folk) within the firm, and suggests ways to remedy the situation.

To examine tipping propensities between the races and genders in restaurant and non‐restaurant service encounters.

Data were collected on tipping in restaurants and in other service encounters outside the restaurant from consumers across races and genders in the USA.

Analyses showed that tipping in restaurants is different from tipping in other service encounters outside the restaurant industry. While tipping in restaurants may be norm driven, tipping in service encounters outside restaurants may be out of appreciation. It was also found that, unlike in restaurants, ethnicity does not matter in tipping in service encounters outside the restaurant. Furthermore, gender was found to make a marginal difference in tipping in service encounters outside the restaurant industry.

The findings are limited to the USA since the samples came from the USA alone. However, kindness and the ability to appreciate good deeds can transcend geographic barriers. Furthermore, the findings are limited by the data being self‐reported.

The results show that there is no difference in tipping propensities in service encounters outside the restaurant industry, regardless of gender or ethnicity. Managers in service businesses outside the restaurant industry should therefore train their workers to be truly committed to delivering customer satisfaction to all customers regardless of ethnicity or gender. By focusing on making the customers happy, the workers also stand a good chance of increasing their tip.

The study fills the current gap in research and in the understanding of tipping in restaurants and in other service encounters outside the restaurant industry.

Examines the use of the bizarre or the outrageous in the entertainment industry as a promotion strategy, and specifically the propensity of rock/pop artistes to engage in bizarre or outrageous acts or conduct. Provides a brief survey of the practice. Next, using economic theories of human behavior to maximize expected utility and minimize transaction and learning costs, shows that what may appear as a thoughtless act or outrageous behavior by an artiste could in fact be a well‐thought‐out promotion strategy with valid economic underpinnings designed to promote the artiste. Such acts do not only confer uniqueness on the individual artiste, but are also useful in reducing the learning and transaction costs incurred by fans, and hence beneficial to both the artistes and the consumers. Suggests some less controversial but effective strategies for promoting artistes.

Investigates the effectiveness of corporate name change signaling in the services industry. Argues that previous studies on the subject are lacking because they failed to distinguish between the services and manufacturing sectors. Uses the trend analysis method and examines the movement of price‐earning ratios during a five‐year period before and after the name change. Evaluates the effectiveness of the name change signaling strategy by testing the difference in means of the “before and after” P/E ratios. Finds that firms who announce name change together with other managerial decisions and regularly release news on other firm‐specific activities fared much better than firms which did not release such information.

To reinforce, clarify, illuminate and sometimes counter the findings and discussion of Deon Nel et al.'s article found elsewhere in this issue (“Eleven years of scholarly research in the Journal of Services Marketing”), the Journal's Editor aims to provide his response in this paper.

Primarily, the Editor/author's comments follow the findings and discussion of the Nel et al.'s content analysis of 417 articles published in the Journal of Services Marketing (JSM) from 1998 through 2008. Realizing that some information about JSM is not publicly available (e.g. the number and content of manuscripts submitted for publication but not published), the Editor/author provides additional analysis and discussion beyond the immediate scope of the Nel et al. article.

The findings largely reinforce the findings and discussion of the Nel et al. study, but offer some additional insights and alternative explanations for the patterns of publication in JSM.

Along with the Nel team's article, this editorial assists prospective JSM contributors with data and discussion to enhance their likelihood of publication in the Journal. For business practitioners, the articles potentially provide guidance in the search for service‐related information of particular interest.

Periodically assessing where a journal has been and where it is provides some indication of the possible future direction of the publication and of the field it represents. Coupled with the Nel et al. article, this editorial attempts such an assessment.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss how regulatory environment can be a fundamental constraint or lever in defining the scope of operations of a social innovation.

Semi-structured interviews with top-level executives of pioneers of crowdfunding were run in India and France, two of the three leading countries in this field.

Four main issues rise: choice of legal status, constraints for the operations model, compliance with anti-money laundering measures and challenges in marketing and sustainability.

This paper contributes to knowledge advancement in the field of this new funding actor that could challenge the banking system. This is the first paper to explore these regulatory issues and their impact on marketing practices.