Service Dominant Logic: an Analysis of Universal Studios Orlando
SERVICE DOMINANT LOGIC:
AN ANALYSIS OF UNIVERSAL STUDIOS ORLANDO
The following paper aims to analyze a current conglomerate in the light of modern marketing theory, using the collection of articles provided by Jonathan Schroeder as a conceptual platform to make evident the application of theory to practicality. The Oxford English Dictionary defines marketing simply as the promotion or selling of products. However, the school of thought around this facet of business that has arisen over the past several decades reveals a far more complicated and intricate world. “The formal study of marketing focused at first on the distribution and exchange of commodities and manufactured products and featured a foundation in economics. The first marketing scholars directed their attention toward commodities exchange, the marketing institutions that made goods available and arranged for possession, and the functions that needed to be performed to facilitate the exchange of goods through marketing institutions.” However, as evolution in the field continued into the 1950s, “the functional school began to morph into the marketing management school, which was characterized by a decision-making approach to managing the marketing functions and an overarching focus on the customer.” (Vargo, 2004, pg 1) The contention that marketing is a discipline geared towards services shall be applied to a modern marketing practitioner. Specifically, this paper shall focus on the theory of a service-dominant logic for marketing, investigating the marketing workings of Universal Studios Orlando, a major theme park in the central Florida area.
A brief introduction into the company currently under investigation is required. “With its grand opening in 1990 - Universal Studios Florida became the first real challenge to Disney 's dominance of the Orlando tourism market.” (http://www.wdwinfo.com/universal/universal-studios-florida/History-of-universal-orlando.htm) The first incarnation was
AN ANALYSIS OF UNIVERSAL STUDIOS ORLANDO
The following paper aims to analyze a current conglomerate in the light of modern marketing theory, using the collection of articles provided by Jonathan Schroeder as a conceptual platform to make evident the application of theory to practicality. The Oxford English Dictionary defines marketing simply as the promotion or selling of products. However, the school of thought around this facet of business that has arisen over the past several decades reveals a far more complicated and intricate world. “The formal study of marketing focused at first on the distribution and exchange of commodities and manufactured products and featured a foundation in economics. The first marketing scholars directed their attention toward commodities exchange, the marketing institutions that made goods available and arranged for possession, and the functions that needed to be performed to facilitate the exchange of goods through marketing institutions.” However, as evolution in the field continued into the 1950s, “the functional school began to morph into the marketing management school, which was characterized by a decision-making approach to managing the marketing functions and an overarching focus on the customer.” (Vargo, 2004, pg 1) The contention that marketing is a discipline geared towards services shall be applied to a modern marketing practitioner. Specifically, this paper shall focus on the theory of a service-dominant logic for marketing, investigating the marketing workings of Universal Studios Orlando, a major theme park in the central Florida area.
A brief introduction into the company currently under investigation is required. “With its grand opening in 1990 - Universal Studios Florida became the first real challenge to Disney 's dominance of the Orlando tourism market.” (http://www.wdwinfo.com/universal/universal-studios-florida/History-of-universal-orlando.htm) The first incarnation was
References: Crittenden, Victoria L. (2005), “The Rebuilt Marketing Machine,” Business Horizons, 48, 409-420. Day, George S., John Deighton, Das Narayandas, Evert Gummesson, Shelby D. Hunt, C.K. Prahalad, Roland T. Rust and Steven M. Shugan (2004), “Invited Commentaries on ‘Evolving to a New Dominant Logic for Marketing,’” Journal of Marketing, 68 (January), 18-27. Lusch, Robert F. and Stephen L. Vargo (2006), “Service-dominant Logic: Reactions, Reflections, and Refinements,” Marketing Theory, 6(3), 281-288. Penaloza, Lisa and Alladi Venkatesh (2006), “Further Evolving the New Dominant Logic of Marketing: From Services to the Social Construction of Markets,” Marketing Theory, 6(3), 299-316. Vargo, Stephen L. and Robert L. Lusch (2004), “Evolving to a New Dominant Logic for Marketing,” Journal of Marketing, 68 (January), 1-17. Universal Studios History online: http://www.wdwinfo.com/universal/universal-studios-florida/History-of-universal-orlando.htm last accessed 11 May 2008