EVALUATION OF THE DEVELOPMENT AND MARKETING OF SERVICE PRODUCTS IN EDUCATIONAL SECTOR

ABSTRACT
The evaluation and development and marketing of service products in educational sector is a very interesting topic to research on because it will help both the service industries and government at large to enact policies that will help in boosting the educational level of our community. In trying to make this study a success, the researcher used Imo State University as a case study to validate the findings of this study. The researcher chose this institution because it represents the service industries in Nigeria. The researcher used oral interviews and questionnaires to collect information relative to this study. The researcher made use of primary and secondary data sources; the primary data sources is made up of interviews and questionnaires while the secondary data sources is made up of textbooks, marketing journals, magazine relative to the topic under review and also information gotten from a combined chamber of commerce and industry. In analyzing the data gotten, the researcher used simple table and percentages and in interpreting the hypothesis, Chi-square (X2) was used to validate the hypothesis. The objective of carrying out this study is to let managers know the essence of marketing service products and how best they should package their services products as to must up with the aims

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Marketing of service products can be traced back to the 18’1′ century when Jean Baptise Say rejected Adam Smith’s notion that immaterial products ate not wealth because they were not susceptible of conservation. Jean Baptize argued that activities have utility and give satisfaction to the consumer, like !the doctors who cures the sick man, are productive and that agriculture, manufacturing and commerce should be traced on an equal basis. The acceptance of services as legitimate activities is reflected in (the current division of industry by economists into three main groups; primary, secondary and tertiary.

This research will focus mainly on the tertiary activities which refers to service and distributive trade.
Foote and Hate further classified service into three as follow
1 Tertiary; These include restaurants and holds, barber and beauty shops, laundry and dry cleaning establishments, home repair and maintenance.
2 Quarter nary: This includes transportation, commerce, communication, France and administration; the salient characteristics being that they facilitate and effectuate (the division of labor)
3 Quandary: This includes health care, education and recreation; the chief aspect of this sector being that services rendered are designed to change and improve the recipient in some way. Prior to the evolution of services, manufacturers of goods relied more or less entirely on the technical qualities of their products. we had a seller’s market, where manufacturers did not have to offer much in the form of services or other auxiliaries to their customers. They did not seek for the differentiate their offerings from those of their competitors in order to maintain market share and survive, in recent years, massive changes in policy, governance, structure we effect status of education have been taken place. Environmental changes, such as privatization, diversification, decentralization, internationalization and increased competition in education are common. These changes have an effect OH how educational institutions operate nowadays and they are seen as driving forces for the marketing of services products in educational sector.

Marketing of service products is an intangible product, impossible to touch see or feel. The evaluation of the service can be obtained by judging the service content and the service delivery system, fictional sector is one of the most important sector of economy. Many countries are now shifting their economy from manufacturing to services. Researchers and academicians are emphasizing their attention towards Studying services and importance of service offered to educational sector an important consideration since the recent years. Now institutions air trying to evaluate the services provided and comparing these service products with competitors to determine status of competitive advantage. To be competitive, organizations evaluate quality of service offered to all the stakeholders. To see the service quality offered at the educational sector, service quality model given by Parasunnan et al (1988) is widely ace institutions operate nowadays and they are seen as driving forces for the marketing of services products in educational sector.

Marketing of service products is an intangible product, impossible to, see or feel. The evaluation of the service can be obtained by judging the service content and the service delivery system, fictional sector is one of the most important sector of economy. Many countries are now shifting their economy from manufacturing to services. Researchers and academicians are emphasizing their attention towards educational sector. Studying services and importance of service offered to educational sector is an important consideration since the recent years. Now institutions are trying to evaluate the services provided and comparing these service products with competitors to determine status of competitive advantage. To be competitive Organizations evaluate quality of service offered to all the stakeholders. To see the service quality offered at the educational sector, service quality model given by Parasunnan et al (1988) is widely accept institutions operate nowadays and they are seen as driving forces for ‘he marketing of services products in educational sector.