Service innovation in e-education: practicing what we preach

All too often the realm of marketing theory seems to sit somewhere apart from that of marketing practice. The following paper presents the experiences of a team of academics who applied Services Marketing principles to the delivery of postgraduate online marketing education in an Australian university. This involved focussing on risk reduction and trust building, prior to and during the service encounter. Emphasis was placed on the need for security, justice and self-esteem (Bowen and Schneider 1999). Research in the form of student surveys and interviews with e-moderators and support staff was undertaken. The results indicated that this focus led to students feeling more comfortable in the online environment, which in turn, enhanced their learning experience. Research outcomes included adopting this 'service focus' for future semesters, replicating the research, which will enable longitudinal analysis, and a proposal to develop a 'virtual service centre' for online students.