Theoretical Approaches to Services Advertising and the Differences in Practice: AContent Analysis of Services Advertising in Turkey

Intangible nature of services makes it necessary to implement different advertising strategies. Academics studying on services marketing have suggested various managerial frameworks about services advertising to tangibilize the services in the minds of consumers. Presenting physical evidences of services, providing documents, using symbols, showing the customer and personnel interaction are among these suggestions. Various researches about services advertising indicate that advertising strategies in practice, do not match with the suggestions of the theory. In this research services advertising are analyzed by content analysis. 133 services advertisements that appeared in 12 issues of Capital Journal are chosen for analysis. The content of the advertisements are analyzed in terms of price information, quality claim, use of symbols, headline, advertising appeal, availability of web address, personnel, customer, personnel and customer interaction and availability of physical evidences.