positioning strategies of services, blankson

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Positioning strategies of international andmulticultural-oriented service brands

Charles Blankson

Department of Marketing & Logistics, College of Business Administration, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, USA, and

Stavros P. Kalafatis

School of Marketing, Kingston University Business School, Kingston University, Kingston upon Thames, UK

AbstractPurpose This article aims to examine positioning strategies of international and multicultural-oriented service brands.Design/methodology/approach Following review of the literature and pilot study, three main populations (executives and experts, companiesmarketing communications, and the target group of consumers) were examined. The methodology concerned triangulation research involving face-to-face long interviews, secondary data, content analysis and mail survey.Findings The paper highlights that while no single positioning strategy is significant across the four card brands (Visa, MasterCard, Amex and DinersClub), the brand name positioning strategy appears to be the most preferred among Visa, MasterCard and Amex and not Diners Club. The findingsalso show that top of the range positioning strategy is favored among Amex and Diners Club card brands. However, country of origin positioningstrategy is incompatible within the study setting.Research limitations/implications Apart from the low response rate from survey of the general public, another limitation of this study is the

concentration on a single sector of the services industry. The latter poses difficulties for generalization across all service brands.Practical implications Service managers now have an insight into the positioning activities of the plastic card brand sector. These serve as buildingblocks and benchmarks for appreciating and operationalizing the concept of positioning a research issue that is missing in the extant literature.Originality/value This study is a step forward in the operationalization of the concept of positioning. The research also provides diagnosis of thecongruence between managements presumed positioning strategies, firms actual positioning practices and target groups perceptions of thepositioning strategies. Without such knowledge, managers cannot expect to choose the best competitive options to defend or enhance their positions inthe market place.

Keywords Product positioning, Credit cards, Research methods, United Kingdom, Services, Financial services

Paper type Research paper

An executive summary for managers and executivereaders can be found at the end of this issue.

Introduction

The literature review shows that since one of the objectives of

offerings long-term competitive advantage stems from

positioning activities (Porter, 1996; Hooley et al., 2001;Hooley and Greenley, 2005), and the fact that firms

communications strategies emanate from positioning

strategies (Seggev, 1982; Rossiter and Percy, 1997; Aldenet al., 1999; Fill, 1999), then ceterasis perabis, the basis of

evaluating the effectiveness of the offerings positions in themarket place and justification for advertising spend ought to

be the assessment of the desired positioning strategies being

pursued. Moreover, despite the acknowledged commercialimportance of services as valuable assets and sources ofdifferentiation in marketing strategy (OCass and Grace,

2004), and the fact that positioning of offerings (e.g. service

brands) is an important dimension in the creation ocompetitive advantages (Porter, 1996; Hooley et al., 2001

Hooley and Greenley, 2005), review of the literature reveals

that empirically derived research aimed at the examination of

positioning strategies employed by service brands appears to

have received little attention from marketing researchers

Essentially, it is the intention of this research to examine the

positioning strategies of international and multicultural-

oriented service brands.Positioning is concerned with the attempt to modify the

tangible characteristics and the intangible perceptions of a

marketable offering in relation to the competition (Arnott

1992; Arnott and Easingwood, 1994). Review of the literature

uncovers several comments and definitions of positioning

However, Arnotts (1994) definition appears to becomprehensive in that although it is conceptual, it has

strategic implications and capable of being operationalized

The author writes that positioning is concerned with

managements attempt to modify the tangible characteristics

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at

www.emeraldinsight.com/0887-6045.htm

Journal of Services Marketing

21/6 (2007) 435450

q Emerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 0887-6045]

[DOI 10.1108/08876040710818921]

The authors thank the two anonymous JSM reviewers for their insightconstructive criticisms, and suggestions on an earlier version of themanuscript. They are also grateful for the suggestions and helpfudirections from the Editor.

Received: November 2005Revised: March 2006Accepted: June 2006

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and the intangible perceptions of a marketable offering in

relation to the competition. He formally defines positioningthat: . . .it is the deliberate, proactive, iterative process of

defining, measuring, modifying, and monitoring consumerperceptions of a marketable offering . . . According to the

author, the application of positioning involves certain relatedactivities. These include defining the dimensions of a

particular perceptual space that adequately represents thetarget audiences perceptions; measuring objects locationswithin that space and modifying actual characteristics of the

object and perceptions of the target audience via a marketingcommunications strategy. In other words, the process of

positioning can be described as iterative and requires

deliberate and proactive involvement of the marketer.The authors comments appear to be explained in terms of

consumer and managerial/organizational perspectives. In

addition, it appears to be emanating from three key issues,namely, consumers, companies, and competitors. Using

service brands as an illustration, Arnotts (1993) comments

on positioning are adapted for this study and are taken furtherby examining how positioning strategies are actually employed

by service brand managers in the plastic card industry. For the

purposes of this paper, Worthingtons (1990, 1992, 1994)description of plastic cards (i.e. credit cards and charge cards)(see Appendix 1) is adapted.

Background to the study

Over the years, much has been written in the area of service

positioning (see for example, Lovelock, 1983; Easingwoodand Mahajan, 1989; Dibb and Simkin, 1991; Fisher, 1991;

Arnott, 1992, 1993, 1994; Young, 1993; Arnott andEasingwood, 1994; Javalgi et al., 1995; Kara et al., 1996).

However, due to the special characteristics of services

compared to physical goods, not only are services difficult

for consumers to compare with competing services (Donnellyet al., 1985 cited in Walker et al., 1996) but they posechallenges in their positioning (Fisher, 1991; Zeithaml and

Bitner, 1996; Bitner, 1997) by marketing managers. This

assertion is evidenced in the work of Assael (1985) who statesthat: positioning a service is more difficult than positioning a

product because of the need to communicate vague and

intangible benefits There is also concern and apprehensionamong managers due to the absence of empirically-derived

positioning strategies capable of serving as benchmarks in thepositioning of offerings (Piercy, 1991, de Chernatony, 1994;

Piercy, 2005).Research undertaken by Darley and Smith (1993) supports

the above contention and concludes that, in positioning,tangible product attributes provide more favorable consumer

response than intangible attributes (with similar importance

and value). The authors claim that when equivalent tangibleand intangible attributes are available for advertising

positioning purposes, the former can often be expected tobe more effective in affecting consumers perceptions than the

latter. This is because in the case of intangible attributesadvertising (i.e. services), consumers have no objective

perceptual criterion and therefore in most cases, advertisersrely on consumers emotions.

The issue of tangible and intangible attributes advertising is

also taken up by Cutler and Javalgi (1993) whose research

reveals that, advertisements of services, overall, contain moreemotional appeals than product advertisements. The authors

research show that in order to embark on positioning

strategies, there was a high proportion of advertisements

which use emotion to improve the tangibility of servicesAccording to the authors, other tactics used to increase

tangibility of services were personalised headlines and the

symbolic representation of the service. Ellis and Mosher(1993) claim that due to the issue of tangibility and

intangibility: . . .professional service firms are faced with

considerations that are unique as compared to productmarketers . . . Ellis and Moshers (1993) research, which

involved accounting firms in the USA recommended that, inorder to cope with the issue of positioning in services, a

comprehensive positioning framework that influences each of

the four characteristics of services (i.e. intangibilityinseparability, perishability and heterogeneity) through the

application of the appropriate marketing tactics is imperativeOperationalizing the tangibilization of services has however

been found to be problematic and not adequately taken on

board by service managers (see Grove et al., 2002; Mittal

2002). For instance, Mittal (2002) writes that in spite ocreative approaches including: physical representation

performance documentation; performance episode; service

consumption documentation; and service consumption

episode (see also, George and Berry, 1981; Legg and Baker1987; Mittal, 1999) put forward in the academic services

literature, it is hard to come by service brands that haveembraced these approaches. Taking Mittals (2002) writing

and Grove et al.s (2002) research into account, we assert thatthe lack of interest and/or inaction on the part of services

marketers to tangibilize their offerings may have to do with,

first, the lack of documented empirically based normativeguidelines/approaches and second, the absence of empirically

based positioning strategies capable of being operationalized

by service marketers (Blankson and Kalafatis, 2001, 2004).As noted earlier, it is important to mention that despite the

suggestions for service managers to tangibilize their offerings

in their marketing communications (Berry and Parasuraman1991; Day, 1992), a recent research undertaken by Grove et al.

(2002) found that service communications lacked in tactics to

tangibilize their offerings and that they have also overlookedan opportunity to establish integrated m arketing

communications. As asserted by Mittal (2002), in spite o

the efficacy of approaches to tangibilize services put forwardin the literature (Berry and Clark, 1986; Stafford, 1996, cited

in Mittal, 2002), it is surprising to find that approaches seenin practice often fail to capture and communicate the core

service benefit or at times, even make it worse (see Mittal,

2002).Several commentators however have claimed that despite

the inherent differences between physical goods and services

(Zeithaml and Bitner, 1996; Bitner, 1997), there are overlaps

between services and physical goods (Baker, 1981; Levitt

1981; Middleton, 1983) which means that there is nocompelling reason to adopt different positioning strategies in

services (see, Wyckham et al., 1975; Buttle, 1986). Againstthis background, writers including Shostack (1987), Arnot

and Easingwood (1994), Bateson (1995) and Zeithaml andBitner (1996) contend that competitive strategies can be

followed if positioning decisions take into account issues

related to the complexity and variability of the service(s) onoffer. In other words, the contextual specifics of services must

be taken into consideration when assessing/evaluating the

employment of positioning strategies. Moreover, it is assertedthat in view of the growing demand for accountability and

justification for dollar advertising spend, it would be

Positioning strategies of service brands

Charles Blankson and Stavros P. Kalafatis


Volume 21 Number 6 2007 435450

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incumbent on marketing managers and advertising executives

to justify whether their positioning strategies actually appearin marketing communications (Rossiter and Percy, 1997); and

whether the employment of positioning strategies haveaffected/impacted consumers perceptions.

Following observation in the study setting, Visa,

MasterCard, American Express (Amex) and Diners Club

card brands (see Appendix 1) were conveniently chosenbecause not only are these card brands international andmulticultural oriented but they appear to belong to two

deferring spectrums in terms of their operation, branding and

primary target audiences. Specifically, while Visa andMasterCard brands pursue the middle class and mass

market, Amex and Diners Club card brands primarily aimtheir marketing and positioning efforts at the middle class and

upper class markets. It is thus asserted that such researchsetting provided opportunity to study activities of service

brands positioning in varied and competitive environment.The rationale for this study is that increases in personal

income and wealth, trends towards globalization anddevelopment in information technology around the world

have paved the way for increased global competition that in

turn, has resulted in considerable innovation within the plasticcard sector (Worthington, 1996) both nationally and globally.

Therefore, as competition between existing organizationsincreases and new competitors enter the sector due toderegulation in the financial services industry (Leonard and

Spence, 1991), coupled with the challenges in the positioning

of service brands (Blankson and Kalafatis, 1999; deChernatony and Segal-Horn, 2001), the whole subject of

positioning in services industry is an important and timelyresearch task.

Research aim and objectives

The basic aim of this research is to examine positioning

strategies of international and multicultural-oriented servicebrands using the UK plastic card industry as a study setting.

More specifically, the objectives of this study are to:. Determine the positioning strategies presumed to be

pursued by executives and experts (presumed practice).. Determine the positioning strategies employed in card

brands marketing communications (actual practice).. Determine the target groups perceptions of positioning

strategies (perceived practice).

Research methodology

Population, sample frame and sampling methodThree main populations were examined in this study in orderto determine the positioning strategies and positioning efforts/

activities in the plastic card industry. These are:1 executives and experts;2 companies marketing communications; and3 members of the general public (i.e. the target group of

consumers).

Executives and experts

Executives of the selected plastic card brands and individualsconsidered as experts within the UK plastic card service

industry were considered to represent the most appropriate

sources of such information. Our rationale for seekinginformation from executives and experts is in line with

Dalebout and Wierengas (1997) suggestions on the

importance of soliciting executives and experts opinions

and perceptions about complex marketing knowledge

Moreover, using experts in business related research has

been recognised by scholars as a valid way of obtaining

consensus and developing a holistic appreciation of the

relevant issues (Winkler, 1981). The formal definition of this

population is marketing directors, marketing managers and

product directors, in the case of executives. As for experts,this included advertising executives, senior research directors

of plastic card and credit institutions, managers and partners

in plastic card consultancy firms and academics with working

experience and research interest in the UK plastic card

industry. A combination of directories obtained from

Association for Payment Clearing Services (APACS), Credit

Card Research Group (CCRG), The Scottish Electronic &

Technology Group (SETG: a consortium involved in the

organization of conferences in the plastic card sector), plastic

card organizations annual reports and academic publications

provided the sample frame for this population.The total number of executives and experts contacted was

48 and 33, respectively. Out of these, 40 executives and 23

experts were interviewed. Interviews with executives/experts

were embarked upon on two fronts. First, face-to-faceinterviews involved open-ended questions and elicited

executives/experts statements describing their

organizational positioning strategies. The interviews lasted

between 45 minutes and one hour. Notes were taken

supported by audio tape recording. Second, as part of the

face-to-face interviews, they were presented with the eight

adopted positioning strategies (see Table I) and requested to

rate each of the strategies on a scale of 1-7, where 1

represented very irrelevant and 7 very relevant. We decided to

adopt the typology of positioning strategies because not only

is it generic (i.e. appropriate for services and goods) but it is

consumer-generated. Three main reasons underpin our

decision:

1 the call for consumer based positioning strategies byHooley and Saunders (1993), Dibb et al. (1997) and Fil

(1999);2 criticisms levelled against extant conceptually driven and

managerial oriented typologies of positioning strategies by

Kalafatis et al. (1997, 2000); and

Table I Typology of positioning strategies

Dimensions Items/statements

1. Top of the range Upper class, top of the range, status, prestigious,

posh (five items)

2. Service Impressive service, personal attention, consider

people as important, friendly (four items)

3. Value for money Reasonable price, value for money, affordability(three items)

4. Reliability Durability, warranty, safety, reliability (four items)

5. Attractiveness Good aesthetics, attractive, cool, elegant (four

items)

6. Country of origin Patriotism, country of origin (two items)

7. The brand name The name of the offering, leaders in the market,

extra features, choice, wide range (five items)

8. Selectivity Discriminatory, selective, high principles (three

items)

Sources:Based on Blankson and Kalafatis (2001, 2004)





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3 our assertion that the absence of consumer-derived

empirically based typologies of positioning strategies mayhavecaused the apparent difficulties in managements effortto apply the concept of positioning (Piercy, 1991, de

Chernatony, 1994; Piercy, 2005) and the apprehensionabout the concept of positioning exhibited by researchers

(see Pollay, 1985; Arnott, 1993; Rigger, 1995).

Executives rated the strategiesbased on their ownorganizationswhile experts ratedthe strategies basedon two card brands thatthey were most familiar with. The results of this exercise are

presented in the Discussion and in Appendix 2 (Tables AI-AXII). The sampling method was one of convenience and

availability. It is worthy to note that while Visa and MasterCard

(Credit card sector) are card schemes that are managed andoperated by executives from banks and financial institutions,this is not the case for Amex and Diners Club (Charge card

sector). Thecharge card sectordoes notoperate under schemes.In other words, Amex and Diners Club manage their own card

brands. Therefore in order to ensure uniformity in responses,data from the charge card sector were obtained from fourexecutives, each, from Amex and Diners Club. The remainder

is made up of experts (see Appendix 3).Companies marketing communications

Concerning companies marketing communications, for the

purposes of this research, all types of pictorial and wordedadvertisements (ads) of the selected plastic card brandsappearing in the following media: television, newspapers and

brochures, pam phlets, leaflets and outdoor, i .e.advertisements f rom bil lboards, railw ay stations,

underground stations, bus shelters, bus sides, taxi sides, andcompanies premises windows were collected and then

content analyzed. The latter procedure followed goodpractices suggested in the literature (Holsti, 1969; Kirk and

Miller, 1986; Weber, 1990; Fay and Currier, 1994; Frankfort-Nachmias and Nachmias, 1996). More specifically, the

frequency coding procedure, where 1 point is recorded onthe appearance of each copy point of positioning strategy wasutilized (Fay and Currier, 1994). Three types of reliability

(stability, accuracy and reproducibility) and validity tests wereemployed and we are satisfied as to the reliability and validity

of the detection of themes, i.e. copy points, and the codingscheme employed (Weber, 1990; Fay and Currier, 1994).

Given the diversity of the communications media, a number

of different sample frames were utilized.. Television ads. Following consultation with experts, the

CTC T he R egister Lim ited ( a London-based

organization which is a specialist in the recording of TVads) and Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising Company were

approached, who ultimately provided the data for a fee.. Newspaper ads. Archives from two specialist libraries, i.e.

The British Library Newspaper Library, Collindale,London and the Kingston University Library were

consulted.. Brochures, pamphlets, and leaflets. Following discussions

with experts, executives and publicity managers of the

chosen cards, it became apparent that suitable samplingframes for this communication were not available.Consequently, data collection involved actual collection

of data, by the authors, from companies premises and in

communication with marketing and product directors ofthe companies. To this end, several sets of internalcompany-developed sales promotions materials, posters

and brochures carrying advertisements were obtained.

As for outdoors, in order to capture outdoor ads, the authorsintentionally carried a cam era and randomly took

photographs of ads while they travelled on buses, taxistrains, underground trains and during planned tours and sightseeing in the London area. These were collected at different

times and locations during the week and at the weekend. Inall, the total number of advertisements collected for content

analysis was 319. The lack of appropriate sampling frame ledus to adopt a convenience, non-probability sampling methodfor companies marketing communications.

Members of the general public

Members of the general public (target group of consumers)comprised all individuals who use plastic cards and are o

preferably high literate background (see Spector, 1992Oppenheim, 1992 for justification of this decision). Thesample frame was the list of members of the United Kingdom

Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) (see also, Hankinsonand Cowking, 1997). Our sample selection is in line withSinghapakdi et al. (1995) who chose members of the

American Marketing Association (AMA) to represent thegeneral public. Moreover, within the context of positioning

research, we draw support for the choice of our sample fromFletcher and Bowers (1991) who claimed that in positioningresearch, the important requirement is to conduct the

research among people who already use the product or whoare likely to use it. Additional support for the choice of this

sample to represent consumers can be found in The Journal ofMarketings manuscript acceptance criteria which statesthat:

. . . carefully chosen sample groups are preferred to haphazardly chosen

subjects who have little knowledge of or relevance to the subject beingstudied. . . (Journal of Marketing, 1997).

In all, 1,000 CIM members were sent questionnaires

Following a second reminder of non-respondents, 357questionnaires were received yielding an effective 35 per

cent response rate. The choice of the sample was based onprobability sample design and was drawn by CIM using asimple random sampling method (see also Hankinson and

Cowking, 1997).

MeasurementsAs noted earlier, in view of the criticisms levelled againstextant typologies of positioning strategies (Kalafatis et al.

1997, 2000), it was decided to adopt a newly developed andvalidated generic consumer derived typology of positioning

strategies (see Blankson and Kalafatis, 2001, 2004). Thelatter served as the measurement for the examination

detection of the employment of positioning strategies and isin line with Blankson (2004). The typology comprises eightfactors that collectively are measured as summated scales of

30 items (see Table I).Excluding the qualitative part of the research (i.e. face-to-

face interviews), data were analyzed using analysis of variance(ANOVA) and was aimed at the assessment of measurement

accuracy and examination of response patterns of positioningstrategies of each card under examination. Justification foremploying such an analytical approach on a dependen

variable of binomial nature (in the case of communications)can be found in Cochran (1950) and Hsu and Feldt (1969). A

5 per cent level of significance has been adopted throughout.Good ness of fit tests (the null hypothesis being that repliesfollowed a uniform distribution) was applied. Furthermore

the latter approach has successfully been employed in a





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variety of studies addressing the issue of response rates in mail

surveys (see for example Childers et al., 1980; Hornik, 1982;Hawes et al., 1987; Jobber, 1989). In cases where significantdifferences were detected, Scheffes multiple comparison tests

were performed to data from experts/executives and the targetgroup, while pairwise comparisons of the highest frequency

with lower frequencies (until significant differences were

detected) were performed for data related to communications.

Discussion

In order to simplify presentation of the results and for brevity

due to limitations of journal space, it was decided to present

only the summarized results. The full ANOVA results for thefour card brands examined are placed in Appendix 2.

Visa Card

Positioning strategiesData from each of the populations were subjected to ANOVA

with null hypotheses of no significant differences in the meanvalues associated with each of the eight strategies. For clarity

of interpretation, a detailed explanation of the statistical testsapplied and interpreted of the results is presented in this

section and is implicit, i.e. not repeated, in the subsequentsections. A summary of the results is provided in Table II. Foreach of the columns, separate ANOVA tests were carried out

and the relevant statistics are presented in the bottom cell ofeach column (e.g. for Executives/Experts views ANOVA

indicates rejection of the null hypothesis). In cases where thenull hypothesis is rejected (i.e. evidence of significant

differences between the positioning strategies), the data aresubjected to multiple comparison tests. An * is used to

indicate those strategies which are in the subset associatedwith the highest values.

Executives and experts views

The results indicate significant differences (sig.0.000) withfour strategies, i.e. Service, Value for money,Reliability and The brand name (see *s), considered

to be dominant in the positioning of Visa Card. Examinationof the four positioning strategies appears to confirm that this

card follows mass marketing. Our assertion is encapsulated in

a statement made by an executive that: . . .we are gearedtowards the mass market . . . while another commented that

. . .we aim to be financially profitable and secure market share

as we are in the mature market . . . . This is based on thepremise that while Service denotes the generic purpose of

this card; The brand name indicates its clear differentiation/

identification by the market as a whole; Value for moneyand Reliability underline the cards effort to be perceived as

affordable, yet dependable to all segments. This is evidencedin the following comments made by an executive, . . .I think a

lot of people understand what the Visa Card is . . . . . .the

strength and our belief of our brand are so strong . . .

. . .Visa Card is the market leader. . .it is a mature product in a

mature market . . .

Marketing communications

Overall, i.e. across all media, Service and The brandname appear to be emphasized. In addition, it is worth

noting that of the three media, TV is seen to be associated

with multiple positioning strategies (see Table II)

Furthermore, The brand name appears in all three media

while Service appears in two media. As it is expected of afinancial service company, Service denotes an issue of duty-

bound to customers, while The brand name projects

aspects of differentiation about the card. These findings areconsidered to be consistent with comments made by the

executives/experts interviewed and help to emphasise earlier

conclusions.

Target groups perceptions

Reliability and The brand name are the two dominant

strategies perceived by the target group to be pursued by VisaCard (see Table II). The above two positioning strategies

appear to underline aspects of dependability and

exclusiveness/competitiveness perceived by the target group.

MasterCard

Positioning strategiesThe results from ANOVA and subsequent multiple

comparison tests are presented in Table III.

Table II Positioning strategies: Visa card

Populations

Communications

Positioning strategies Executives/experts views Other Print TV Overall Target groups perceptions

Top of the range

Service

Value for money

Reliability Attractive

Country of origin

The brand name

Selectivity

F-ratio

df

sig.

15.130

7,296

0.000

10.556

7,248

0.000

12.070

7,112

0.000

17.406

7,464

0.006

13.445

7,464

0.000

45.571

7,701

0.000

Notes:Other refers to Brochures, Pamphlets, Leaflets, and Outdoors. Outdoors in this study denotes ads from billboards, bus shelters, bus sides, taxi sides,underground stations and promotional displays in organizations windows. The latter is implicit and it is not repeated for the rest of the card brands. An isused to indicate those strategies which are in the subset associated with the highest values





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From Table III, the analysis indicates that, with the exception

of Country of origin, executives and experts consider all the

other strategies as reflected in MasterCards positioning. This

is considered to reflect MasterCards attempt to capture mass

market (see also, Visa Card) and is viewed as consistent with

the cards universal acceptance and its relative market share.

These are reflected in a statement made by an executive that:

. . .our aim on the positioning of MasterCard is to make it

more acceptable internationally and in line with the Visa

Card . . . . The latter is evidenced in comments made by

another executive who noted that: . . .we have actually linked

our MasterCard and Visa Card brands and positioned them at

the mass market. . .

.

Communications

The results indicate some overall consistency with The

brand name being the strategy pursued in all media and is

similar to Visa Card. Attractive also appears to dominate

two media (and overall). Explanation for Service and The

brand name can be found in the debate concerning Visa

Card. While the overall emphasis of Service appears to be

through other media, this highlights the intensity of the latter

strategy in below the line (i.e. brochures, pamphlets and

leaflets) media (see Table III). As for Attractive, this

underlines the appealing and likeable characteristics about

MasterCards service and which is in support of remarks

made by executives/experts interviewed.


Three strategies, i.e. Value for money, Reliability, and

The brand name are perceived by the target group to be the

dominant positioning strategies pursued by MasterCard (see

Table III). The rationale behind perceptions related to Value

for money and Reliability is considered to reflect the cards

effort to be perceived as providing affordable, yet dependable

service. The latter is expected due to the cards mass-market

appeal. Furthermore, The brand name shows MasterCards

differentiation characteristics. We believe that the foregoing is

expected, due partly to the familiarity of the brand name and

the fact that consumers perceive MasterCard to be

competitive, second only to Visa Card.

American Express Card (Amex)

Positioning strategiesData for each of the three populations were tested via ANOVA

and a summary of the results is presented in Table IV.


From Table IV, one finds that in a similar way to MasterCard,

executives and experts indicated a wide range of strategies

being pursued by Amex. More specifically, six out of the eight

strategies, i.e. Top of the range, Service, Reliability

Attractive, The brand name and Selectivity, were

presumed to be pursued. Although it is unexpected that an

exclusive card such as Amex follows six positioning strategies

(i.e. diffused approach followed by a clearly defined card), in

reality, the six strategies appear to be consistent with the

cards effort to be seen as the top of the range, dependable

and well-known card. For example, Top of the range

Attractive and Selectivity positioning strategies have

connotations of exclusivity. As was stated by an expert

. . .Amex is profitable and at the upper end of the customer

market and not for the mass market . . . Another exper

commented that: . . .Amex is a symbol of luxury and

wealth. . .Amex is highly profitable and has respect from

customers for their integrity. . .

.

Communications

The results indicate considerable diversity in strategies

pursued in media. Five main strategies are pursued in

Other. Four are in TV while only one strategy, i.e. The

brand name, is represented in print. In overall terms, The

brand name appears to dominate communication (see Table

IV). Considering overall communications, The brand name

appears to indicate effort of well-established association of the

card. In addition, it shows Amex as a brand name with an

exclusive position with aspects of differentiation and

competitiveness and as discussed earlier, is commensurate

Table III Positioning strategies: Mastercard

Populations

Communications


Top of the range

Service

Value for money

Reliability

Attractive

Country of origin

The brand name

Selectivity

F-ratio

df

sig.

5.964

7,216

0.000

5.367

7,136

0.000

n/a 3.377

7,40

0.006

6.032

7,200

0.000

43.446

7,772

0.000

Notes:Other refers to Brochures, Pamphlets, Leaflets, and Outdoors. Outdoors in this study denotes ads from billboards, bus shelters, bus sides, taxi sides,underground stations and promotional displays in organizations windows. The latter is implicit and it is not repeated for the rest of the card brands. An isused to indicate those strategies which are in the subset associated with the highest values. n/a implies analysis not possible because only one strategyemployed (see Appendix 2)





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with the comments made in Executives and experts view

above.


Two strategies, i.e. Top of the range and The brand

name, appear to dominate the target groups perceptions of

positioning activities of Amex. These results clearly are in line

with the above debate and, once more, enforce the concept of

exclusivity associated with this card.

Diners club

Positioning strategiesData collected from each population were subjected to

ANOVA tests and a summary of the results is presented in

Table V.


Table V reveals that two strategies, i.e. Top of the range and

Service, are presumed by this population as dominant in

the positioning of Diners Club Card. As is expected of a

financial service company, Service positioning strategy is

followed by Diners Club Card. Furthermore, with regard to

Top of the range strategy, we can conclude that although

the growth of this card is not impressive, the card is stil

viewed as exclusive. This stems from the fact that Diners Club

Card was the first card in the UK and at the time was aimed

at the executive target audience and those with high income

(Worthington, 1990, 1992).

CommunicationThere seems to be some variation in the strategies appearing

in the media. Nevertheless, Top of the range, The brand

name and Selectivity are present in both overall and in two

Table IV Positioning strategies: Amex

Populations

Communications


Top of the range

Service

Value for money

Reliability

Attractive

Country of origin

The brand name

Selectivity

F-ratio

df

sig.

12.006

7,144

0.000

4.857

7,32

0.001

240.430

8,1015

0.000

7.601

7,64

0.000

171.510

8,1127

0.000

64.567

7,779

0.000

Notes:Other refers to Brochures, Pamphlets, Leaflets, and Outdoors. Outdoors in this study denotes ads from billboards, bus shelters, bus sides, taxi sides,underground stations and promotional displays in organizations windows. The latter is implicit and it is not repeated for the rest of the card brands. An isused to indicate those strategies which are in the subset associated with the highest values

Table V Positioning strategies: Diners Club card

Populations

Communications


Top of the range

Service

Value for money

Reliability

Attractive Country of origin

The Brand Name

Selectivity

F-ratio

df

sig.

2.286

7,121

0.032

3.429

7,8

0.053

N/a 5.714

7,24

0.001

7.143

7

0.000

30.011

7,609

0.000

Notes:Other refers to Brochures, Pamphlets, Leaflets, and Outdoors. Outdoors in this study denotes ads from billboards, bus shelters, bus sides, taxi sides,underground stations and promotional displays in organizations windows. The latter is implicit and it is not repeated for the rest of the card brands. An isused to indicate those strategies which are in the subset associated with the highest values; n/a implies analysis not possible because only one strategyemployed





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of the three media (see Table V). Following from the

Executives and experts views above, the pursuit of the four

positioning strategies seems to be in accord with the

explanation given above and consequently, we will not

repeat it here.


From Table V, it is clear that there is evidence of multiplestrategies with six of the eight appearing to be dominant. We

conclude that it appears that the target groups perception of

six positioning strategies appear to emphasise the fact that,

Diners Club Card is a mass market card brand. This

revelation however seem to be incompatible with the views of

executives/experts and what is employed in the media.

Conclusions, theoretical contributions andmanagerial implications

The purpose of the present research was to examine

positioning strategies of international and multicultural

oriented service brands. This study adds to the body of

knowledge on the subject of international and multiculturaloriented service brand positioning through empirical study.

The findings have identified the positioning strategies

employed by Visa, MasterCard, Amex and Diners Club

card brands in the UK and, in the process, have determined

the strategies:. presumed by executives/experts to be practiced;. actually practiced as exemplified in m arketing

communications; and. as perceived by the target group of consumers (see Tables

II-V and Appendix 2).

In view of the scant empirically based studies on service brand

positioning, we believe that these findings are important for

researchers interested in service brands and especially the

plastic card industry. Our assertion is based on the view that

since a defensible market position is considered to be one of

the key components of marketings credibility or justification

for marketing budgets and advertising spend (Rossiter and

Percy, 1997; Hooley et al., 2001; Hooley and Greenley,

2005), without a proper diagnosis of the congruence between

managements presumed positioning strategies, firms actual

p os it io ni ng p ra ct ic es a s s ee n i n t he ir ma rk et in g

communications and target groups perceptions of the

positioning strategies, managers cannot expect to choose the

best competitive options to defend or enhance their brand

positions in the market place (Hooley and Greenley, 2005). A

simple summary of the overall positioning strategies, i.e.

overlapping, among the three populations employed by the

four card brands is presented in Table VI.

Table VI indicates that no single positioning strategy is

significant across the four card brands studied. HoweverThe brand name strategy appears to be popular amongst

three out of the four card brands (i.e. Visa, MasterCard and

Amex). The latter portrays branding activities among thethree card brands. This finding, which is in line with Groveet al. (2002), emphasizes that branding related strategies and

tactics are crucial in the positioning of service brands (see alsoPark et al., 1986; de Chernatony, 1994). A further look at

Table VI confirms that Top of the range is important in thecharge card sector (see Appendix 2). Such result is consistent

with charge card sectors positioning activities that reside in

the middle class and upper class markets. This is viewed aspromoting desire for actualization of internal needs through

the use of luxury service.Overall, with the exception of Country of origin, all other

positioning strategies (see Appendix 2) are employed, bu

only to a degree. In the case of marketing communications the channel of the application of positioning strategies, there

appears to be an integrated effort, albeit patchy, in the pursuit

of all the three forms of communication (other, print and TV)

by the four card brands (see Tables II-V). A further

examination of Tables II-V reveals that in many casescongruence between executives/experts presumptions

marketing communications effort and target groupsperception are weak. Such findings show ambiguities in the

positioning deliberations in the study setting. The latterhowever, may be akin to the well-documented challenges

encountered in the positioning of service brands (see for

example, Zeithaml and Bitner, 1996; Blankson and Kalafatis1999; de Chernatony, 1999; de Chernatony and Segal-Horn

2001; OCass and Grace, 2004) and service marketers

inaction regarding the tangibilization of their offerings (seeGrove et al., 2002; Mittal, 2002).

With regard to theoretical contributions, in response to the

call by authors such as Pollay (1985), Arnott (1992) andRigger (1995) regarding the need to further develop and

refine the concept of positioning, this paper has attempted to

examine the varying descriptions attributed to the concepand as a result has clarified the concept by suggesting a

working definition of the concept (see Arnott, 1993). In

addition, responding to the comments made by Yip (1997)that some of the positioning approaches in the literature are

incomplete and therefore confusing and Ellis and Moshers(1993) suggestions for studies into the operationalization of

positioning strategies, this research has tested a newly

developed consumer generated typology of positioningstrategies in the services industry. Furthermore, this study

answers calls made by Porter (1985), Arnott and Easingwood

( 19 94 ) and R igger ( 19 95 ) concerning the need f orcomprehensive empirical research in the field of strategic

positioning in services industries. We believe that to somedegree, this research has reacted to Hooley et al.s (2001)request for methods to assess brands competitive positions

and their implementation.As for managerial implications, we postulate that this

research serves as an insight for marketing managers, brand

managers and advertising executives who are involved with

service brands and specifically in the plastic card industryThis study has attempted to respond to claims made by Johar

and Sirgy (1989) that the proliferation of positioning models

necessitates some attempt to guide marketing managers andmarketing researchers as to how and when to use wha

positioning strategies. It is suggested that in view of the

Table VI Summary of positioning strategies employed by servicebrands

Card brand

Overall positioning strategies employed, i.e.

overlapping, by executives/experts, marketing

communications and target group

Visa Reliability and the brand name

MasterCard The brand name

Amex Top of the range and the brand name

Diners Club Top of the range and service





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challenging market environment, managers should proactively

emphasise the positioning strategies that they presume theyare following in their marketing communications while

ensuring that their efforts are consistent with perceptions oftheir target markets. This will curtail the ambiguity exhibited

in the target groups perceptions (see Tables II-V). Formanagers and advertising executives, due to the absence of

guidelines and the resultant apprehension and difficultiesencountered in the application of the concept of positioning(Pollay, 1985; Piercy, 1991; de Chernatony, 1994; Piercy,

2005), the present study provides them with descriptions ofthe basic building blocks (working definition, consumer

derived typology and methodological approaches for assessing

congruence in positioning activities) and benchmarks (seeTables II-VI) needed for the employment of positioning

strategies.Managers and advertising executives who manage offerings/

brands in the middle class and mass markets may appreciate

and adapt the findings put forward for Visa and MasterCard.

On the other hand, those involved in the middle class andupper class markets should benchmark the strategies shown to

be pursued by Amex and Diners Club. They may employ

these strategies within the context of creating a mental imagefor the target audience through implied and tangible benefitsof their service brands. More specifically, managers and

advertising executives may use the strategies in above-the-line

advertising tactics (e.g. television, print, radio, billboards andinternet), below-the-line advertising tactics (pamphlets,

leaflets, brochures, and point of sales) and public relationswithin the context of impacting target audiences perceptions

and buying behaviours. Thus managers may pursue these

strategies in marketing communications that reflect in oneway or another the location, situations, castings, lighting,

style, decor, tone and words and phrases used in eachcommercial on television and radio and print advertisements

or promotion (Rossiter and Percy, 1997; Fill, 1999).

Limitations and future research directions

Inevitably, this study suffers from some limitations in that

while this researchs results may be reflective of observation ofpositioning strategies in the UK service brand industry, it is

fair to acknowledge that it is descriptive and reveals results,

which must be considered as a preamble to a robust studyaimed at providing normative guidelines/approaches for

service marketers. Furthermore, while it is beyond the scopeof this study, it may be ideal to embark on a longitudinal study

with the aim of studying over time, the positioning strategies

pursued by the card brands. Such data will provide richinformation about the positioning activities over time and

subsequently will enhance suggestions for normative

guidelines. We acknowledge the weaknesses in the selectionof the members of the Chartered Institute of Marketing torepresent the general public. This sample portrays a highly

educated section of the general public and consequently may

be problematic for generalization. Notwithstanding, therationale for selecting this sample has been influenced by

Spectors (1992) and Oppenheims (1992) suggestions forusing consumers from literate background in complex attitude

measurement studies.Apart from the low response rate from survey of the general

public, another limitation of this research is the subjectiveanalysis from in-depth face-to-face interviews with executives/

experts and the subsequent inductive reasoning that resulted

in the qualitative descriptions of executives/expertsstatements. We also acknowledge that this study deals withthe aggregate behaviours of a selected number of servicebrands and more specifically, the plastic card sector. Thus thefindings may be difficult for generalizations across all servicesbrands. However, it is important to mention that due to thevaried nature of services, the remit of this study has been to

study positioning strategies/activities in a specific sector of theservices industry, i.e. the plastic card sector, which hasinternational and multicultural orientation. For futureresearch directions, it m ay be w orth exploring theadaptation of the present study in the context of a casestudy. A logical extension of this research may be itsapplication in other industry sectors. In addition, in view of

the international and multicultural underpinnings of the cardbrands, a replication and comparison in other countries iscalled for. The latter should be extended to compare two ormore culturally diverse Western settings such as UK, USAand Canada and Eastern countries including China, Japanand Middle East and African economies (e.g. Kuwait, SaudiArabia, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria).

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Appendix 1. Notes on two sectors of plastic cardindustry

. Credit cards. There are two major credit card schemes

operating in the UK; Visa and MasterCard. The two card

schemes are international and multicultural in orientation

and are operated locally by individual banks and financia

institutions. It is important to note that in order to ensure

uniformity in responses, data for Visa and MasterCard

reflect the sample of executives from banks and financia

institutions involved in this study in addition to experts

(see Appendix 3).. Charge cards. These cards are often referred to as trave

and entertainment cards (T and E Cards) and unlike

credit cards, essentially, do not provide any extended

credit facility. Two main cards operate in the UK

American Express (Amex) and Diners Club are by nature

of operation, international and multicultural. Unlike

credit cards, charge cards are sole card of thecom panies, i .e. do not operate under schem es

Responses emanate from four executives from each card

brand and the remainder is made up of experts.

Adapted from Worthington (1990, 1992, 1994).





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Appendix 2. Results of ANOVA tests on executives and experts presumptions, companiescommunications, and target groups perceptions of positioning strategies for Visa, Mastercard, Amexand Diners Club card brands

Table AII Positioning strategies identified from companies communications: Visa card

Copy points from mediaOther Print TVa Overall

Positioning strategies No. % No. % No. % No.

Top of the range 14 22 0 0 10 83 24Service 32 50 8 33 8 67 48Value for money 17 26 7 29 5 42 29Reliability 25 39 5 21 8 67 38Attractive 20 31 2 8 7 58 29Country of origin 8 12 1 4 0 0 9The brand name 29 45 15 62 10 83 54Selectivity 17 26 2 8 5 42 24Total number of ads examined 64 68 24 25 12 12 100

Results of ANOVA tests and identified positioning strategiesF-ratiodfsig.

10.55670.000

Service, Thebrand name

12.0707

0.000The brand name

4.5647

0.000Top of the range,The brand name,

Service,Reliability,Attractive

17.4067

0.000The brand name, Service

Notes: a Barclaycard Visa; Percentages have been rounded off; Other: Brochures, Pamphlets, and Out-door; Print: Newspaper

Table AI Executives and experts presumed positioning strategies (ANOVA): Visa card

Means for groups in homogeneous subsets Subset for alpha 5 0.05Means SD Positioning strategies 1 2 3

2.78 2.01 Country of origin 3.76 1.80 Attractive 3.81 1.88 Top of the range 3.86 1.94 Selectivity 5.07 1.42 Reliability 5.15 1.65 Value for money 5.18 1.65 Service 6.05 0.83 The brand name

Notes: indicates the results of the multiple comparison test groupings. This is implicit for the remaining card brands; F-ratio 15.130; df 7,296sig. 0.000

Table AIII Target groups perceptions of positioning strategies (ANOVA): Visa card

Means for groups in homogeneous subsetsSubsets for alpha 5 0.05

Means SD Positioning strategies 1 2 3 4 5

2.55 1.15 Country of origin 2.94 0.93 Top of the range 3.17 1.06 Attractive 3.67 1.12 Selectivity 3.77 1.29 Service 4.25 1.42 Value for money 4.66 1.31 Reliability 4.94 0.96 The brand name

Notes: F-ratio 45.517; df 7,701; sig. 0.000





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Table AV Positioning strategies from companies communications: Mastercard

Copy points from media

Other Print TV Overall

Positioning strategies No. % No. % No. % No.

Top of the range 5 17 0 0 1 10 6

Service 18 60 0 0 3 10 21

Value for money 10 33 0 0 0 0 10

Reliability 7 23 0 0 3 30 10

Attractive 14 47 0 0 6 60 20

Country of origin 12 40 0 0 2 20 14

The brand name 14 47 2 67 4 40 20

Selectivity 9 30 0 0 3 30 12

Total number of ads examined 30 77 3 8 10 23 43

Results of ANOVA tests and identified positioning strategies

F-ratiodf

sig.

5.3677

0.000

Service, Attractive,

The brand name

The brand name 3.3777

0.006

Attractive, The

brand name

6.0327

0.000

Service, Attractive

The brand name

Notes:Percentages have been rounded off; Other: Brochures, Pamphlets, Photos; Print: Newspaper

Table AIV Executives and experts presumed positioning strategies (ANOVA): Mastercard

Means for groups in homogeneous subsets

Subsets for alpha 5 0.05

Means SD Positioning strategies 1 2

3.10 2.02 Country of origin

3.67 1.98 Selectivity

3.75 1.69 Top of the range 3.85 1.48 Attractive

4.53 1.45 Service

4.89 1.61 Value for money

5.00 1.38 Reliability

5.17 1.21 The brand name


Table AVI Target groups perceptions of positioning strategies (ANOVA): Mastercard



Means SD Positioning strategies 1 2 3 4 5


3.14 1.07 Top of the range

3.35 1.00 Attractive


3.84 1.05 Service









447


14/16

Table AVIII Positioning strategies identified from companies communications: Amex card


Other Print TV OverallPositioning strategies No. % No. % No. % No.

Top of the range 3 19 3 2 9 75 15

Service 5 31 103 76 6 50 114


Reliability 4 25 3 2 7 58 14

Attractive 1 6 3 2 5 42 9


The brand name 5 31 126 93 4 33 135

Selectivity 3 19 64 47 9 75 76



F-ratio

dfsig.

4.857

70.001

Service, The brand

name, Reliability,

Top of the range,

Selectivity

240.430

80.000

The brand name

7.601

70.000Top of the range,

Selectivity,

Reliability, Service

171.510

80.000

The brand name


Table AIX Target groups perceptions of positioning strategies (ANOVA): Amex card


Subset for alpha 5 0.05

Means SD Positioning strategies 1 2 3 4





4.51 1.40 Service


4.82 0.93 The Brand Name



Table VII Executives and experts presumed positioning strategies (ANOVA): Amex card



Means SD Positioning strategies 1 2 3






5.89 0.80 Service



Note: F-ratio 12.006; df 7,144; sig. 0.000





448


15/16

Table AXI Positioning strategies from companies communications: Diners Club Card


Other Print TV OverallPositioning strategies No. % No. % No. % No.

Top of the range 2 100 0 0 4 100 6

Service 2 100 0 0 1 25 3


Reliability 0 0 0 0 1 25 1

Attractive 1 50 0 0 3 75 4


The brand name 0 0 2 40 4 100 6

Selectivity 2 100 0 0 3 75 5



F-ratio

dfsig.

3.429

70.053

Top of the range,

Service,

Selectivity,

Attractive

The brand name 5.714

70.001

Top of the range,

The brand name,

Attractive,

Selectivity

7.1437

0.000

Top of the range,

The brand name, Selectivity


Table AX Executives and experts presumed positioning strategies (ANOVA): Diners Club Card



Means SD Positioning strategies 1 2







4.18 1.90 Service



Table AXII Target groups perceptions of positioning strategies (ANOVA): Diners Club Card



Means SD Positioning strategies 1 2 3





3.94 1.44 Service









449


16/16

Appendix 3. List of organizations whoseexecutives were interviewed

1 Visa. Abbey National. Alliance & Leicester Group.

Barclays Bank. Barclaycard. General Motors (Vauxhall). HSBC Bank. National Girobank. National Westminster Bank (Natwest). The Royal Bank of Scotland. The Bank of Scotland. Halifax Building Society. Robert Fleming (through Save & Prosper Group). TSB Bank. Ulster Bank. Visa International. Cooperative Bank Visa Centre. National & Provincial Building Society

2 MasterCard. Barclays Bank. Barclaycard. Clydesdale Bank. Lloyds Bank. HSBC Bank. Natwest. National Girobank. Robert Fleming (through Save & Prosper Group). The Royal Bank of Scotland. TSB Bank. Cooperative Bank plc

3 American Express (Amex)4 Diners Club

List of institutions whose experts were interviewed:. Association for Payment Clearing Services (APACS).. Credit Card Research Group (CCRG).. Retail Credit Group (RCG).. British Bankers Association (BBA).. Barclaycard Group.. G.E. Capital.. Association of British Insurers.. Visa International.. Chartered Institute of Bankers.. Association of British Credit Unions Ltd.

. Credit Insurance Association.

. Credit Protection Association.

. Consumer Credit Trade Association.

. Consumer Credit Association.

. Banking Insurance & Finance Union.

. The Scottish Electronics Technology Group (SETG).

. Staffordshire University.

.

University of Stirling.

About the authors

Charles Blankson (PhD, Kingston University, UK) is an

Assistant Professor of Marketing and Associate Director of

the New Product Development Scholars Program in the

Department of Marketing & Logistics at the College o

Business Administration, University of North Texas, Denton,

Texas, USA. Charles has teaching experience in the UK at

Dunstable College, City University Business School

Roehampton Institute and Kingston University among

others. More recently, he held tenure-track faculty positions

at Grand Valley State University and Long Island University

C.W. Post Campus. His research interests include positioningand brand management, services marketing, small business

marketing and international/multicultural marketing. He has

published articles in the Journal of Advertising Research

Industrial Marketing Management, the Journal of Marketing

Management, the Journal of Product & Brand Management, the

Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, the Journal of

Strategic Marketing, the Service Industries Journal, and others

Charles is the corresponding author and can be contacted at

[email protected] P. Kalafatis is Professor of Business Marketing at

Kingston Business School, Kingston University. He obtained

his doctorate form the University College of North Wales

where he held a post before moving to Kingston University

Although his research is located within the broad domain of

business marketing (specifically, channel design and

management, relationship marketing, information exchange

organisational buying behaviour), segmentation, positioning

and value creation are also areas of interest. His work has

been published in a number of academic journals, including

Industrial Marketing Management, European Journal of

Marketing, Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing

Jour nal of Bus ine ss- to-B usi ness Mark eti ng, Internationa

Journal of Market Research, Journal of Advertising Research

and Journal of Marketing Management.





450

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