Managing Service Quality

Emerald Article: An assessment of the empirical characteristics of top

journals in services marketing
Gran Svensson, Brd Tronvoll, Terje Sltten

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To cite this document: Gran Svensson, Brd Tronvoll, Terje Sltten, (2008),"An assessment of the empirical characteristics of
top journals in services marketing", Managing Service Quality, Vol. 18 Iss: 3 pp. 289 - 304
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An assessment of the empirical

characteristics of top journals in
services marketing
Goran Svensson, Bard Tronvoll and Terje Slatten

Characteristics of
top journals

289

Oslo School of Management, Oslo, Norway

Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe the empirical characteristics of the top
journals in services marketing by assessing selected journals with respect to: the proportion of
empirical versus non-empirical contributions; the proportion of national versus international
research data; the geographical origin of research data; and the geographical affiliations of the authors
whose articles are published.
Design/methodology/approach A sample of top journals in services marketing is selected on
the basis of expert opinion. The selection includes the International Journal of Service Industry
Management (IJSIM), the Journal of Services Marketing (JSM), the Journal of Service Research (JSR),
Managing Service Quality (MSQ), and the Service Industries Journal (SIJ). The study considers all
contributions (a total of 1,189) published in these journals over a six-year period from 2000 to 2005,
with particular emphasis on the empirical studies (a subtotal of 870).
Findings The authors contend that there is in part a troublesome and challenging ethnocentricity
in some of the examined journals.
Research limitations/implications This is the first assessment of the empirical characteristics
of top journals in services marketing.
Practical implications The study provides valuable insights into the nature of academic
publishing in the area of services marketing.
Originality/value Scholars will benefit from insights into the empirical characteristics of the
top journals in services marketing. In particular, scholars can note the particular features of
individual journals. Further studies of the empirical characteristics of individual research journals
are required in other sub-disciplines of marketing.
Keywords Services, Services marketing, Serials, Data collection, Research, Data analysis
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
The number of academic journals devoted to marketing studies has increased markedly
over recent decades (Baumgartner and Pieters, 2003). An indication of this was provided,
by Cabell (1997-1998), who was able to enumerate more than 550 journals that published
contributions in this discipline in the mid-to late 1990s. One reason for the plethora of
marketing journals is that each journal positions itself within certain sub-disciplines
within the wider subject area (Baumgartner and Pieters, 2003; Malhotra, 1999). For
example, there are several journals dedicated to the sub-discipline of services marketing,
which is the focus of the present paper. Another reason for the large number of journals
is the requirement placed upon most scholars to publish their research (Moxley, 1992).
Publishing in peer-reviewed journals enables scholars to communicate their endeavours
to colleagues while simultaneously enhancing their careers (Mort et al., 2004). Academic
journals thus provide an essential means of communication within (and between) various
research disciplines and research communities.

Managing Service Quality

Vol. 18 No. 3, 2008
pp. 289-304
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0960-4529
DOI 10.1108/09604520810871892

MSQ
18,3

290

Disciplines and research communities

Because research journals in marketing are so important to the academic community,
scholarly assessments of these journals have been a common feature of the marketing
literature (Bakir et al., 2000; Clark, 1985; Fields and Swayne, 1991; Ganesh et al., 1990;
Niemi, 1988; Petry and Settle, 1988; Pol, 1991; Spake and Harmon, 1998; Trieschmann
et al., 2000). However, questions have been raised about the appropriate approach to
assessing journals Polonsky and Whitelaw (2005) and the precise parameters that
should form the basis of such an assessment (Beed and Beed, 1996; Hawes and Keillor,
2002; Parnell, 1997; Rice and Stankus, 1983; Zinkhan and Leigh, 1999). In this regard,
Parnell (1997) suggested a taxonomy of journal quality based upon: expert opinion
surveys; or citation counts; or a combination of both variables. Rice and Stankus (1983)
suggested variables in such terms as:
.
citation analysis of the journal (for example, Social Sciences Citation Index);
and/or
.
acceptance rate of the journal (for example Cabells Directory); and/or
.
sponsorship of the journal (for example, American Marketing Association);
and/or
.
objectives of the journal (for example, methodological approaches and
readership); and/or
.
fundamentals of the journal (for example, authors, editor, review board, and their
affiliations).
Other authors have suggested other (less frequently used) variables; these suggestions
have included assessment on the basis of accessibility (Polonsky et al., 1999),
ethnocentricity (Czinkota, 2000; Rosenstreich and Wooliscroft, 2005; Svensson, 2005),
and methodological approaches (Svensson, 2006b).
Despite this wide range of possible criteria for assessing journals, two general
approaches to making such assessments can be delineated (Mason et al., 1997; Kim,
1991). The first is to assess citations in one-way or another (Baumgartner and Pieters,
2003; Jobber and Simpson, 1988). The second is to assess the journals on the basis of
perceptions of style or content (Mylonopoulos and Theoharakis, 2001; Nisonger, 1999;
Hult et al., 1997; Luke and Doke, 1987).
The present study adopts the second general approach in assessing the empirical
characteristics of marketing journals. By the term empirical characteristics, the
present study refers to four criteria:
(1) the proportion of empirical versus non-empirical contributions featured in a
given journal;
(2) the proportion of national versus international research data;
(3) the geographical origin of research data; and
(4) the geographical location of the authors whose work is published in the journal
(referred to here as the geographical affiliation of the authors).
In emphasising the empirical characteristics of a journal, the present study contends
that these characteristics provide valuable guidance regarding the general orientation
of a given journal as determined by its editors, editorial advisory boards, and editorial

review boards. Moreover, the specific question of the empirical characteristics of

marketing journals has not been explicitly explored in the past; previous studies have
tended to make general observations on journals that publish articles within the overall
discipline of marketing.
The aim of this paper is, therefore, to assess selected services-marketing journals in
terms of:
.
the proportion of empirical versus non-empirical contributions;
.
the proportion of national versus international research data;
.
the geographical origin of research data; and
.
the authors geographical affiliations.
Methodology
The sample used in the present study was restricted to contributions published in five
journals devoted to services marketing, which were selected to represent the top
publications in this field. In making this selection, ten independent experts in the field
of services marketing from Australia, Europe, and North America were asked
(personally or by email) to provide their confidential views on the top five journals in
the sub-discipline of services marketing. On the basis of their responses, the following
five journals (listed in alphabetical order) were selected:
(1) International Journal of Service Industry Management (IJSIM);
(2) Journal of Services Marketing (JSM);
(3) Journal of Service Research (JSR);
(4) Managing Service Quality (MSQ); and
(5) Service Industries Journal (SIJ).
Three of these journals (IJSIM, JSR, and SIJ) are so-called ISI-ranked journals and the
other two (JSM and MSQ) are well known and respected in the research community of
services marketing.
Each paper published in these journals from the beginning of 2000 to the end of
2005 was examined, classified, and coded in SPSS (Norusis, 1993, 1994). The final
content analysis consisted of 1,189 published items.
It should be noted that one of the journals has only a record of eight volumes in 2005
and it was decided not to assess the two initial ones for reasons of possible immaturity
of the journal content. The other selected journals have a record of 15-25 volumes. The
volumes of each selected journal in 2005 are as follows:
.
SIJ: 25.
.
JSM: 19.
.
IJSIM: 16.
.
MSQ: 15.
.
JSR: 8.
In making these classifications, each journal contribution was examined by one of the
present authors, and any doubtful classifications were re-examined by the present

Characteristics of
top journals

291

MSQ
18,3

292

co-authors. The published items were classified into two principal categories and six
sub-categories.
Empirical contributions were categorised as follows:
.
Quantitative: refers to a contribution based upon quantitative methods (for
example, surveys), quantitative techniques of analysis (for example, bivariate
and multivariate statistical analyses), and/or quantitatively oriented software
packages (such as SPSS and SEM).
.
Qualitative: refers to a contribution based upon qualitative methods (for example,
interviews and case studies), qualitative techniques of analysis (for example,
content analysis and univariate analyses), and/or qualitative software packages
(for example, Nudist and Atlas-ti).
.
Triangular: refers to a contribution based upon both quantitative and qualitative
approaches (for example, methodologies, techniques of analysis, and/or software
packages).
Non-empirical contributions were categorised as follows:
.
Review: refers to a contribution predominantly based upon secondary data (such
as general reviews, literature reviews, research agendas, and other conceptual
contributions).
.
Commentary: refers to a contribution (often short and concise) communicating
the views and thoughts of the author(s) on a selected topic, but not necessarily
derived from primary or secondary data to the same extent as previous
categories; such contributions are often published by invitation from the journal
editor(s) and frequently have a heading entitled commentary, viewpoint, or
similar.
.
Book review: refers to a contribution in a designated section of the journal
dedicated to reviews of published books; often headed Book review or similar;
usually short and written by a scholar other than the author of the book being
reviewed.
In summary, contributions that were categorized as quantitative, qualitative, and
triangular were largely based on primary research data; these are referred to as
empirical contributions in what follows. Contributions that were categorized as
reviews, commentaries and book reviews were mostly based upon secondary
data; these are classified as non-empirical contributions. This paper is limited to a
consideration of the empirical category.
The classifications within the empirical category were quantified, and these were
used in cross-tabulations to facilitate comparisons as follows:
.
The research data were classified as national or international on the basis of
whether the data were collected from domestic samples or international samples.
.
The geographical origins of research data were classified as Africa, Asia,
Australia, Europe, North America, or South America, according to the
geographical location of the data collection.
.
The geographical affiliations of the author(s) were classified as Africa, Asia,
Australia, Europe, North America, or South America, according to the

geographical location (in terms of continent) of the main place of work of the
author(s) who submitted the contribution. In most cases, this corresponded to the
geographical location of the university or research institution to which the
author(s) was attached.
Results
Empirical versus non-empirical contributions
Almost 75 per cent (870 of 1,189) of the contributions in the selected journals were
classified as empirical studies, with the remainder being classified as
non-empirical. The results for the subcategories within the empirical and
non-empirical classifications are shown in Table I.
Almost three-quarters of the contributions (870 out of 1,189) are empirical in the
selected journals. Approximately one quarter (319 out of 1,189) are non-empirical ones.
There are different contributions published in the selected journals. Six aggregated
categories were identified, such as those based upon quantitative, qualitative or
triangular research designs (i.e. empirical contributions), reviews (i.e. includes general
reviews, literature reviews, research agendas and conceptual contributions),
commentaries and book reviews.
It is thus apparent that most of the published contributions in the selected journals
were of an empirical nature. Among the non-empirical studies, approximately 10
per cent of total contributions were general reviews, literature reviews, research
agendas, or conceptual contributions, and approximately another 10 per cent were
commentaries; only a small minority were book reviews. In summary, it seems that the
selected journals had a strong preference for empirical contributions, but they also
published other kinds of contributions.

Characteristics of
top journals

293

Empirical contributions
As shown in Table II, there was a significant association between a particular journal
title and the categories of empirical research design (Pearson chi-square: 55.558; df: 8;
sig.: 0.00). For example, there were relatively more quantitative (and relatively fewer
qualitative) research designs in IJSIM, JSM, and JSR. In contrast, MSQ and SIJ had
relatively fewer quantitative (and relatively more qualitative) research designs. JSM
and MSQ also had relatively fewer triangular research designs.
Category
Empirical
Quantitative
Qualitative
Triangular
Subtotal
Non-empirical
Review
Commentary
Book review
Subtotal
Total

Count

Per cent

616
197
57
870

51.8
16.6
4.8
73.2

138
99
82
319
1,189

11.6
8.3
6.9
26.8
100.0

Table I.
Empirical and
non-empirical
contributions

95
158
96
113
154
616

International Journal of Service Industry

Management
Journal of Services Marketing
Journal of Service Research
Managing Service Quality
Service Industries Journal

Total

Table II.
Journal titles and
empirical contributions
Count
91.3
133.8
80.0
139.5
171.3
70.8

73.6
83.6
85.0
57.4
63.6
197

27
27
8
65
70

29.2
42.8
25.6
44.6
54.8

22.6

20.9
14.3
7.1
33.0
28.9

57

7
4
9
19
18

Empirical contribution
Qualitative
Expected
Per
Count
count
cent
Count

8.5
12.4
7.4
12.9
15.9

Triangular
Expected
count

294

Journal title

Quantitative
Expected
Per
count
cent

6.6

5.4
2.1
8.0
9.6
7.4

Per
cent

129
189
113
197
242
870
100%

Total

MSQ
18,3

The vast majority of contributions in JSM and JSR had a quantitative research design,
whereas IJSIM and SIJ had slightly fewer although quantitative designs were still
dominant in the latter two journals.
Most of the triangular research designs included quantitative methodology in the
research design. JSR and JSM had approximately 90 per cent of such contributions,
with the other journals having minor shares.
National versus international research data
More than 90 per cent (821 of 870) of the empirical contributions were based upon data
collected from domestic surveys. Only 49 of the 870 contributions were based upon
international research data (see Table III).

Characteristics of
top journals

295

National versus international research data per journal title

As shown in Table IV, there was a significant association (Pearson chi-Square: sig:
0.000; value: 22.605; df: 4) between the categories of national/international research
data and journal titles. The proportion of international research data was greatest in
SIJ (more than 10 per cent), followed by JSM and JSR. MSQ and IJSIM had the smallest
proportions of international research data. It is of interest that more than half of all
international research data in the selected journals appeared in SIJ.
Geographical origin of research data per journal title
Differences were apparent among the selected journals with respect to the geographical
origin of research data (see Table V). Approximately 75 per cent of the contributions in
SIJ used European research data. Data from other geographical locations were much
Research data

Count

Per cent of empirical contributions

Percentage of allb

National
International
Subtotal
NAa
Total

821
49
870
319
1,189

94.4
5.6
100.0

69.1
4.1
26.8
100.0

100.0

Notes: aNot applicable the approach of the contribution did not comprise empirical data collection;
Including non-empirical contributions

Journal title
International Journal of Service
Industry Management
Journal of Services Marketing
Journal of Service Research
Managing Service Quality
Service Industries Journal
Total

Table III.
National and
international research
data

Research data
National
International
Expected
Expected
Count
count
Per cent Count
count
Per cent Total
127
179
109
192
214
821

121.7
179.3
106.6
185.9
227.4

98.4
94.2
96.5
97.5
88.8

2
11
4
5
27
49

7.3
10.7
6.4
11.1
13.6

1.6
5.8
3.5
2.5
11.2

129
190
113
197
241
870

Table IV.
National versus
international research
data per journal title

Table V.
Geographical origin of
research data per journal
title

International Journal of Service

Industry Management
Journal of Services Marketing
Journal of Service Research
Managing Service Quality
Service Industries Journal
Total (n 870)
2
2
1
2
1
2

2
2
0.8
2
0.4

23
22
6
35
31
117

17.6
11.3
5.0
17.5
12.2

Per
Asia cent
12
28
9
29
10
88

9.2
14.4
7.5
14.5
3.9

64
38
39
93
190
424

48.9
19.5
32.5
46.5
74.5

32
107
65
37
23
264

Geographical origin of research data

Per
Per
North
Australia cent Europe cent
America

24.4
54.9
54.2
18.5
9.0

Per
cent

2
2
2
6
2
6

South
America

296

Journal title

Per
Africa cent

2
2
2
3.0
2

Per
cent

131
195
120
200
255
901

Total

MSQ
18,3

less common in this journal with Asia contributing only approximately 12 per cent,
North America only about 9 per cent, and Australia only about 4 per cent. Only one
contribution was from Africa, and none came from South America.
More than half of the contributions in JSM (approximately 55 per cent) used North
American research data. European data were used in approximately 20 per cent of
contributions, Australian data in approximately 14 per cent, and Asian data in
approximately 11 per cent. No African or South American research data were used in
published contributions in this journal.
More than half of the contributions in JSR (approximately 54 per cent) used North
American research data. European data were used in approximately 33 per cent of
contributions, Australian data in approximately 8 per cent, and Asian data in 5 per
cent. This journal had only one contribution using African research data. No South
American research data were used in published contributions in this journal.
About half of the contributions in IJSIM (approximately 49 per cent) used European
research data. Approximately 24 per cent were from North American data and
approximately 18 per cent were derived from Asian research data. Australian research
data were represented in approximately 9 per cent of contributions to this journal. No
African and South American research data were used in published contributions in this
journal.
A little less than half of the contributions in MSQ (approximately 47 per cent) used
European research data. North American data featured in approximately 19 per cent of
contributions, and Asian data in approximately 17 per cent. Australian research data
were represented in approximately 15 per cent of contributions. This journal had a
small percentage of articles (approximately 3 per cent) featuring South American
research data. No African research data was used in published contributions to this
journal.

Characteristics of
top journals

297

Authors geographical affiliation and empirical research data

As can be seen in Table VI, Australian authors were the most likely to use
international research data, with Australian authors producing 5.7 per cent of all the
contributions that used international data. European authors were the next most likely
to use international data (4.6 per cent of all the contributions that used international

Authors geographical affiliation

African
Asian
Australian
European
North American
South American
Totalb

National

Per centa

1
105
83
384
242
6
821b

0.1
12.0
9.5
43.9
27.7
0.7

Research data
International Per centa
1
12
5
40
22
2
77

0.1
1.4
5.7
4.6
2.5

Int/Nat (%)
2
11.4
6.0
10.4
9.1
2

Notes: aPercentage is based upon 870 empirical contributions; bThe total number of contributions
exceeds 870 and 100 per cent due to the use of international research data, that is, one contribution
appears more than once in the table (see Table V for further details)

Table VI.
Authors geographical
affiliation and
national/international
research data

MSQ
18,3

298

data), followed by North American authors (2.5 per cent) and Asian authors (1.4 per
cent). African and South American authors used little or no international data.
In terms of the proportion of contributions using international or national data
within each category of author affiliation, it can be seen in Table VI that 11.4 per cent of
all papers from Asian authors used international data. European authors used
international data in 10.4 per cent of their contributions, followed by North American
authors (9.1 per cent of their contributions) and Australian authors (6.0 per cent of their
contributions).
Empirical contributions and authors geographical affiliations
As can be seen in Table VII, some differences and similarities were apparent in terms
of the empirical research designs and the geographical affiliations of authors. For
example, more than 80 per cent of contributions from authors with Asian and North
American affiliations featured quantitative research designs; only a little more than 10
per cent of contributions with these author affiliations used qualitative research
designs.
Almost 72 per cent of contributions from authors with Australian affiliations used
quantitative research designs, whereas only 24 per cent used qualitative research
designs. Almost two-thirds (63 per cent) of contributions from authors with European
affiliations used quantitative research designs, whereas 29 per cent had qualitative
research designs.
More than two-thirds (almost 73 per cent) of contributions from authors with South
American affiliations used quantitative research designs, whereas only 18 per cent
used qualitative research designs. The one contribution with an African author
affiliation used a quantitative research design.
Only a small proportion of authors across all geographical affiliations used
triangular research designs.
It is of interest that the empirical contributions of Australian and European authors
were similar with respect to the distribution of empirical research designs; similarly,
Asian and North American authors also resembled each other.
Discussion and concluding thoughts
A large proportion of all contributions in the selected journals were empirical in
nature. Although this finding is not unexpected in research-oriented journals, it is
apparent that the journals surveyed here also provide opportunities for non-empirical
contributions such as conceptual research proposals and literature reviews that
have potential to provide richness and depth to the knowledge base of services
marketing.
Most empirical studies used national data, with only a small minority of the
contributions being based upon international research data. It is perhaps surprising
that journals that aspire to be international do not have more contributions using
international data. However, this relative lack of international data probably reflects
the reality that there is simply not enough research being produced on the basis of
international research data. If so, the problem is beyond the immediate control of the
journals, but the research community would be enriched if more studies undertook to
use international (rather than national) databases in making their contributions to the
literature.

2
1
2

Africa
2
100
2
1

Per
cent
100
16
4

Asia
83.3
13.3
3.3
120

Per
cent
68
23
4

Australia

Notes: Percentage within continental author affiliation

Quantitative
Qualitative
Triangular
Total

Empirical
contribution
71.6
24.2
4.2
95

Per
cent
281
131
33

63.1
29.4
7.4
445

241
36
21

Authors geographical affiliation

Per
North
Europe cent
America
80.9
12.1
7.0
298

Per
cent
8
2
1

South
America

72.7
18.2
9.1
11

Per
cent

698
209
63

Total

72.0
21.5
6.5
970

Per
cent

Characteristics of
top journals

299

Table VII.
Empirical contributions
and authors
geographical affiliations

MSQ
18,3

300

The geographical origin of the research data was predominantly European and
North American, followed by Asian and Australian sources. There was almost no
African and South American research data in the assessed journals. This lack of a
more evenly spread international representation of research data is likely to have
adverse effects on current knowledge and understanding of various phenomena
within services marketing. In particular, there is evidence that the cultural context
affects certain phenomena in services management (Mattila, 1999; Liu et al., 2001),
but little is known about the cultural context of services marketing in
under-represented geographical regions; moreover, given the current publication
rates from these geographical locations, it seems that this is unlikely to improve in
the near future.
Most research data was derived from the same geographical location as the authors
affiliations; only a small proportion of contributions contained a mix of national
research data. The geographical affiliations of authors, were dominated by Europeans
and North Americans, followed by Asians and Australians. South American and
African author affiliations were rare.
In terms of individual journal titles, SIJ had the largest number of contributions.
JSM and MSQ were the next biggest. IJSIM and JSR had a smaller number of
contributions. Taken overall, SIJ published twice as many contributions as IJSIM and
JSR. We contend that there is a potential to gather a wider representation of continental
research data in the assessed journals, which would favour the worldwide research
community of service marketing.
The empirical contributions published in the journals studied here were based upon
a variety of quantitative, qualitative, and triangular research methodologies. Of these,
quantitative research designs predominated, whereas triangular designs were rather
infrequent. The dominance of quantitative methods in service marketing journals is of
interest given that services are based on the essentially qualitative concepts of
interaction and process. Several scholars have recently criticized the static
characteristics of services marketing (Vargo and Lusch, 2004a,b; Edvardsson et al.,
2005, Svensson, 2006a). In particular, these authors have emphasized that time-related
issues are important in understanding the co-creation process. In contrast, the present
findings clearly show that JSR and JSM were mostly focused on quantitative research
data, although SIJ and MSQ had a broader spread of quantitative and qualitative
research data, followed by IJSIM.
Differences were apparent with respect to national and international research data
in the selected journal titles. The use of national research data was greater in IJSIM,
JSM, JSR, and MSQ than was the case with SIJ (which had the largest proportion of
international research data in its contributions). SIJ had a greater proportion of
research data and author affiliations originating from Europe, whereas the other
journals were more broadly based.
In summary, the findings of the present assessment of journals in the field of
services marketing suggest that the selected journals provide a vehicle for
dissemination of a wide range of research efforts. However, the major concern is the
relative under-representation of South American and African research data. In
addition, there was a relative lack of international research data. These issues could
be addressed through the publication of special issues directed towards
under-represented geographical locations and their research communities. Journals

could also consider assigning co-editors to encourage submissions from these

regions. Finally, the editorial advisory boards and the editorial review boards
(including ad hoc reviewers) of journals could be enhanced by representation from
these regions.

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About the authors
Goran Svensson is Professor at Oslo School of Management, Norway. He holds a PhD at the
School of Economics and Commercial Law, Goteborg University, Sweden. Furthermore, he is a
committed member of the international research community as journal editor, numerous editorial
boards and scholarly/research networks. He is a frequent author of international journal articles
and international conference contributions and engaged as a book author. His research agenda
consist of various research subjects and has published in areas such as: business ethics,
leadership, logistics, marketing, public sector management and quality management. More

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details about him may be found at: www.nordinavia.se Goran Svensson is the corresponding
author and can be contacted at: goran.svensson@set.hh.se
Bard Tronvoll is Assistant Professor at Oslo School of Management, Norway. His research
interest consists of service quality, customer satisfaction, customer complaint behaviour, service
management and philosophy of scientific. His work has been published in journals such as:
International Journal of Service Industry Management, Managing Service Quality and Marketing
Intelligence & Planning.
Terje Slatten is Assistant Professor of marketing at Oslo School of Management, Norway. His
research interests include service quality, complaint handling and loyalty. He is currently doing
research on the role of emotions in service organizations both from an employee and customer
perspective. His work has been published in journal such as International Journal of Service
Industry Management, Managing Service Quality and Marketing Intelligence & Planning.

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