Marketing intangibles: the case of library services in higher education institutions

Abstract

Information provision in the twentyfirst century is no longer a monopoly of libraries. Libraries across the globe, including academic libraries, are competing with other service industries such as big publishing houses, online book dealers, academic database vendors, the internet and others enhancing easy access to information. Thus, libraries today have no choice than to adopt a marketing approach in their operations and services to remain visible, valuable and relevant to their communities and patrons (Kumbar, 2004). However, Alemna (2001) is of the view that the application of marketing concepts to the operations of library and information services is a common phenomenon globally. Many libraries have begun to identify that marketing services remain a critical factor in their survival. Other factors identified by Jestin and Parameswari (2005) to the adoption of marketing by libraries are the information explosion, the technology revolution and the case of escalating library costs. Baro and Ebhomeya (2013) add that marketing within a university library implies a need for the library to align its products and service offerings to identified objectives and users and meeting their needs.