21117 - SERVICE AND EXPERIENCE MARKETING
Department of Marketing
Course taught in English
Go to class group/s: 31
ACME (6 credits - I sem. - OP | SECS-P/08) - AFM (6 credits - I sem. - OP | SECS-P/08) - AI (6 credits - I sem. - OP | SECS-P/08) - CLMG (6 credits - I sem. - OP | SECS-P/08) - DSBA (6 credits - I sem. - OP | SECS-P/08) - EMIT (6 credits - I sem. - OP | SECS-P/08) - ESS (6 credits - I sem. - OP | ECON-07/A | SECS-P/08) - FIN (6 credits - I sem. - OP | SECS-P/08) - GIO (6 credits - I sem. - OP | SECS-P/08) - IM (6 credits - I sem. - OP | SECS-P/08) - MM (6 credits - I sem. - OP | SECS-P/08) - PPA (6 credits - I sem. - OP | SECS-P/08)
Course Director:
ANTONELLA CARU'
ANTONELLA CARU'
Suggested background knowledge
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Mission & Content Summary
MISSION
Services increasingly dominate contemporary economies and represent a critical source of competitive advantage for firms across all industries, including manufacturing sectors. At the same time, modern consumption has become progressively more sophisticated and experiential, characterised by complex offerings that integrate functional, emotional, symbolic and relational dimensions. Consumption is no longer limited to the use of products, but unfolds through service systems and experiential processes that play a central role in value creation.
The course aims to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of service marketing and experiential marketing, highlighting their complementarities and joint relevance for firms operating in B2C, B2B and hybrid contexts. Particular attention is devoted to the transformation of consumption practices, the centrality of customer experience, and the active role of consumers in processes of co-production and co-creation of value. Within this perspective, the course also examines gamification as an experiential tool that can enhance service and brand experiences, foster engagement and participation, and support the creation of meaningful interactions between firms and consumers, especially within digital and social environments where co-creation dynamics are increasingly prominent.
CONTENT SUMMARY
The first part of the course introduces the role of services in the contemporary economy and analyses the distinctive characteristics of service management and service marketing. The course explores the evolution of service marketing models, moving from transactional approaches towards solution-oriented and experience-based perspectives. Particular attention is devoted to the processes through which value is created in services, starting from the transformation of consumption practices and from customer experience.
The course then examines key topics related to service design and service innovation, including the definition of service offerings, delivery processes, and the management of customer participation and expectations. The role of human resources, the service environment (servicescape), customer satisfaction, loyalty and service recovery policies are analysed as central elements of effective service management. Building on these foundations, the course integrates experiential marketing perspectives, focusing on the experience of consumption, the role of brands in shaping experiences, and the symbolic, emotional and social dimensions of consumption. Topics include experiential marketing models, immersion and appropriation in consumption experiences, brand communities, tribal marketing, authenticity and retromarketing, as well as the active role of consumers in the co-creation of experiences.
In the final part of the course, gamification is introduced as a tool for designing and managing service and brand experiences. Students explore how game-based mechanisms can be used to stimulate engagement, participation and motivation, and how these mechanisms evolve and expand within social and digital platforms, where consumers interact, share experiences and actively contribute to value co-creation.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO)
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
At the end of the course student will be able to...
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
- Understand the complexity of services and their impact on contemporary economic systems and organisational contexts.
- Analyse the key concepts, frameworks and tools of service marketing and service management.
- Understand the evolution of marketing approaches towards experience-based and solution-oriented models.
- Evaluate the meaning of consumption in this liquid society
- Assess the active role of consumer in the co-created experience with brands
- Understand the symbolic, emotional and social dimensions of experiential consumption.
- Analyse the role of brand communities, authenticity, tribal marketing and co-creation in experiential contexts.
- Understand the strategic role of gamification in the design and management of service and brand experiences through social and entertainment platforms
APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
At the end of the course student will be able to...
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
- Analyse service contexts and service systems in B2C, B2B and hybrid relationships.
- Develop a structured analysis of customer experience in service and experiential settings.
- Apply service marketing and experiential marketing models to the innovation and design of services and experiences.
- Critically analyse case studies and examples related to service delivery, experience design and consumer participation.
- Assess the most appropriate methodologies for analysing the consumption experience.
- Design experiential and service-based solutions, including the use of gamification mechanisms, within real or simulated managerial projects.
- Develop and present applied projects addressing concrete problems faced by firms operating in service and experience-driven markets.
Teaching methods
- Lectures
- Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
- Individual works / Assignments
- Collaborative Works / Assignments
- Interaction/Gamification
DETAILS
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Assessment methods
| Continuous assessment | Partial exams | General exam | |
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ATTENDING STUDENTS
Group project to asses the ability to implement the competences acquired and collaborative skills
Final exam to evaluate the acquired competences and knowledge related to the course contents
NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS
Final exam to evaluate the acquired competences and knowledge related to the course contents
Teaching materials
ATTENDING STUDENTS
Collection of readings selected by the course instructors
Course materials (slides, incidents, examples, cases...) provided by the instructors during the classes
NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS
Collection of readings and course materials selected by the course instructors
Last change 25/05/2026 20:43