ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on each of the several elements in turn and then, against this background and discusses how they can be brought together in the form of a coherent marketing programme and action plan. The significance of the soft areas can perhaps best be illustrated by thinking about them from the viewpoint of the patient. Because many patients use health care services relatively infrequently, their assumption is likely to be that, until proved wrong, the quality of the product is high. The product or service attributes are associated with the core service itself, and are made up of the various medical procedures that the organization delivers. The support services consist of all the elements that the hospital provides in addition to the core service. The majority of the services offered by health care organizations are, by their very nature, likely to be in a lengthy phase of maturity.
