Sales promotion – a missed opportunity for services marketers?

“Below‐the‐line” sales promotion as part of the communication mix is virtually ignored within the services marketing literature, in comparison with personal selling and“above‐the‐line” advertising. However,“below‐the‐line” techniques have been growing in their extent, credibility and sophistication during the last two decades. They have now reached the point where they deserve consideration in relation to other areas of marketing practice beyond their fast‐moving consumer goods (FMCG) origins. The different tools which make up the promotional toolkit have also reached a point where they deserve individual consideration instead of being bundled together. Seeks to demonstrate how one such tool, the promotional competition, represents a significant opportunity for services marketers. Reviews the literature relating to sales promotion to build a case for the suitability of competitions for services marketing, and presents the findings of a survey of 188 services‐sponsored competitions to explore the nature and extent of competitions′ use in practice.