Exploring Childcare Services

ABSTRACT

In Australia, since 1991 a proliferation of child care centres has occurred and supply of child care places exceeds demand. As a result, child care marketers now compete in a very competitive environment where it is imperative to satisfy and retain customers in order to survive. This study seeks to assist the child care marketer to understand their consumers and the difficulties they face as they interact with a service that they do not experience first hand. A self-administered survey instrument was developed and administered yielding data from 84 child care consumers who had switched providers. The results indicate significant relationships between choice, switching, and post-switching dimensions of child care services.

Key Words:

• Services
• child care
• consumer behavior
• service switching