Valarie Zeithaml

Valarie A. Zeithaml is a marketing scholar and author. She is the David S. Van Pelt Family Distinguished Professor of Marketing at Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Zeithaml is known for her work in services marketing and service quality.

Early life and education Zeithaml earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Gettysburg College. She later received both a Master of Business Administration and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Maryland.

Career In the 1980s, Zeithaml and her co-authors developed SERVQUAL, a multidimensional scale for measuring perceived service quality. She was named a Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researcher in the report on “The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds.”

At the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, Zeithaml held several administrative positions, including Associate Dean of the MBA Program, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, and Chair of the Marketing Area. She also served as an Academic Trustee of the Marketing Science Institute and as Chair of the Board of the American Marketing Association.

Notably, Zeithaml served in various capacities within the American Marketing Association, including Treasurer in 2015, Incoming Chairman of the Board in 2016, Chairman of the Board in 2017, and Outgoing Chairman of the Board in 2018. She served as a Center for Services Leadership Fellow at Arizona State University from 2016 to 2017. Additionally, from 2001 to 2007, Zeithaml served as an Academic Trustee of the Marketing Science Institute, one of only 12 worldwide.

Research Zeithaml's development of the SERVQUAL model, is a widely adopted measurement instrument across various industries and countries.

Her books, including “Driving Customer Equity: How Customer Lifetime Value is Reshaping Corporate Strategy,” Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus across the Firm,” and "Delivering Quality Service: Balancing Customer Perceptions and Expectations," have garnered critical acclaim and contributed significantly to the literature on marketing and customer relations.

Selected publications Books

Roland Rust, Valarie A. Zeithaml and Kay Lemon, (2000) Driving Customer Equity: Focusing Strategic Decisions for Long-term Profitability, Free Press Valarie A. Zeithaml, A. Parasuraman, and Leonard L. Berry (1990), Delivering Quality Service: Balancing Customer Expectations and Perceptions, Free Press

Publications

Awards and recognition

2024 Award from the Association of Consumer Research for the paper that made the highest contribution to behavioral research for, “Behavioral Consequences of Service Quality.” Honorary Doctorate from BI Norwegian Business School in connection with its 75th anniversary. Named Marketing Legend by the American Marketing Association 2016 AMA Irwin/McGraw-Hill Distinguished Marketing Educator Award (2009) Paul D. Converse Award from the American Marketing Association (2008) Society for Marketing Science with the endorsement of the Marketing Science Institute and the Institute for the Study of Business Markets, for one of the 20 most influential articles written over the past 25 years for the paper in Journal of Marketing Research. (2007) Best Article Award Sponsored by the Journal of Service Research and IBM for the article “E-S-QUAL: A Multiple-Item Scale for Assessing Electronic Service Quality”. (2005) Holsten Award for Exceptional Service at the Kenan-Flagler Business School. (2004) Marketing Educator of the Year Award given by the Academy of Marketing Science. (2004) Innovative Contributor to Marketing Award given by the Marketing Management Association. (2004) American Marketing Association Berry Prize for the Best Marketing Book of the Previous Three Years for Driving Customer Equity: How Customer Lifetime Value is Reshaping Corporate Strategy. (2003) Choice Magazine's List of Outstanding Academic Books and Non-print Materials for Delivering Quality Service: Balancing Customer Perceptions and Expectations. (1991) The Harold H. Maynard Award given by the Journal of Marketing for the Manuscript that Contributed Most to Marketing Theory and Thought in 1988. (1989) Appointed an American Marketing Association Lifetime Fellow. 2012 Bullard Research Impact Award in recognition of the broad impact of research on the field, industry, and society. 2009 Sheth Foundation/Journal of Marketing Award for the article “Return on Marketing: Using Customer Equity to Focus Marketing Strategy”.