Editorial: the changing nature of data

Purpose: The purpose of this paper it to highlight the challenges of managing and handling data for services marketers that have been brought about by the contemporary environment and emerging schools of thought. Design/methodology/approach: A comparison is made between conventional data collection and statistical analysis, and the need to glean information from large, pre-existing data sets for future contributions to service research. Findings: For service marketers to tackle real world, large problem areas, there will be a need to develop methods of dealing with data which pre-exist in many forms, as well as data that are collected via well-established procedures. Originality/value: The study should be an encouragement for services marketing researchers to develop innovative methods of data handling which recognize a world of burgeoning data sources and types.