Eureka! Institutional Repository

Non- profit organisations are usually philanthropic in scope (Wetfeet, 2003). Marketing involves all key procedures used by businesses and non-profit organisations in order to identify and satisfy customer needs and therefore, support products and services. Libraries, as non-profit organisations, should adopt marketing strategies in order to meet user needs and demands. During the past two decades libraries showed a great interest in adopting marketing strategies to advance their services. Especially, academic libraries, as integral part of their academic communities, realised early the importance of the adoption of marketing strategies. Research also suggests that, in the information age “librarians should be empowered, decisive and less introverted in order to survive and market their libraries and in order to justify their professional position” (Aharony, 2009: 48). The aim of the present study is to review the existing literature on the topic of marketing mix by providing guidance for its implementation to academic libraries. Then, it examines how the marketing mix elements can be translated, adopted and matched with those of academic libraries services provision. Finally, it discusses the managerial implications of the marketing mix elements (7Ps) implementation in academic libraries. More specifically, the paper summarises the literature on the marketing mix (7Ps) for academic libraries (e.g. Product, Place, Pricing, Promotion, People Physical evidence and Process) attempting to “translate” them into useful policies that should be adopted by academic libraries.