The Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic on Service Sector Branding Tendency: Evidence From Turkey

Abstract

The service sector is becoming an increasingly important sector in most economies. Service marks, as an indicator of service innovations, are increasing worldwide. As with all industries and activities, the service sector has been affected by the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This research aimed to analyze the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the service sector by using trademark application data. In particular, textual databases provide researchers with a rich wealth of information. Research was based on Turkish service mark applications belonging to the datasets comprise 264,000 lines in total (for the years 2016 to 2020). In addition, 114 search terms, which were determined with the help of service mark classifications according to International Nice Trademark Classification, were analyzed using the text mining method. According to the research results, a certain amount of service-related trademarks were not affected during the pandemic process; however, a change in the trademark’s content applications was experienced. The main service classes having an increase in brand orientation during the pandemic were found to be services related to logistics, cleaning, hobby activities, distance education, and learning and storage services. On the other hand, real estate, tourism, cultural services, and health and legal services were the negatively influenced sectors.

Keywords

• COVID-19
• Service Sector
• Branding
• Service Marks
• Trademarks

References

1. Alan, H., & Yeloğlu, H. O. (2013). Branding and Innovativeness, Siirt Üniversitesi, İktisadi Yenilik Dergisi, 1 (1), July: 13-26.
2. Allegrezza, S. A., & Guard, R. (1999). The Determinants of Trademark Deposits: An Econometric Analysis (A Case Study of the BENELUX). Economique Appliqueé, 52 (2), 1-68.
3. Amara, N., Landry, R., & Traoré, N. (2008). Managing the Protection of Innovations in Knowledge-Intensive Business Services. Research Policy, 37(9), 1530–1547. http://dx.doi. org/10.1016/j.respol.2008.07.001
4. Begg, I. (1993). The Service Sector in Regional Development. Regional Studies, 27(8), 817–825.
5. Birinci, Y. (2009). The Role of Effective Protection of IP Right on Economic Growth. In: Neslihan Aydoğan editors. Innovation Policies, Business Creation and Economic Development: A Comparative Approach (International Studies in Entrepreneurship) Springer: NewYork, 51-62.
6. Chaston, I. (2017). The Service Sector. Technological Entrepreneurship, London: Palgrave Macmillan
7. Deloitte Consulting, (2020). Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic on Different Categories in Turkey Report, Retrieved from https:// www2.deloitte.com/tr/tr/pages/consulting/articles/kuresel- covid-19-salgininin-turkiyede-farkli-kategorilere-etkileri. html
8. Deloitte Consulting, (2018). The services powerhouse: Increasingly vital to world economic growth Issues by the Numbers, Retrieved from https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/ insights/economy/issues-by-the-numbers/trade-in-services- economy-growth.html

9. Den Hertog, P., & Bilderbeek, R. (1999). Conceptualising service innovation and service innovation patterns, Thematic essay within the framework of the Research Programme Strategic Information Provision on Innovation and Services (SIID) for the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Directorate for General Technology Policy.
10. Durst, S., Mention, A.L., & Poutanen, P. (2015). Service innovation and its impact: What do we know about?. Investigaciones Europeas de Dirección y Economía de La Empresa, 21(2), 65–72.
11. Flikkema, M.J, De Man, A.P., & Castaldi, C. (2014). Are Trademark Counts a Valid Indicator of Innovation? Results of an In- Depth Study of New Benelux Trademarks Filed by SMEs, Industry and Innovation, 21(4), 310-331
12. Goutam, C., Murali, P. & Statish, G. (2013). Text Mining Analysis, Practical Methods, Examples, and Case Studies using SAS, SAS Press.
13. Gopinath, G. (2020). Limiting the economic fallout of the coronavirus with large targeted policies. In: Mitigating the COVID Economic Crisis: Act Fast and Do Whatever It Takes, CEPR Press.
14. Gotsch, M., & Hipp, C. (2012). Measurement of Innovation Activities in the Knowledge-Intensive Services Industry: A Trademark Approach. The Service Industries Journal, 32(13), 2167–2184. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2011.57 4275
15. Goetsch, M., & Hipp, C. (2014). Using trademarks to measure innovation in knowledge-intensive business services. Technology Innovation Management Review, 4(5), 18–30. Retrieved from https://timreview.ca/article/790
16. Graham, S., Hancock, G., Marco, A., & Myers, A., (2013). The USPTO trademark case files dataset: descriptions, lessons, and insights. Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, 22, 669-705.
17. Greenhalgh, C., Rogers, M., Schautcheck, P., & Sena, V. (2011). Trademark Incentives, UK Intellectual Property Office. Greenhut, M. L. (1957). Free entry and the trade mark-trade name protection, Southern Economic Journal, 12(2), 170-181.
18. Gryszkiewicz, L., Giannopoulou, E., & Barlatier, P. J. (2013). Service innovation capabilities: what are they?. International Journal of Services, Economics and Management, 5(1/2), 125.
19. Higuchi, K. (2013). KH Coder. http://khc.sourceforge.net/en/ Huang, Y., Lin, C., Wang. P., & Xu, Z. (2020). Saving China from the coronavirus and economic meltdown: Experiences and lessons. In: Mitigating the COVID Economic Crisis: Act Fast and Do Whatever It Takes, CEPR Press.
20. Mangàni, A. (2006). An economic analysis of rise of service marks. Journal of Intellectual Property Right (LIPR), 11(4), 249-259
21. Melnyk, V., Giarratana, M., & Torres, A. (2014). Marking your trade: Cultural factors in the prolongation of trademarks. Journal of Business Research, 67(4), 478-485.
22. Mendonça, S., Pereira, T. S., & Godinho, M. M. (2004). Trademarks as an Indicator of Innovation and Industrial Change. Research Policy, 33(9), 1385–1404. http://dx.doi. org/10.1016/j.respol.2004.09.005
23. Millot, V. (2009). Trademarks as an indicator of product and marketing innovations. Paris: OECD Science, Technology and Industry Working Papers, 2009/6.
24. Ostrom, A. L., Bitner, M. J., Brown, S. W., Burkhard, K. A., Goul, M., Smith-Daniels, V., Demirkan, H., & Rabinovich, E. (2010). Moving forward and making a difference: Research priorities for the science of service. Journal of Service Research, 13(1), 4-36.
25. Ramelli S, Wagner A. (2020). What the stock market tells us about the consequences of COVID-19. In: Mitigating the COVID Economic Crisis: Act Fast and Do Whatever It Takes CEPR Press
26. Sandner, P.G. (2009). The Valuation of Intangible Assets: An Exploration of Patent and Trademark Portfolios, Wiesbaden, Germany: Gabler.
27. Schmoch, U. (2003). Service marks as novel innovation indicator, Research Evaluation, 12(2), 149-156.
28. Schmoch, U., & Gauch, S. (2009). Service marks as indicators for innovation in knowledge-based services. Research Evaluation, 18(4), 323–335.
29. Skålén, P., Gummerus, J., Koskull, C. v., & Magnusson, P. R. (2014). Exploring value propositions and service innovation: A service-dominant logic study. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 137–158.
30. Somaya, D., & S. J. H. Graham, (2006). Vermeers and Rembrandts in the Same Attic: Complementarity between Copyright and Trademark Leveraging Strategiesin Software. SSRN working paper. Available at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers. cfm?abstract_id=887484.
31. Varoğlu, A.K., & Köker, A.R. (2009). The Relationship between the Degree of innovation and the development Level of a Country. In: Neslihan Aydoğan editors. Innovation Policies, Business Creation and Economic Development: A Comparative Approach (International Studies in Entrepreneurship). Springer: NewYork: 51-62
32. WIPO (2004). Intellectual property handbook. Available at: https://www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/intproperty/ 489/wipo_pub_489.pdf