Abstract: Service becomes one of the most important competitive factors in business at present. More and more companies begin to focus on consumers and service quality in order to win in the marketing. The authors review the concept and characters of service, and summarize the studies about the service quality, mainly on its concept, factors system, the application of the zone of tolerance, and the culture抯 effects.

Key words: service, service quality, factors system, the zone of tolerance, culture.