In economics, a service is the non-material equivalent of a good. Service provision has been defined as an economic activity that does not result in ownership, and this is what differentiates it from providing physical goods. It is claimed to be a process that creates benefits by facilitating either a change in customers, a change in their physical possessions, or a change in their intangible assets.
By supplying some level of skill, ingenuity, and experience, providers of a service participate in an economy without the restrictions of carrying stock (inventory) or the need to concern themselves with bulky raw materials. On the other hand, their investment in expertise does require marketing and upgrading in the face of competition which has equally few physical restrictions.
Table of contents |
2 Service Delivery 3 The Service-Goods Continuum 4 Examples of economic services 5 See Also: 6 Finding related topics |
Services are said to have several key attributes:
The delivery of a service typically involves five factors:
Many business theorists view service provision as a performance or act (sometimes referred to as dramalurgy). The location of the service delivery is referred to as the stage and the objects that facilitate the service process are called props. A script is a sequence of behaviours followed by all those involved, including the client(s). Some service dramas are tightly scripted, others are more ad lib. Role congruence occurs when each actor follows a script that harmonizes with the roles played by the other actors.
In a narrower sense, service refers to quality of servicing: the measured appropriateness of assistance and support provided to a customer. (This usage occurs frequently in retailing.)
Key attributes
Service Delivery
The service encounter is defined as all activities involved in the service delivery process. Some service managers use the term "moment of truth" to indicate that defining point in a specific service encounter where interactions are most intense.
Service-Goods continuumThe Service-Goods Continuum
The dichotomy between physical goods and intangible services should not be given too much credence. These are not discrete categories. Most business theorists see a continuum with pure service on one terminal point and pure commodity good on the other terminal point. Most products fall between these two extremes. For example, a restaurant provides a physical good (the food) and also provides a service.Examples of economic services
See Also:
Finding related topics