Four Characteristics of Services that Distinguish Them from Goods

Four characteristics common to most services that clearly distinguish services from goods
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Intangibility
Intangibility unique characteristic of a services means that the services cannot be
experienced, seen, felt or even tested prior buying. This is a unique characteristic of services
since goods can be felt, touched or even seen (McDougall, & Snetsinger, 2010). But in this case,
services can only be consumed after their purchase and therefore customers are supposed to get
advice regarding the services before buying them. Focusing on the managerial implication of the
intangibility characteristics of services, customers may not be in ability to know how well it is
before purchasing it. Accessing quality services is difficult thing and therefore getting
information about the services from the reviews of people who experienced the same is the best
solution to avoid regrets at the end of the services.
Heterogeneity
In this characteristic, the quality of services may vary from place to place or from service
provider to another. Goods do not have variation simply because they use the same procedure
and method in producing the same. For instance, the Toyota Company will produce the same
types of cars and vehicles without any variation since they use the same methods of production.
The heterogeneity of services can be determined by different factors such as place of provisions,
who provides them and time it is provided (Garcia-Quevedo, Mas-Verdu, & Soriano, 2011). In
this case, if the business is relying on humans for the provision of the services, the more the
chances of the same to be susceptible to the quality variation. Looking at managerial
implications, for the consistent quality of the services the business should focus on automation
programs in providing the services to avoid the cases of quality variation. This will create
customers satisfaction and high potential of customers to purchase the services.