Report on the Four Key Characteristics Distinguishing Services

This report examines four key characteristics that distinguish services from goods: intangibility, heterogeneity, inseparability of production and consumption, and perishability. Intangibility highlights the inability to experience a service before purchase, necessitating customer reliance on advice and reviews. Heterogeneity addresses the variability in service quality, emphasizing the need for automation to ensure consistency. The inseparability of production and consumption underscores the simultaneous provision and consumption of services, requiring high customer expectations. Perishability, the inability to store services, necessitates strategies like pricing and promotion to balance supply and demand, mitigating potential losses. The report provides insights into the managerial implications of each characteristic, emphasizing strategies for service quality and customer satisfaction.

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.

The inseparability of production and consumption
Services are very unique since they are provided as well as consumed at the same time
and at the same place. Not like goods which can be produced and sold in another place at
different time. In this case, services are unique from goods since goods can be separated from the
real producers and the customers buying or consuming the same. They can be moved from one
place to another and therefore so different from services. This is a managerial implication that
since the services are inseparable from the provider, customers should have a high level of
expectation on how the goods will be provided (Sierra, & McQuitty, 2015). This means that if
customers are not keen on them, it will lead upset and frustration if what they expected is
otherwise.
Perishability
Goods can be produced and stored to be sold in another period of time. Services are
perishable, meaning that they cannot be stored for future consumption (Wolak, Kalafatis, &
Harris, 2018). The customer receives services direct as it is produced without any time wastage.
The perishability challenge can be overcome by making sure that there is a balance between
supply and demand. This can be done by using the pricing strategies and different forms of
promotions to reduce the losses which can be brought perishability of services through
simulating the demand of the produced services to the customers.

References
Garcia-Quevedo, J., Mas-Verdu, F., & Soriano, D. R. (2011). The heterogeneity of services and
the differential effects on business and territorial innovation. International Journal of
Technology Management, 54(1), 80-93.
McDougall, G. H., & Snetsinger, D. W. (2010). The intangibility of services: measurement and
competitive perspectives. Journal of Services Marketing, 4(4), 27-40.
Sierra, J. J., & McQuitty, S. (2015). Service providers and customers: social exchange theory
and service loyalty. Journal of Services marketing, 19(6), 392-400.
Wolak, R., Kalafatis, S., & Harris, P. (2018). An investigation into four characteristics of
services. Journal of Empirical Generalisations in Marketing Science, 3(2).