Marketing - Services Marketing

Services Marketing

Services marketing relates to the marketing of services, as opposed to tangible products. A service (as opposed to a good) is typically defined as follows:

• The use of it is inseparable from its purchase (i.e., a service is used and consumed simultaneously)
• It does not possess material form, and thus cannot be touched, seen, heard, tasted, or smelled.
• The use of a service is inherently subjective, meaning that several persons experiencing a service would each experience it uniquely.

For example, a train ride can be deemed a service. If one buys a train ticket, the use of the train is typically experienced concurrently with the purchase of the ticket. Although the train is a physical object, one is not paying for the permanent ownership of the tangible components of the train.

Services (compared with goods) can also be viewed as a spectrum. Not all products are either pure goods or pure services. An example would be a restaurant, where a waiter's service is intangible, but the food is tangible.