tailieunhanh - BEYOND GOODS AND SERVICES - AN ELABORATE PRODUCT CLASSIFICATION ON PRAGMATIC GROUNDS

The illicit and covert nature of counterfeiting makes evaluating the exact value of these markets problematic and to be regarded with some caution (OECD, 1998; Dixon and Greenhalgh, 2002). However, estimates of the economic cost of counterfeiting to industry and government offer some indication of the size of the markets. Quoting European Commission figures, the OECD estimated in 1998 that counterfeit goods were worth between 5-7 per cent of world trade, and had demonstrated 150 per cent growth in value between 1990 and 1995 (OECD, 1998, ). The share of counterfeit products in total sales have been estimated to be. | Accepted to the Seventh International Research Symposium on Service Quality QUIS 7 2000-06-13--16 Karlstad Sweden BEYOND GOODS AND SERVICES - AN ELABORATE PRODUCT CLASSIFICATION ON PRAGMATIC GROUNDS Goran Goldkuhl and Annie Rostlinger CMTO Linkoping University Sweden ABSTRACT In the service marketing literature services are distinguished from goods according to determinant characteristics. A critical investigation of these service characteristics is made from a pragmatic perspective. An alternative product classification of goods and services is presented transcending the traditional boundaries of goods and services. A classification with eight product types and four dimensions of product use is constructed. The eight main product types are Goods for transfer temporarily provided goods treatment of client s property treatment of client transportation of client s property transportation of client exhibition of goods presentation of producer. The four dimensions of product use are Material use informative use experiential use and financial use. These product types and use dimensions are used as a base for an elaborate product classification. 27 different product classes are distinguished in the product classification. Goran Goldkuhl Annie Rostlinger 2000 ggo@ aro@ 1 INTRODUCTION The demands for service quality are discussed in society and academia. Discussions and investigations concerning service quality must rely on an understanding of the nature of services. Criteria for service quality are dependent on how a service is apprehended. The character of services is widely discussed in the literature on service marketing and management. A service can be defined differently as an activity a benefit or a customer satisfaction . Gronroos 1990 . Despite these differences there seems to an agreement among several scholars on the determinant properties of services especially when contrasting them to the properties of goods. The main characteristics of