Differences between goods and services Essay

Exclusively available on Available only on IvyPanda® Made by Human No AI

The most obvious difference between a good and a service is the tangibility property where a good is tangible in that it can be touched, seen and even smelt. A service on the hand is intangible in the sense that it can neither be seen nor touched. Goods involve change of ownership from the seller to the buyer whereas service provision involves the customer’s judgments on the service to be offered according to the company’s long term reputation.

Goods, once produced, are all uniform in that they have a similar nature all the way from the manufacturer to the final consumer unlike services whose provision depends on the service provider and consequently, they are different in nature. Goods and services are also different in their ability to get destroyed where goods are not easily destroyed.

This means that they can be stored for later use. Services, however, are perishable in that they lack shelf life as they are delivered at one instance. For instance, an empty seat during a flight cannot be stored to be sold to a customer later. It is already a loss for the owner while a good may be kept and sold on a later date (Shostack, 2000, p. 1).

The concept of value

Customer’s concept on value is the willingness to buy a certain good or service. Such value may not only be defined by the good or service itself, but by the market place. In this focus, the customers that form part of a certain company’s products or services are the determining factor for other customer’s willingness to pay for the same good or service. Setting customer’s satisfaction needs as the main objective of any company is therefore the only way that the company can get maximum profits.

This is because the satisfaction of the customer is the driving force towards the willingness to pay the company well enough to allow for good rewards for the company. Therefore, as long as the customer finds value in a company’s products and services, reasonable payments for the same can never be a problem for the customer. In other words, customer value depends on the customer’s benefits due to preferrability compared to the cost of the product.

The total customer’s value therefore includes a combination of the value of the product itself, the value of the services available say in the delivery of the product, the value of the staff and the image value of the company in terms of reputation. Basically the above determinants of value involve monetary factors, time consumption in obtaining a product as well as the energy involved in obtaining the same (Recklies, 2006, p. 1).

Customer’s perception of value may as well depend on the features of a product. Features of a product are directly linked to the quality of the product. When customers are choosing the good to buy, they first check the features of that product.

For instance, a mobile phone with features such as internet access, a large phone book and other storage services memory, inbuilt camera, just to mention but a few, is more likely to be preferred by many customers than one which lack such features. There are certain features, therefore, that customers look for in a product because they associate the features with quality of the product. Such products would serve them better and therefore the customers will be willing to buy them at reasonable costs.

Reference List

Recklies, D. (2006). Understanding and Managing Customer Perception. Web.

Shostack, G.L. (2000). . Web.

More related papers Related Essay Examples
Cite This paper
You're welcome to use this sample in your assignment. Be sure to cite it correctly

Reference

IvyPanda. (2019, February 20). Differences between goods and services. https://ivypanda.com/essays/differences-between-goods-and-services/

Work Cited

"Differences between goods and services." IvyPanda, 20 Feb. 2019, ivypanda.com/essays/differences-between-goods-and-services/.

References

IvyPanda. (2019) 'Differences between goods and services'. 20 February.

References

IvyPanda. 2019. "Differences between goods and services." February 20, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/differences-between-goods-and-services/.

1. IvyPanda. "Differences between goods and services." February 20, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/differences-between-goods-and-services/.


Bibliography


IvyPanda. "Differences between goods and services." February 20, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/differences-between-goods-and-services/.

If, for any reason, you believe that this content should not be published on our website, please request its removal.
Updated:
This academic paper example has been carefully picked, checked and refined by our editorial team.
No AI was involved: only quilified experts contributed.
You are free to use it for the following purposes:
  • To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
  • As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
  • As a template for you assignment
Privacy Settings

IvyPanda uses cookies and similar technologies to enhance your experience, enabling functionalities such as:

  • Basic site functions
  • Ensuring secure, safe transactions
  • Secure account login
  • Remembering account, browser, and regional preferences
  • Remembering privacy and security settings
  • Analyzing site traffic and usage
  • Personalized search, content, and recommendations
  • Displaying relevant, targeted ads on and off IvyPanda

Please refer to IvyPanda's Cookies Policy and Privacy Policy for detailed information.

Required Cookies & Technologies
Always active

Certain technologies we use are essential for critical functions such as security and site integrity, account authentication, security and privacy preferences, internal site usage and maintenance data, and ensuring the site operates correctly for browsing and transactions.

Site Customization

Cookies and similar technologies are used to enhance your experience by:

  • Remembering general and regional preferences
  • Personalizing content, search, recommendations, and offers

Some functions, such as personalized recommendations, account preferences, or localization, may not work correctly without these technologies. For more details, please refer to IvyPanda's Cookies Policy.

Personalized Advertising

To enable personalized advertising (such as interest-based ads), we may share your data with our marketing and advertising partners using cookies and other technologies. These partners may have their own information collected about you. Turning off the personalized advertising setting won't stop you from seeing IvyPanda ads, but it may make the ads you see less relevant or more repetitive.

Personalized advertising may be considered a "sale" or "sharing" of the information under California and other state privacy laws, and you may have the right to opt out. Turning off personalized advertising allows you to exercise your right to opt out. Learn more in IvyPanda's Cookies Policy and Privacy Policy.

1 / 1