The broad definition of services implies that intangibility is a key determinant of
whether an offering is a service. Although this is true, it is also true that very few
products are purely intangible or totally tangible. Instead, services tend to be more
intangible than manufactured products, and manufactured products tend to be more
tangible than services. For example, the fast-food industry, while classified as a
service, also has many tangible components such as the food, the packaging, and
so on. Automobiles, while classified within the manufacturing sector, also supply
many intangibles, such as transportation. The tangibility spectrum shown in Figure
1.2 captures this idea. Throughout this text, when we refer to services we will be
assuming the broad definition of services and acknowledging that there are very few
“pure services” or “pure goods.” The issues and approaches we discuss are directed
toward those offering
example, they suggest that a pharmaceutical provides medical services, a razor provides
barbering services, and computers provide information and data manipulation
services. Although this view is somewhat abstract, it suggests that in the future we
may think even more broadly about services than we currently do.