Title: Characteristics of service processes and their implications in electronic commerce: a classification of intangible products

Authors: Sung-Eui Cho

Addresses: College of Business Administration, Gyeongsang National University, 900, Gajwadong, Jinju, Gyeongnam 660-701, Korea

Abstract: In this study, intangible products or services in electronic commerce (EC) were newly classified into online standardised services, online interactive services (low customised interactive, customised interactive), and highly customised services based on services process characteristics. Two classifying dimensions, proportion of online substitution for services and need for interaction and customisation, were utilised for classification. From the classification, significant differences were found among classified categories in the variables of management issues such as: customer needs of geographical accessibility; need for offline services; customer purchase intention in EC. Data was collected from surveys on customer groups and statistical methods such as factor analysis, cluster analysis, and analysis of variance were utilised for analysis.

Keywords: electronic commerce; e-commerce; service processes; taxonomy; intangible products; operations strategy.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEB.2006.009158

International Journal of Electronic Business, 2006 Vol.4 No.1, pp.83 - 98

Published online: 07 Mar 2006 *

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