E-Services and the Codification of Informational Services

E-Services As Convergence Of Services And Goods

In contrast to goods, which can be separated from the immediate producers and sold on an anonymous market, services are delivered by their immediate producers and are not anonymous (Henten, 1994). Consumers will know who the immediate producers are (or will at least have the possibility to do so). It is often said that services are produced and consumed simultaneously and, therefore, require face-to-face contact between the producers and the consumers in the production/ consumption phase (Rust, 2001; Hill, 1977). This may not always hold entirely true, but the consumption will at least start right after the end of production – as in the case of repair work. The basic definition of services has nothing inherently to do with whether it is material or immaterial. The repair work of a plumber, for instance, is material in nature, but is a service. Indeed, information and communication technologies (ICTs) affect all kinds of goods and services with respect to their transaction on the market (e-business) (e.g. Penttinen et al., 2008). However, in the case of data, information and knowledge services (informational services), it is the product itself which is affected (e.g. Gullkvist, 2008). With ICTs, it is possible to enter data, information and knowledge (to the extent it can be codified) on digital media and use communication networks for transportation (e.g. Ahonen et al., 2008). This means that data, information or knowledge services increasingly can be separated from the immediate producers and sold on anonymous markets. They become goods in a sense. Formerly, paper was the primary physical media for turning informational services into goods. Presently, electronic media increasingly dominate (e.g. Ihlström Eriksson et al., 2008).