Service-based vs. goods-based positioning of the product concept

Abstract

Purpose – To counteract increasing competition and satisfy evolving customers’ needs, many firms are changing the positioning of their product concepts, from being product-based into service-based. Despite the increasing relevance of this shift, it is still unclear if this choice has a differential impact on customer perceived value. The purpose of this paper is to analyze customer perceived value for a firm’s product concept being positioned either as service-based or goods-based. Design/methodology/approach – An experiment was conducted using stimuli for two different product categories (hearing aids and bicycles) and measuring customers perceived value through the PERVAL scale’s four dimensions (quality value, emotional value, price value and social value). Findings – The results show that presenting the product concepts as service-based instead of good-based can enhance customer perceived value (in particular: quality, emotional and social value), but only if customers are not familiar with the product. Research limitations/implications – The study is based on one experiment and considers only two product categories. Further studies are needed to corroborate findings. Practical implications – The findings suggest that, under specific circumstances, the firm may improve customers’ attitude toward the product by emphasizing a service-based instead of a good-based positioning of the product concept. Originality/value – To our knowledge, this is the first research to evaluate the effects on customer perceived value of repositioning a product which has been traditionally goods-based (such a hearing aid and a bicycle) into service-based.